ILL. HIST. SURVEY
Illinois Historical Sirvqr
v
INDUSTRIAL
VOLUME III.
THE
MfllHUFflGTURING
INTERESTS
ILLUSTRATED
Chicago
THE GOODSP&ED PUByStiING GOMPflNY
1894
4
Ln 3
COPYRIGHTED
1894
ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
W. B. CONKEY COMPANY,
PRINTERS AND BINDERS
CHICAGO
K
v.3
ri publishers herewith present to their patrons Volume III of their series of
ten books on the history of Chicago. It will be found to contain a large
amount of valuable historical matter never before in print, treated with a system and
a degree of accuracy that will commend the volume to all who examine it. The
other volumes of the series will make their appearance as fast as they can be
compiled and published. Thanking our patrons for their liberal support and warm
encouragement in our great undertaking, we shall proceed to make the subsequent
volumes even more interesting and valuable than those which have already been
issued.
THE PUBLISHERS.
TABLE or CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE LUMBER TRADE OF CHICAGO.
Prefatory 13
Early history 14
Advantage of Chicago's location 15
First lumber 16
Caton's recollections 19
Cobb's recollections 20
Gilbert's recollections 21
Brown's experiences 22
Lord's experiences 25
Milliard's recollections 25
Early cargoes of lumber 27
Reminiscences of Mears 27
Sources of early lumber supplies 31
List of early lumbermen 31
Statistics of consumption 32
Exports and imports 33
Population of Chicago 33
Lumber trade of the '40's 37
Higginson's recollections 40
Lumber dealers of early days 45
Trade of 1848 46
Lumber dealers of 1851 49
Advantages of the railroad and canal 50
Dealers of 1853-4 51
Dealers of 1855-6 55
First Board of Trade 55
Dealers of 1859 57
Dealers of 1860-1 61
How the war affected the lumber trade 61
Dealers of 1862-3 62
Dealers of 1866-7 ". 64
Lumberman's Board of Trade 70
Lumberman's Exchange 70
Charter of the Exchange 73
By-laws of the Exchange 75
Proceedings of the Exchange 79
Inspection and measurement 81
Yards of 1874 85
Receipts of lumber 86
Lumberman's Exchange 92
Officers of the Exchange 94
Membership of the Exchange 97
Commercial credit ratings 99
Proceedings of the Exchange 100
Advantages of the telephone 105
A prosperous Exchange 106
New members of 1881-2 110
Yellow pine in Chicago Ill
Banquets and good cheer 112
Statistics of 1883 117
New members in 1883 118
Statistics of the lumber-cut 123
Consumption and resources 123
Receipts and sales 124
Magnitude of the local and national lumber
trade 127
Strikes in the yards 128
Statistics of 1885-6 133
Statistics of 1886-7 135
Receipts and consumption for 1889 136
Lumber organizations united 140-2
Lumbermen's Association 141
New members 1891 145
Statistics of 1890-1 146-8
Large receipts of 1892 148
Panic of 1893 152
Statistics of 1892-3 157
Extraordinary showing of sixty years 158
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Chicago hardwood trade 159
Statistics of hardwood 164
Hardwood Dealers' Association 169
Hardwood receipts of 1892 170
Commission trade 171
Commission methods 175
Planing, sash, door, and blind department.. . . 177
Sash and door statistics 178
Planing mill statistics 182
Lumber journals 183
Receipts of wood at Chicago for a series of
years 190
Population of Chicago, 1831-93 193
Average yard prices 194
Lumber on hand January 1 for a series of
years 195
CHAPTER II.
MEMOIRS OF EARLY LUMBERMEN.
Snow, George W 196
Brown, Nathaniel J 199
Lord, James F 202
Mears, Charles 207
Hilliard, Laurin P 212
Thomas, Benjamin W 217
Foss Brothers 219
Throop, Amos G 220
Throop, John E 224
Beidler, Jacob 226
Wilcox, Sextus N 230
Stowell, Ephraim C 232
Sheriffs, John 235
McMullen, James 237
Williams, Read A 238
Officer, Alexander 242
Roberts, George R 244
Leonard, James 244
Williams, John M 248
Lay, Albert T 250
Hannah, Perry 255
Gardner, Freeland B 260
Farnsworth, George 262
Ballard, Addison 268
Stockbridge, Francis B 273
Watkins, Vine A.. .277
CHAPTER III.
PERSONAL SKETCHES OF LUMBERMEN.
Hamilton, Irenus K 279
Marsh, George A 283
Barker, Olcott B 286
Fuller, William A 289
Ludington, Nelson 290
Farr, James 296
Witbeck, John H 298
Waldo, John A. B 302
Wetherell, Oscar D 303
Durgin, Ezra 307
Chase, Horace W 308
Chase, David F 310
Stephenson, Isaac 314
Holt, Devillo R 315
Swan, James H . , 319
Ryerson, Martin 321
Avery, Thomas M 325
Avery, Charles 326
Beidler, Henry 328
Phillips, William B 331
Pearson, James H 332
Morton, George C 337
Murphy, Hiram P 338
Van Schaick, Anthony G 340
Mears, Nathan , 345
Goodwillie, David 351
King, James C 352
Jones, Samuel M 355
Hull, Morton B 357
Getty, Henry H 361
Brooks, James C 363
Batcheller, Webster .364
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Denison, E. H 367
Benton, George C 368
Anderson, Benjamin L 369
Gillette, Edwin L 373
Frost, William E 374
Fisher, Augustus F 376
Elkins, Henry K 377
Calkins, Allen C 380
Bushnell, Winslow 382
Bigelow, Anson A 383
Bigelow, Charles H 385
Bigelow, William H 385
Bigelow, Nelson P 386
CHAPTER IV.
BIOGRAPHIES OF LUMBERMEN.
Harvey, Turlington W 387
Spalding, Jesse 391
Lowe, Perley 393
Marsh, F. O 396
Mohler, P 396
Ludington, Harrison 398
Wood, George E 399
Flinn, Charles B 400
Wilcox, George G 401
White, Charles B 403
Sheppard, Thomas H 404
Goodman, James B 405
Oliver, John 407
Oliver Brothers 409
Soper Lumber Company 409
Soper, Albert 410
Soper, Alexander C 411
Soper, James P 412
Street, Charles A 413
Shaw, Gilbert B 415
Gray, Augustus R 416
Park, George H 417
Paltzer, Charles A 418
Ayer, Ed. E
Pate, D. S 419
Martin, S. K 422
Markham, Francis H 424
Hascall, Milo S 425
Badenoch, Joseph, Jr 427
Kelley, William E 431
Kelley, Asa P 432
Hutt, Louis 435
Houghteling, W. D 437
Houghteling, James L 438
Green, George 439
Goodman, William O 440
Fick, Lewis W 442
Ferguson, Benjamin F 445
S. R. Fuller & Co 446
Fuller, Samuel R 446
Dean, Thaddeus 448
Carpenter, William O 450
Cook, George T , 451
Charnley, James 452
Chatfield, Wayne B 453
Balcom, Uri 455
Brooks, Everett W 456
. 457
CHAPTER V.
PRIVATE RECORDS OF LUMBERMEN.
Strong, William E 461
Ott, William C 466
Spry, John 467
Beidler, Francis 468
Ketcham, W. P.. .469
Mears, Charles H 471
Scott, George E 473
Thompson, Corwin C 475
Bingham, Arthur E 477
Wilce, Thomas 477
Ketcham, James P 470 Wilce, Edwin P.
480
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE. PAGE.
Beck, A. R 482 Marsh, Charles A 492
Wilce, E. Harvey 484 Gourley, Arthur 493
Cross, Badger & Co 484 Getchell, Edwin F 495
Cross, Clarence L 485 Greene, Moshier T 496
Badger, A. Shreve 486 Carpenter, Augustus A., Sr 499
Shoemaker, Walter 487 Carpenter, Augustus A., Jr 502
Foster, Volney W 488 Beidler, William H 503
Sawyer, Philetus 490 Beidler, Jacob 504
Adams, Abbott L 505
CHAPTER VI.
SKETCHES OF RECENT LUMBERMEN.
Embree, J. R 507 Hines, Edward 511
Jocelyn, Franklin C 508 Farwell, Granger 513
Norwood, Frederick W 510 Butterfield, John S 516
Hooper, Edwin E 517
CHAPTER VII.
INDIVIDUAL MEMOIRS OF LUMBERMEN.
Keith, William Scott 518 Woollen, Frank 531
Dodge, Eusebius J 519 Houston, George T. & Co 531
Dodge, Philo G 522 Houston, Joseph W 532
Dodge, Edmond F 523 Miller, Leopold 534
White, Samuel F 523 Miller, Charles L 536
Willey, Cameron L 524 Miller, Isaac 536
Smith, Winfield S 526 Miller, Louis K 536
White, George E 526 Holbrook Company 537
Vinnedge, Allen R 528 Holbrook, William 537
Boyle, Lewis V 529 Whitley, John 539
Boyle, Clarence 531 Holden, Henry N .\| 539
Boyle, Charles E 531 Holmes, Daniel W ,541
CHAPTER VIII.
SPECIAL RECORDS OF LUMBERMEN.
McLaren, John 542 McElwee, Robert H 558
Loomis, John M 545 Morris, Thomas G 560
Soper, James 549 Irish, Stanton A 561
Fish, Peter 549 Jager, Ernst C 562
Woodley, George 551 Knox, Reuben 563
Garrick, John 552 Fraser, James 564
Seymour, Herbert F 553 Durgin, John C 565
Carney, William J 554 Borland, John J 566
Ripley, William 556 Bickford, Russell K 567
Blanchard, William 570
TABLE OF CONTEXTS.
CHAPTER IX.
LUMBER JOURNALISTS.
PAGE. PAGE.
Hotchkiss, George W 572 Whitmore, Orange S 579
Judson, William B 574 Ruddock, Thomas S 580a
Saley, Merrett L 575 Ruddock, Charles H 580b
Hitchcock, Albert H 576 Butler, Morton 580c
Defebaugh, James E 577 Rittenhouse, Moses F 580c
Gilbert, George F , 580d
CHAPTER X.
MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES.
Pioneer industries 581 Enterprises of the '50's 587
Chicago in 1827 581 Factory statistics 588
Chicago in 1833 581 Manufactures of 1858 589
Chicago in 1835 582 Industries after the war 590
Marsh's first packing house 582 What the great fire destroyed 591
Industries of the '40's 584 Manufactures and trade compared 594
Exportation of meat 585 Extraordinary growth of manufactures after
Manufacturing concerns of 1846 585 the fire 595
McCormick's Reaper Works 585 Recent statistics 595
Prosperity of 1848 585 Comparative investments and products of the
Packing comparisons 586 leading cities 596
Hogs and cattle packed 597
CHAPTER XI.
COMPARATIVE GROWTH OF MANUFACTURES.
Agricultural implements 599 Hardware and tools 613 ,
Bakery and kindred products 600 Hats and caps 614
Boots and shoes 601 Iron industry 615
Breweries and consumption 602 Lead products 618
Brick, tile, terra cotta, etc 603 Looking-glasses and picture frames 619
Carpet and matting 603 Show cases 619
Carriages and wagons 604 Lumber manufacturing 619
Railroad car building 605 Mattresses and spring beds 620
Street car building 605 Malt-house products 620
Drugs and chemicals 606 Millinery goods 620
Men's and boys' clothing 607 Musical instruments 621
Coffee and spice products 608 Paint and its development 621
Confectionery 608 Pickles, preserves, and sauces 622
Cooperage industry 609 Perfumery and cosmetics 622
Liquor refineries 609 Plumbers' supplies 622
Flour and meal 610 Printing and publishing 623
Foundry and machine products 611 Comparative publishing 624
Furniture, etc 612 Saddlery and harness 624
Gas products 613 Shipbuilding, etc 625
10
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Sewing-machine industry 625
Shirt manufacture 625
Silk garments, etc 626
Slaughtering and meat packing 626
Comparative hog packing 627
Soap and candles 628
Oleomargarine, grease, and tallow 628
Meat and sausage 628
Glucose products 629
Sugar refining
Tannery goods
Tinware products
Tobacco, cigars, and snuff.
Bicycles and tricycles
PAGE.
. 629
. 629
. 630
. 631
. 633
Many small manufactures which in the aggre-
gate reach a large figure 632
Large manufacturing centers 633
Chicago's position among manufacturing cities, 634
CHAPTER XII.
MANUFACTURING VENTURES.
McCormick Harvesting Works 636
McCormick, Cyrus H 644
Conger, Arthur L 646
Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company, 651
Piano Manufacturing Company 655
Jones, William H 656
Gammon, Elijah H 657
Prindle, James P 659
Wood, Leroy B 660
McCormick, Andrew J 663
Staver & Abbott Manufacturing Company... 663
Staver, Henry C 665
Abbott, A. A 666
McAdow, F. H 667
Deering Manufacturing Company 667
Deering, William 669
Deering, James 670
Deering, Charles 670
Ewart, William D 670
Turner, Edward A 674
Link Belt Machinery Company 674
Chicago Brass Company 675
Avery, Thomas M 676
Avery, Frank M 677
Elgin National Watch Company 677
Block, Williard T 684
Clark, Robert
R. M. Eddy Foundry Company 691
Eddy, Robert M 692
Eddy, George D 692
Eddy, Albert M 695
Bass, John H 695
Scoville Iron Works 699
Scoville, Hiram H., Jr 701
Macomber, Frank B 703
Rice Engine and Boiler Company 703
McGregor & Co 703
Terwilliger, Peter 705
Hart & Cooley Manufacturing Company 706
Hart, Howard L 706
Cooley, Norman P 706
Plamondon, Ambrose 707
Cribben, Sexton & Co 708
Cribben, Henry 708
Sexton, James A 708
Cribben, William H 709
Tarrant, Robert 709
Tarrant, John 710
McGregor, George L 71;!
Schoeninger, Adolph 714
Western Wheel Works /.\ 717
yEtna Iron Works >. , 717
Clark, John 719
. 719
CHAPTER XIII.
SKETCHES OF MANUFACTURERS.
Chicago Cottage Organ Company 723
Cable, Herman D 723
Piano development 725
Shaw, William W 729
Dake Bakery Company 729
Johnson, Ernest V 732
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
11
Northwestern Terra Cotta Company 736 Bradley, David 750
Hottinger, Gustav 736 David Bradley Manufacturing Company 764
True, John R 736 Bradley, J. Harley 757
Belding, Hiram H 737 George H. Benedict & Co 759
Belding Brothers & Co 740 Woltz, John 761
Young, Edward C 742 Ball, William T 765
Pioneer Fireproof Construction Company.... 742 Hill, Francis H 766
Risser, Abraham F 745 Chicago Photogravure Company 769
Johnson, Andrew P 747 J. M. W. Jones Stationery & Printing Company, 770
Johnson Chair Company 748 Nolin, Ernest J 775
Bent, George P 749 Meyers, William A 778
Stewart, John 779
CHAPTER XIV.
MEMOIRS OF BUSINESS MEN.
American Biscuit & Manufacturing Company, 780 Alsip, William H 805
Loose.JacobL 782 Alsip, Frank B 805
James S. Kirk & Co 788 Alsip Brick Company 806
Kirk brothers 790 Simpson, Joseph B 807
Gillett, Egbert W 792 Seipp, Conrad .'... 808
Price, Vincent C 795 J. Manz & Co 809
Price Baking Powder Company 796 Bersbach, Alfred 809
Armour, Philip B 797 N. K. Fairbank & Co 810
W. B. Conkey Company 801 Bartlett, John A 816
Amman, Frank 802 Fairbank, Nathaniel K 817
Ramsay, John 803 Eckstein, Henry G 818
Orcutt Company 804 Lewis, John C 819
Franklin Engraving and Electrotyping Co... 804 McCormick, Cyrus H.,Jr 820
Alsip, Frank 805 Brand, Michael 821
GLOSSARY OF LUMBER TERMS. . . 824
GLOSSARY OF MANUFACTURING TERMS ... 834
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
Avery , Thomas M 54
Badenoch, Joseph, Jr 427
Ball, William T 764
Ballard, Addison 270
Harden, John R 812
Bass.J.H 694
Batcheller, Webster 366
Beidler, Francis 138
Beidler, Henry 318
Beidler, Jacob 36
Beidler, William H 553
Benton, George C 372
Bigelow, A. A 108
Bingham.A. E 222
Blanchard, William 96
Block, W. T 685
Borland, John J 114
Brand, M 823
Bradley, David 751
Bradley, J. Harley 756
Brooks, E. W 456
Brooks, J. C 348
Brown, N. J 18
Cable, H. D 722
Carney, W. J 560
Carpenter, A. A 90
Chase, Horace W 156
Conger, A. L 647
Conkey, W. B 800
Dean, Thaddeus 102
Defebaugh, J. E 577
Dodge, E. J 312
Dodge, P. G 150
Eddy, George D 690
Ewart, W. D 671
Farnsvvorth, George 60
Ferguson, B. F 446
Fisher, A. F 376
Fuller, S. R 78
Gammon, Elijah H 654
Gillett, E. W 793
Gillette, E. L 198
Goodman, W. 440
Hamilton, 1. K 282
Hannah, Perry 264
Harvey, T. W 388
Hascall, Milo S 300
Hill, F. H 767
Milliard, L. P 24
Mines, Edward 511
Hotchkiss, George W 191
Houston, J. W 532
Hull, M. B 360
Irish, S. A 240
PAGE.
Johnson, E. V 733
Jones, J. M. W 771
Jones, S. M 354
Jones, W. H 656
Judson, W. B 186
Keith, W. Scott 518
Kelley, A. P 294
Ketcham, J. P 120
Ketcham, W. P 162
Lay, A. Tracy 258
Leonard, James 246
Loomis, J. M 174
Loose, J. L 783
Lord, J. F 30
Ludington, Nelson 72
Marsh, C. A 228
Martin, S. K 288
McCormick, C. H., Jr 821
McCormick, C. H., Sr 637
McElwee, R. H 550
McGregor, George L 712
McLaren, John 132
Mears, Charles 42
Mears, Nathan 210
Murphy. H. P 342
Xolin, E. J 776
Oliver, John 407
Paltzer, Chas. A 144
Pearson, J. H 336
Phillips, W. B 180
Ripley, William 540
Risser, A. F 744
Ryerson, Martin 324
Sawyer, Philetus 168
Schoeninger, A 715
Shaw, George B 415
Shaw, William W 728
Sheriffs, John 234
Shoemaker, Walter 487
Spalding, Jesse 204
Spry, John 66
Staver, H. C 662
Stockbridge, F. B 276
Swan, James H 126
Thompson, C. C 330
Throop, Amos G 48
Van Schaick, A. G 84
White, Charles B 216
Wilce, E. P 480
Wilce, E. Harvey 494
Wilce, Thomas 306
Willey, Cameron L 524
Williams, John M 252
Wood, George E 399
BRRflTrt.
Page 219. Sketch Foss Bros. 36th line insert "Robert died July 28, 1893."
Page 314. Sketch I. Stephenson. Third paragraph read "1882" for 1883, first line;
" two " for three in third line.
Page 355. Sketch S. M. Jones. Second paragraph, first line, for September 13
read "16;" eighth line, read "Amherst " for Enfield.
Page 382. Sketch Winslow Bushnell. Second paragraph insert " P^dward died
in 1892," and for Bushnell Mill Company read "People's Lumber Company."
Page 401. Sketch George G. Wilcox. Third paragraph, after O'Brien, Green &
Co., add " reorganized as the John O'Brien Lumber Company, of which Mr. Wilcox
is vice-president." Also read "Anna" for Alia, third line, fourth paragraph.
Page 416. Sketch A. R. Gray. Read "Whippany " for before " Morris" in first
line, "42" for 31 in fourth line; in second paragraph, sixth line, add "organizers of
the " before the word association.
Page 467. Sketch John Spry. Fifth paragraph read "Illinois" for La Salle.
Page 490. Sketch P. Sawyer. Read "Algoma" for Algona in second paragraph;
"1856" for 1849, second line, fourth paragraph; in third line, "1857 and 1861" for 1859,
and in fifth paragraph, fourth line, "and daughter" after the word son.
Page 508. Sketch F. C. Jocelyn. Second paragraph, first line, read "1856" for
1857. Page 509, second paragraph, tenth line, read "1880" for 1873; third paragraph,
third line, insert " the business at Kansas City " after the word year. Page 510, second
line, read "4415 Drexel Boulevard" for West Pullman, and "Berenice" for Bennie.
Add, "became interested in banking and established the West Pullman Bank."
Page 556. Sketch William Ripley. Fifth paragraph read "PersieL." for Persie P.
Page 558. Sketch R. L. McElwee. Twenty-fifth line read "William" for Robinson.
Page 577. Sketch A. H. Hitchcock. Third paragraph, third line, read"i887" for
1888.
INDUSTRIAL
CHICAGO
THE
MflNUFflGTURING
CHAPTER I.
THE LUMBER TRfVDE OF CHICAGO.
BY GEORGE W. HOTCHKISS.
PREFACE.
|T will be recognized by the most casual thinker that the history of a trade so
g[L extensive as that of the lumber business of Chicago, embracing a period of sixty
years, and including thousands of participants, must naturally be restricted in its refer-
ence to individuals, unless made too prolix and voluminous. It has therefore been the
aim of the historian to condense so as to include the more salient points needful to
give a clear and succinct, but general history of the leading events connected with its
inception and progress, leaving to the biographical department the record of individual
participants, so far as the same are available.
It has been the aim of the historian to trace the beginning of the vast lumber
trade of Chicago (which is in effect a history of the manufacturing districts of western
Michigan and eastern Wisconsin in their earlier days), naming the individual partici-
pants to as late a period as the year 1870, after which date the vastness of their number
seemed to render it unadvisable, in view of the fact that a voluminous record of the
operations of the Lumberman's Exchange from its earliest organization, would seem to
obviate the necessity. Fortunately for the purposes of the historian, the facts con-
cerning the earlier years embracing the inception and growth of the lumber trade of
Chicago, could yet be learned from the lips of actual participants in the trade of those
14 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
early periods, while the statistics given have been gleaned from the records of the
Lumberman's Exchange, and other reliable sources. A fortunate ability to obtain
access to a copy of each year's directory from the first publication in 1837 nas enabled
the embracing of authentic lists of the various operators, and to note the yearly
changes. The work is respectfully dedicated to the most enterprising and the most
public-spirited body of merchants of which our enterprising and progressive city
can boast, representatives of the largest and most valuable of its individual enter-
prises, the lumbermen, of Chicago, with the conviction that it comprises an authentic
and reliable history of the rise and progress of that vast industry in this city.
EARLY HISTORY.
The history of the lumber trade of Chicago is the history of the great Northwest.
The boundless prairies upon which vegetation was confined to prairie grasses,
with but here and there a stunted clump of forest growth, presented none of those native
facilities for the erection of necessary dwellings and outbuildings which were requisite
for their settlement and upbuilding. For many years the development of the country
west of the Great Lakes was practically confined to the neighborhood of water courses,
along or contiguous to which was to be found some small timber available for log
dwellings, or to supply stock for the small saw mills which were a necessity for the
few hardy settlers, who, while living in log cabins or earthen dugouts, must needs
have more or less lumber for the floors of their dwellings, or the doors of their dug-
outs, when sawed lumber was available. In just such proportions as facilities presented
for building comfortable dwellings, did settlements increase, canals and railroads add
to the facilities of transportation, and the broad prairies develop into well-tilled farms,
dotted with villages and cities, marking not only the centers of the greatest grain-
producing districts of the world, but of the most progressive and highly cultivated
people. But for a lumber industry at great distributing centers, assuring the thrifty
but poverty-stricken settler from the East, or immigrant from other lands, that what-
ever other privations he might be called to endure, facilities existed for the building
of a cheap but comfortable dwelling, in which to enjoy the products of the hard labor
out of which the surrounding wilderness was to be made to blossom as the rose, there
was nothing to invite him to undergo hardship and privation.
Up to the year 1836 or 1840 the settlement of the West was greatly hampered,
and in fact greatly neglected. The home spirit of New England led to contentment
under the old roof tree, and the spirit of adventure found its manifestations on the
ocean rather than in delving into the secrets of that great expanse known only from the
reports of early explorers, and only as the Great American Desert, inhabited alone
(as it truly was) by roving bands of warlike savages, prepared at every point to con-
test the advance of the white man, and to resist the planting of the white man's civil-
ization, which experience had already taught them meant to them only extermination.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 15
The settlement of New Connecticut on the Western Reserve, Ohio, which practically
dated from about i826or 1830, was but the pushing farther of the outposts which were the
result of the emigration from New England into the central and western portions of
New York and Pennsylvania. While a few small settlements dotted the banks of the
Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans, the upper Mississippi and the country
west of it were practically unknown except as Indian lands, and he was indeed a hardy
and daring pioneer who ventured as far west as the Great Lakes, and small indeed the
chances of the adventurer who sought to penetrate the region beyond.
With the advent first of the saw mills of Michigan and eastern Wisconsin, combined
with the lumber yards of Chicago, and the subsequent building of saw mills on the banks
of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers for the manufacture of the logs and timber
floated down from the forests of Wisconsin and Minnesota, has come a mighty civil-
ization, ever increasing in volume, demanding each day some increased and improved
system of transportation, for the conveyance of the vast products of the farm to an
eastern and foreign market, no less than of building material and the comforts of
life to a happy and contented people who have brought luxury out of privation and
built mighty cities where but the smoke of the Indian tepee had ascended. To Chi-
cago more largely than any other locality or influence is this great change ascribable.
Located in a position more readily accessible as a focusing point for the vast
region beyond than any other, it possessed superior advantages for the concentration
of the products of the country lying east of it, even to the great ocean which borders
our eastern coast. Located near the foot of Lake Michigan, around or across which all
travel must pass, it was the natural western terminus of that great water-course built
by the State of New York, the Erie Canal, via Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan, and
with the introduction of steamboats to take the place of sailing vessels, the tedious,
and oft times dangerous, transit by stage was overcome, although the actual distance
was nearly doubled, while in later years the locomotive has annihilated distance and
danger.
The advantages of Chicago as a central trading post were recognized by the
French previous to the year i/OO, before which date they had established here a trad-
ing post, mission and fort the exact location of which is now unknown. In 1795 at
the treaty of Greenville no fort was then standing here, but it was recognized that a
fort "had formerly stood " here. The next fort was built on the present site of Chi-
cago by the United States government in 1803-4, but fur traders had made it a central
point for trading with the Indians for many years previous to that date. John Jacob
Astor established here in 1809 a branch of the American Fur Company
Here log cabins were built and trade carried on with the Indians, and the few hardy
white men, mostly French half-breeds, who as hunters and trappers were the camp
followers of the American Fur Company, until the massacre of 1812 scattered the little
band, which henceforth was more nomadic than settled, unless we except the gam-
16 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O .-
son, which, having built Fort Dearborn, remained, less to protect the few settlers than
as a menace to any ill-advised attempts to secure British possession of the great North-
west Territories.
Up to 1830 but few people were attracted to this section, only the more hardy and
adventurous braving the dangers of the journey in open wagon, involving pedestrian-
ism for a great portion of the way, or the scarcely less feared perils of rough and tem-
pestuous lakes in small and uncomfortable vessels. But about this time the spirit of
adventure began to have an abnormal development, and young men from the East
began to exhibit those evidences of unrest and push which has made the name of
"Yankee" synonymous with enterprise, investigation, and improvement. In 1833 prob-
ably 300 souls had gathered at the mouth of the sluggish stream which wound its
tortuous way to what is now Rush Street bridge, then turning south, emptied into the
lake, at what is now the foot of Madison Street. In 1832 a postoffice was established,
and for the first time a weekly mail, brought in on horseback, gave encouragement to
those already here to expect not only greater personal freedom from the discomforts
of frontier life, but a rapid increase in population, an expectation which was speedily
realized to an extent that the most optimistic had not dreamed.
Chicago was at that time fairly wooded, the north side of the river being a sparse
forest of elm, oak, cotton wood and a few scrub pine of the pinus resinous or Norway
variety, while forests of a similar character extended south to and about the Calumet
River. It was upon this forest growth that the early settlers depended for timber
with which to construct the fort and stockade and the few log dwellings of the earlier
days.
Probably the first frame building in the city was erected by Ezra Adams, a soldier,
who by trade was a carpenter and plied his vocation in the absence of absorbing
military duties. In 1832 Mr. Adams purchased a small raft of square timber of suit-
able building sizes, which had been hewed on the Calumet River and wrecked in the
endeavor to tow it up the lake to the fort. Mr. Adams was more successful in bringing it
into port, and this is the first manufactured lumber or timber of which record is to be had
in the annals of Chicago. Mr. Adams died in 1889, but his widow survives (1894) and
resides at Evanston, in this county. The population of 1830 is stated at not over fifty,
which increased in 1832 to 350, an increase which apparently did not repeat itself
during the immediate succeeding years, as we find that in 1833 but twelve citizens
voted upon the question of incorporating the town, while in 1834, at the second election
for trustees, only in votes were cast, and one year later, 1835, but 210 votes were
polled, indicating a population of not over 1,000 souls. An official census in 1837
revealed a population of 4,170 persons.
It is a question as to when the first cargo of lumber was brought to Chicago.
The venerable Judge J. D. Caton, who is still living in his elegant residence on Calu-
met Avenue, says:
'*<**
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 19
"When I came here in 1833, all the lumber used was whitewood, brought from
the St. Joe River, Michigan. There were two schooners engaged in that trade, viz:
The schooner Chicago, commanded by Capt. Carver, and the Ariadne, commanded by
Capt. Pickering. Indeed, I first came to Chicago on the latter vessel, which was
loaded with whitewood lumber. I had reached St. Joe from White Pigeon on a raft
of whitewood, which was floated down the river. In 1834 the Ariadne was replaced
by the schooner Illinois, which Capt. Pickering had built at Oswego in the winter of
1833-34. The Chicago and Illinois ran in the same trade during the summer of 1834;
after that my recollection is not so distinct, so that I cannot say whether any pine
lumber appeared in the Chicago market during 1835, Dut I ^ ee ' quite confident that I
should have noticed it if any had appeared in 1834, and am very certain that there was
none in 1833. In 1836 I built the first house on the school section west of the river,
and for which I used pine lumber, which was then plenty in the market, but I cannot
say where it was cut. I remember that in the spring of 1834 I went up the North
Branch to a point near Clybourn Avenue to assist in raising a steam saw mill, which
was built there by George E. Walker, of Ottawa, and the late George Hickling. Every
able-bodied man in town went to the raising. The mill was of the old-fashioned 'sash'
or gate single (upright) saw, and could probably cut 2,000 feet of boards in twelve
hours, from the cottonwood, oak, and elm, which were indigenous to the soil. A
standing joke regarding this mill was that its crank pin was made of oak, and that in
place of the saw making a full stroke, the log rose to meet it half way. Saw mill men
will appreciate the sarcasm, especially such as remember the old-fashioned gate saw
and bail dog of the early saw mill days. In 1832 or 1833 another Mr. Walker, of
Walker's Grove (now Plainfield), built a water saw mill on the Du Page River, one or
one and a half miles from the present site of Plainfield, where he manufactured oak,
walnut, hackberry, cottonwood, and elm, which he teamed forty miles to Chicago for
a market. S. B. Cobb, I remember, went to that mill in 1833 and got the lumber with
which to build the first harness shop on the west side of the river. I got lumber
from there as late as 1842."
Judge Caton was then a young lawyer, who in 1834 commenced the first suit filed
of record in this bailiwick, but which was succeeded in 1835 by a large number of
suits.
From all this it may readily be seen that the lumber trade had not assumed any
great proportions down to 1835, notwithstanding Judge Caton's assertion that the
schooners Chicago and Illinois were running in that trade. Their capacity, so nearly
as can be ascertained, did not exceed ten or fifteen thousand feet each, and the traffic
of the time did not demand any superfluous energy to cause an endeavor to make
frequent trips. Previous to 1836 it is doubtful if market could be found for more than
half a million feet, and surely not to exceed a million. There is no data obtainable
to show that there was any demand from the interior, at least in excess of the production
of the two or three small mills which, it would appear, had but a limited home market,
or would not have been under the necessity of hauling the lumber forty miles to a
market in Chicago.
20 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
The venerable S. B. Cobb has pleasant recollections bearing upon this subject:
" I landed in Chicago in May, 1833. I was "strapped " to the extent that I could
not pay the $3 passage money from St. Joe, and the Captain wished to hold me
until it was paid. A fellow passenger, however, came to my rescue, and I was set
ashore in a Mackinaw yawl boat or barge, at a point near what is now the foot of
Madison Street, which was then the entrance to the river. As I stepped from the
boat a man greeted me with the enquiries, ' Did you come in that schooner? Are there
any carpenters on board?' I was but twenty years of age, alone in the far West with
but one sympathizing friend to whom I could under any circumstances appeal, and he
the stranger who had so kindly paid my fare. 'Yes,' I replied, 'I came on her;
there's no carpenters on board unless myself.' 'Are you a carpenter?" he asked.
'Well, no,' I answered, 'but I am handy with tools.' ' Well,' said he, ' I want some
one to buy lumber and boss the building of a hotel, and I will give you a dollar and
seventy-five cents a day if you will go right up with me now.' I went with him and
found very little lumber, and as more was requisite I found that the only lumber to
be had which was suitable for the work was whitewood, made at some small mills in
Indiana and hauled to the village by ox-teams. My employer I found to be James
Kinzie and his hotel was at what is now the corner of Lake and Canal Streets. I had
the privilege of selling some of the lumber, and, although it was but a few odd boards
at odd times to accommodate the few neighbors of the settlement, yet I believe that
I can honestly claim to have been the first lumber dealer of Chicago. Within a year
or two after this George Huntoon built a steam saw mill on the North Branch to cut
native timber, but it was not a paying investment and afterward passed into the
hands of Gurdon S. Hubbard." \_This, no doubt, is the same mill spoken of by Judge Caton
as the Walker mill. ED. ]
It is fair to assume that no lumber reached Chicago by the water route previous
to 1833, when Judge Caton came over from St. Joseph, Mich., on a cargo of white-
wood manufactured at some point on the St. Joe River and rafted down the river to
its mouth for shipment, but it is pretty well authenticated that in the fall or winter of
1834-35 there were several small mills erected on Buck Creek, a tributary of Grand
River, Mich., near the present town of Grandville, and about six miles west of Grand
Rapids, for the purpose of supplying the wants of the settlers who were beginning to
seek homes in that section, and as well to send any surplus of production to the vil-
lage of Chicago, which was beginning to show signs of growth and of a requirement
for lumber. Among those who thus appreciated to some extent the coming demands
of the new country were Mr. John Wright, a settler of Chicago; Nathaniel J. Brown,
who was connected with the stage lines between Detroit and St. Joseph, and who later
was a real estate dealer and banker of Chicago; with others whose history is not now
traceable. Regarding these early mills Mr. Thomas D. Gilbert, one of the early
pioneers, who at an advanced age is still an active business man of Grand Rapids,
Mich., and president of the gas company of that city, says, in speaking of Mr. Wright:
"Mr. Wright became a prosperous business man in Chicago, leaving descendants,
some of whom are, no doubt, still living in that city. I feel sure that his shipments
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 21
must have been the first from the west shore of Michigan, because north of Grand
Haven to Mackinaw the land had not been bought from the Indians, and the further
reason that the mouth of the Kalamazoo River did not have water enough for even the
smallest of the small vessels of that day. In August, 1835, 1 became interested in a
small mill near Mr. Wright's, but did not ship any lumber to Chicago until the spring of
1836. It is barely possible that some lumber may have reached Chicago from Green
Bay before this, but I doubt it. In 1836 a steam sawmill was erected at Grand Haven,
from which considerable shipments were subsequently made.
" My personal knowledge of the lumber business and men and events in this
region dates from June 10, 1835, when I became a resident of Grand Haven. There
is, I think, but one man now living in this section who knows about the early sawmills
on Buck Creek, a Mr. Robert Howlett, a hale old man of eighty-five, now living at
Grand Haven. Mr. Howlett, in 1832, bought a farm near Grandville and within a
mile or two of the mills on Buck Creek, and from him I learn that Messrs. Bull &
Wright built a mill on the creek and commenced sawing lumber in July, 1834, but the
mill did very poor work at first, and he thinks no lumber was shipped in that year, i. e.,
1834. He further says that Brown & Britton built a mill on Buck Creek in 1834-35,
and had it ready in the spring of 1835, an d he thinks that they shipped some lumber
in the early summer of 1835. The Mr. Brown was probably Nathaniel J. Brown, now
of Lemont, 111., who was one of the early settlers. I afterward became acquainted
with Mr. Britton, but cannot give you his history. Mr. Howlett tells me that he bought
lumber of Bull & Wright in the fall of 1834, but that it was very poorly sawed, so that
it is not probable that those gentlemen made any shipments in that year. I think the
chronology of those mills was about as follows: Bull & Wright built the first mill in
1834, but did not ship any lumber to Chicago in that year. One Gordon built a mill
above the Bull & Wright mill in 1833-4 and sold it in August 1835 to a company from
Grand Haven. I was interested in this mill, but it never shipped any lumber to
Chicago. N. J. Brown and Britton built a mill above the Gordon mill in 1834-35
cotemporaneously with Gordon, and I understand that Mr. Brown claims to have
shipped his lumber on the schooner White Pigeon in April, 1835. That vessel did not
winter at Grand Haven and could not have got through the Straits so early, hence
I conclude that Mr. Brown is mistaken as to time unless the vessel wintered at St.
Joseph, which she may have done."
In this connection we may call attention to the date of the license issued to Mr.
Brown by which he was authorized to sell his lumber in the Chicago market, as cor-
roborative of his claims in that respect. The slight confusion of dates, however, in
no wise detracts from the established fact that the first mills in western Michigan to
ship lumber to the Chicago market were located on Buck Creek and that the first
shipments were made in the spring and summer of 1835.
Mr. Nathaniel J. Brown, above mentioned, is yet living, a hale and energetic citizen
and landowner at Lemont, and, although he has passed the term of life usually
allotted to man, is at eighty-three as full of business life and activity as the average
man of half his years, and says:
"I was engaged with my brother in running the stage line between Detroit and Lake
22 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Michigan over the old territorial road which then formed the great thoroughfare to
the West. My station was in Kent County, Mich., where I became impressed with the
great value of the immense pine forests of that section which had as yet attracted little
or no attention. Of these I acquired a considerable tract, and in the fall of 1834 I went
to Detroit and purchased the iron work for a saw mill, which with a winter's supply
of provisions and tools were shipped on the schooner White Pigeon to the mouth of
Grand River and toted by team to a point on Buck Creek, about seven miles from
the present city of Grand Rapids. Here I built my mill, and the early spring of 1835
found about 600,000 feet of my lumber in raft, upon which I, with a big lumberman
from the State of Maine floated down to the mouth of Grand River, where a cargo
was loaded upon the schooner, which had wintered in the river. The schooner
arrived at Chicago River April 5, 1835, an d I at once made endeavor to sell the lum-
ber, which was the first white pine that had reached the town. There were one or
two lumber dealers handling whitewood from St. Joseph, together with some native
lumber, but no white pine. These dealers at once disputed my right as a citizen of
another State to sell lumber in competition with them and were in no wise disposed
to welcome the innovation of white pine. Insisting upon my rights I was arrested,
but appealing to the clerk of the county commissioners of Cook County, I was, on
payment of a license fee of $6, granted a permit, of which the following is a copy:
STATE OF ILLINOIS, )
County of Cook, \ ss '
"Authority and permission is hereby granted to N. J. Brown to vend, sell and retail
goods, wares and merchandise in Cook County, Illinois, for and during the term of
one year, if approved by the Commissioners' Court of Cook County, upon paying into
the county treasury the sum of six dollars, his tax and the cost of this permission.
*"Given under my hand and private seal at Chicago, 2ist day of April, A. D. 1835.
" RICHARD J. HAMILTON,
"Clerk of County Commissioners Court, Cook County."
" Having received the above document, I found a purchaser for my lumber in the
person of William B. Ogden, who took my entire stock at $28 per thousand feet, and
paid me in silver dollars, which I packed in ax boxes, $1,000 to the box, and deposited
the whole with Newberry & Dole, who gave me drafts on Oliver Newberry of
Detroit, and purchasing a horse with saddle and bridle, I started for that city and
settled with the merchants from whom I had obtained credit the previous fall. I then
proceeded to Ionia County, Mich., where, in connection with Augustus Garrett, an
auctioneer and real estate dealer in Chicago (whose name has become indissolubly
connected with the Garrett Biblical Institute at Evanston), I laid out the City of
Ionia and sold a large number of lots, and was largely interested in real estate in
Milwaukee and Madison, Wis., and still in connection with Mr. Garrett, purchased
and operated in large quantities of real estate in Chicago and its neighborhood until
the panic of 1837 effectually put a quietus on all kinds of speculation. In the con-
struction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal I took the contract for two sections,
embracing about one mile in the limestone rock cutting near Lemont, and appreciating
This was the first license fee imposed upon a lumberman in Chicago, and we learn of no other until in 1884, when a fee
pf $100 was impose4 88 will be shown later on.
<"*,
V '*
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 25
the value of this rock formation in the later development of the country, acquired a
considerable extent of it, and am now, as for many years past, engaged in the quarrying
of it. The shipment of lumber in the spring of 1835 leading up to the enterprises
mentioned above, ended my immediate connection with the manufacture and sale of
lumber."
The venerable James F. Lord, until recently residing at Chicago, and who died
January 2g, 1893, at the ripe age of eighty-nine years, and who was for many years not
only a manufacturer in Michigan (among the earliest), but was for many years a yard
dealer in this city, had some interesting recollections of the early days of Chicago and
its lumber trade. He says:
"I had a saw mill in 1837 at St. Joseph, Mich., being the first mill built at that point,
although there were some mills up the river which rafted their lumber to St. Joe for
shipment. Mine was the first steam mill in western Michigan, having been built in
1832, but as there had been but little demand for lumber, it had been but little used
when I bought it. My cut was some pine, but more largely white wood, black walnut
and oak, all of which abounded in the neighborhood, except that being well upon the
southern border of thepine belt, thatwasless plentiful. The first saw mill at Muskegon
was erected in 1837 by Benjamin H. Wheelock, using the engines and boilers of the
steamer Chicago, which had been wrecked at St. Joseph, in 1836 Thesame year (1837)
Jonathan H. Ford began building a water mill at the mouth of Bear Lake, from which
a cargo of 40,000 feet was shipped in February, 1839, which was ten days on the pas-
sage to Chicago.
"In 1835 or ^36 I brought over some lumber for completing the Lake House, the
most pretentious hotel in the city. This was from pine cut from the school section on
the Paw Paw River, Mich. In 1847 I na< ^ a lumber yard in partnership with Samuel
F. Sutherland, which was located on La Salle Street on the north side of the river. Our
office was a few boards standing on end against a pile of lumber, our books we kept in
our hats. When it got cold we would sometimes go into a foundry kept by a man
named Granger, who had been nicknamed" Plug," it being averred that he had done
some logging in the East, and had been caught " plugging" some hollow logs before
dropping them into the river."
Laurin P. Hilliard, Esq., now of Washington Heights, a suburb of Chicago, relates
many pleasant reminiscences of the early days of the Chicago lumber trade. Mr.
Hilliard reached Chicago in May, 1836, finding here a population approximating 3,000
souls. Mr. Hilliard says:
"While awaiting a land sale by the canal commissioners, I was induced to take a
trip on the schooner Wisconsin, Capt. Arndt, which was about to sail with men, pro-
visions and tools, for the clearing up of a new town site on the Wisconsin shore of
the lake, and which was to be called Manitowoc, and from there to take a look at
some of the wilderness country about Green Bay, which was beginning to be talked
about. On reaching the site of the new town I obtained some provisions from the
cook of the vessel and started on a pedestrian trip northward. About three miles
from Manitowoc I found a small water saw mill owned by a man named Conroe, and
26 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
about five miles from Green Bay, at what is now Depere, there was another mill the
name of whose owner I do not remember. The vessel upon which I sailed was in
quest of a cargo of lumber which was sawed at this latter mill. At this time George
W. Snow, owner of the Wisconsin, had a lumber yard on the river at North Clark
Street. Capt. David Carver, who died in 1891, had a yard on the corner of State and
Water Streets. These yards were of course but small in extent, the lumber being
simply shoved on to the river bank, although the better grades were selected and
piled by themselves on the south side of the street; lumber in those days, however,
was sold pretty much as it left the saw, except that the coarser common was retained
at the mills and was not considered merchantable. At Green Bay I was fortunate
in catching one of the few steamers which at that time plied between Buffalo and
Chicago, stopping at all important settlements, and returned to Chicago. The land
sale presaging the early construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, with the fes-
tivities attending the throwing out of the first spadeful of dirt at Bridgeport on July
I, 1836, gave great impetus to trade of all kinds, and brought many new settlers into
the country, all of whom added to the increasing demand for lumber as well as other
supplies, and the volume of receipts was a constantly increasing one. The land grant
of the canal commissioners embraced the odd numbered sections for ten miles each
way, the school sections only excluded.
"The land sale did not result in the transfer of a large body of land at that time,
but it encouraged those who had settled and induced a still more rapid immigration.
About all the lumber which had reached the settlement up to this time was brought
by vessels which, needing return freights, purchased lumber at the mills and aimed
simply at making a freight. Newberry and Dole had a large warehouse on the river
bank, and Mr. Dole dabbled in lumber, much of which was bought on a venture and
not selling readily, was stored with him for sale. Gurdon S. Hubbard also handled
a little lumber and was interested in a saw mill on the North Branch. I was not actu-
ally engaged in the lumber business until about 1844-45. I na< ^ become interested in
vessels and was the owner of an interest in several, among which was the propeller
Independence, the first propeller built on Lake Michigan. In 1845 I built the schooner
L. P. Hilliard, and in keeping this and other vessels employed, it often became neces-
sary to purchase cargoes of lumber, and if not sold readily on arrival it was stored on
the river bank until a customer could be found. There was no dock north of what is
now La Salle Street, and the river bank was utilized along what is now Wells and
Franklin Streets to the bend of the river, which was considered the head of naviga-
tion. In 1849 I started a yard on the corner of Adams and Market Streets, as the
growth of the city had now made this location a desirable one, and this was my first
regular lumber yard.
'The Illinois and Michigan Canal was at this time completed and a good trade had
sprung up with St. Louis and other interior points. The total lumber receipts of 1848
had reached 60,000,000 feet. Contemporaneous in the business were George M. Hig
ginson, John Milton Underwood, Sylvester Lind, Butler & Norton and about this time
A. G. Throop, R. H. Foss, -- McCaig, Hugh Dunlap, Barber & Mason, Devillo R.
Holt, John Mason Loomis and Harrison Ludington."
Mr. Hilliard in 1861 was elected county clerk, which office he held for four
years. In 1866 Mr. Hilliard, in company with Jones & Hough, contracted with the
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 27
Chicago & Alton Railroad Company to dock the lumber which was to be transported
over their line, and after a couple of years Col. Pierce, desiring to join them, the
business was enlarged to a regular yard trade, which under the name of Hilliard,
Pierce & Co., was continued until 1871, when the admission of Worthy T. Churchill
changed the firm name to Hilliard, Churchill & Co. This firm operated a saw mill at
Alpena, Mich., for about four years, when the panic of 1873, bad contracts and a short-
age of logs, caused a failure and Mr. Hilliard ceased to be a factor in the lumber trade
of which he could properly be regarded as one of the fathers. He is still living in the
enjoyment of a ripe old age, with a vigorous intellect and elastic step, superintending
the development of his valuable suburban property on Washington Heights, having
lived to see the lumber business of Chicago rise from its earliest beginnings of a few
thousand feet per year, to receipts of 2,250,000,000 feet in the season of 1892, while the
population of 3,000 which greeted him in 1836 has grown to a population of 1,500,000,
becoming the second city of the continent, the sixth in the world. Truly this is an
age of miracles.
The now venerable Charles Mears, who still lives in the enjoyment of an ample
fortune to round out a busy life in the bosom of a young family, is another witness of
the day of small things in the Chicago lumber trade. From him also we learn of the
mills at Grandville, Mich., in 1836. One Hathaway had a mill at Grand Haven,
which was afterward supplemented by that of A. G. Throop and the Michigan Lumber
Company, all of which found market for their product in Chicago. Walters and Allen
did a small commission business in 1838, at a point where the river branches. Their
trade was confined to the receiving of the small cargoes in vogue in those days, and
which could not be disposed of as readily as the captain of the vessel or his owners
thought desirable. A cargo or two of from 30,000 to 50,000 feet swamped the market.
Mr. Mears brought lumber to Chicago in 1838, and unloaded on a half dock above
Clark Street. At that time Newberry & Dole had a small dock below Rush Street.
Mr. Mears settled in Milwaukee in 1839, removing to Chicago in 1847. He built a
clapboard and shingle mill at White Lake, Mich., in 1838, selling his product in Chi-
cago and Milwaukee. Mr. Mears owned and ran his own vessel, which is described to
us as a small craft carrying about 15,000 feet of lumber, whose shape led it to be
spoken of as " Mears' Flat Iron." It was the general understanding of the day that
Mr. Mears and his one assistant ran the mill at White Lake until they had a cargo of
lumber cut for a load for the " Flat Iron," and then the sawyers turned sailors, loaded
their craft and sought a market. On one occasion, having unloaded his vessel on
Saturday, the wind coming fair on Sunday morning, Mr. Mears discovered that a keg
of powder which was much needed at the mill had not been obtained from " Matt "
Laflin, who kept the store at which Mr. Mears traded, and who kept a stock of powder
in the magazine of the fort. He found Mr. Laflin, who told him that he could not
possibly let him have it on Sunday, at least until his wife had gone to church. He waited
28 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
and got the powder. (Mr. Laflin is still living at Park Place on the lake front at a
very advanced age.) Sunday ethics were in vogue in those days, and so was whipping
the devil round the stump. Mr. Mears remembers seeing the graves of the soldiers
of the Massacre of 1812, who were buried in the cemetery on the lake shore just north
of Madison Street, washed out in a big storm in 1838, and the bones scattered along
the beach. About this time Mr. Mears remembers a saw mill cutting oak, elm and cot-
tonwood, on the south branch of the river at Stowell's slip, which was operated until
in the forties, and was then used by Wood, Henderson & Co. as a sash, door and blind
manufactory, and subsequently by Goss & Phillips, and still later by the Palmer &
Fuller Co. ( Ephraim Stowell's ledger shows that he ran the saw mill until about 1854 )
The old mill was torn down about 1857. Through the passing years Mr. Mears was
engaged in the manufacture of lumber at several points on the Michigan shore, and
has been an active operator in the Chicago market since the days when he in 1838
brought his first cargo to the then village.
Mr. Mears has some pleasant reminiscences of the early trade. When in 1837-38
he brought in a jag of lumber which did not sell readily, he left it with Josiah E.
McClure, of the firm of McClure & Larrabee, to sell for him. On one occasion, while
unloading a lot of lumber and shingles, a man from the country purchased shingles of
the value of 87.50, offering him two $5 bills in payment. Not in the habit of handling
such large sums of money and somewhat distrustful, he scanned the bills and asked,
"Are they good?" The customer replied: "If these are not good there's no good
ones in the country." Mr. Mears gave him his change and went up to the store, where
he submitted the bills to the judgment of H. O. Stone, who at once pronounced them
counterfeit. Mr. Mears returned to the boat and secured the shingles and proposed
to prosecute the fellow. During the confab which ensued, a clerk of McClure's, the
only witness to the transaction, fell into the river and was drowned, and having no
witness to corroborate his evidence Mr. Mears had to pocket his loss and let the
fellow go. The loss of that $2.50 hurt Mr. Mears more than the loss of Si.OOO would
a few years later.
From all that has preceded we may assume that it is sufficiently authenticated to
be set down as reliable history that the first lumber to reach Chicago was whitewood
from St. Joe, Mich., and that 1833 witnessed the arrival of the first cargo. That it
was whitewood may well be assumed, not only on the evidence of Judge Caton, who
made his first entry into the city on a cargo of that kind of lumber, and the evidence
of Maj. James F. Lord to the effect that whitewood was more plentiful than pine and
cut to a larger extent in the mills which were in operation at the only point of ship-
ment, but as well from our knowledge of general facts and conditions.
The early settlement of Michigan was confined to the more southerly portion of
the State, south of the limit of pine growth, a section well timbered with oak, black
walnut, whitewood, maple, beech and elm, with a few scattering pine. The pine belt
Kfannt n/Wssirrr, Klt
777.fi- MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 31
was practically embracco in the country lying north of 'a line drawn from the head of
Lake St. Clair on the east, to South Haven on the west, with, of course, some scatter-
ing pine south of that line. The first mill at Muskegon was commenced in January,
1837, by Benjamin Wheelock, agent for the Muskegon Steam Mill Company, upon
the site occupied in later years by the mill of White, Swan & Smith. Before this mill
was finished, the panic of 1837 paralyzed the efforts of all who were engaged in trade
and the mill was not completed until 1838. In August, 1837, Jonathan H. Ford,
agent for the Buffalo & Black Rock Company, began building a mill at the mouth of
Bear Lake. This also was completed in 1838. The first cargo from this mill, con-
sisting of 40,000 feet of boards and scantling, was hauled to the mouth of the Mus-
kegon River in February, 1839, and loaded on the schooner Victor, this being the
memorable trip heretofore mentioned, which consumed ten days in reaching Chicago.
Theodore Newell began a mill in 1838, which was completed in 1839 and occupied
the site on which later the mill of Ryerson, Hills & Co. was built. This was a single
mulay mill, costing about 4,000 and had a capacity of 6,000 feet in twelve hours. In
1840 three mills were in operation on Muskegon Lake, with a total capacity of 13,000
feet in twelve hours. In 1850 this had been increased to six mills, with a capacity of
60,000 feet in twenty-four hours, the circular or rotary saw having by this time been
introduced. The McKillop & Deacon mill, mentioned by Maj. Lord as having been
built in 1832 and purchased by him in 1837, was . without doubt, the first steam saw
mill in the West and the first to manufacture white pine, although in limited quantity,
as compared with whitewood and hardwoods.
About this time a few small mills were being erected on the shores of Green Bay,
Wis., and in the course of a year or two began to send small cargoes of lumber to
Chicago, so that by 1839 the lumber trade began to assume proportions of consid-
erable magnitude.
A few statistics from Fergus' reprint of the Chicago directory of 1839 will be of
interest in this connection. The population of the city is set down as follows: 1835,
3,265; 1836, 3,820: 1837, 4< 1 79< 1838, 4,000; 1839, 4,200. The first charter election
occurred May 2, 1837; the candidates for mayor were John H. Kinzie, Whig, and
William B. Ogden, Democrat. There was a total of 709 votes cast, Ogden receiving
493 to Kinzie's 216. Edward H. Rudd's business directory of 1839 contains thirty-
nine pages of city ordinances, six pages of classified business directory, and six pages
of advertisements. Under the head of lumbermen it gives the names of Colvin,
Edward B., door and sash maker, Dearborn and North Water Streets; Fullerton,
A. N., lumber merchant, North Water Street; King, Willis, Randolph Street; Milti-
more, Ira, steam sash and door factory, South Branch; Mylne & Morrison, lumber
merchants, South Water Street; Snow, Geo. W., & Co., lumber merchants, South
Water Street. A reprint made in 1883 adds several other names which we do not
find in the original, a copy of which is in the possession of Mr. Hiram P. Murphy, of
32 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the Hamilton-Merryman Company, to whose courtesy we are indebted, and whom we
learn from the book to be Chicago-born, the son of one of the earliest hotelkeepers
of the city. While we have grounds to doubt if the Rudd directory exhausts the list
of those engaged in the various branches of the business at that time, we may with
equal assurance assert that the Fergus reprint, which appeared in 1883 and was con-
fessedly to a goodly extent an endeavor to recall from memory who should have been
named at that time, was more greatly in error on the other side. Both Mr. Jacob
Beidler and Mr. Avery, who are still living, assert that they did not begin lumbering
for some years later than 1839. Mr. Beidler gives 1844 as the date at which he began
operations. The reprint, however, gives the following names:
"Allen, James P., inspector, South Water foot of Franklin; Avery, Charles E., cor-
ner of La Salle and South Water; *Barber (Jabez) & Mason, Market near Randolph;
Colvin, Edward B., door and sash company, North Water near Dearborn; Dodge,
Martin, salesman, North Wells and North Water; Dunlap, William (Hugh?), lumber
yard, Clark Street; Fullcrton, A. N., lumber merchant, North Water; Finnemore, Rich-
ard, whip sawyer, North State and North Water; fHuntoon, Capt. Bensley, steam
saw mill, North Branch; King, Willis (King and Tinkham), Randolph Street bridge;
Lind, Sylvester, carpenter, 55 Clark; McFall, Francis, sash, door and blind factory,
Market Street; Mylne (Robert) & Morrison (Alexander), South Water near Franklin;
Miltimore, Ira, steam sash and door factory, South Branch; Morrison, Alexander,
lumber dealer; (Milne & Morrison); Snow, George W., lumber, South Water corner
State; Waller Virgil, lumber, River Street; Woodbury, Adoniram Judson, book-keeper
for G. W. Snow."
From this it would appear that there were six dealers in lumber with yards in 1839,
three manufacturers of sash doors and blinds, one saw mill, one whip sawyer, and one
inspector. The latter was probably a measurer, although Mr. Allen's friends claim
that he was at this time a yard dealer, and Mr. Mears speaks of the firm of Walters &
Allen as being in the commission business as early as 1838. Of the lumber supply of
1839 we have no reliable data, but estimating upon the basis of consumption in the
years of which we find reliable data, we arrive at the conclusion that 4,200,000
feet is a liberal estimate. In the directory for 1846 we find statements of the receipts
of several years, those of 1843 being stated at 7,545,142 feet of lumber, 4,1 17,025
shingles, 16,600 feet of square timber, 57,000 staves, and 430 cords of bark. The
receipts of 1844 are given at 19,160,407 feet of lumber, 12,285,000 shingles, 66,478 feet
of timber, and 137,000 staves, while those for 1845 g' ve 22,526,508 feet of lumber,
17,883,000 shingles, 1,397,000 bundles of lath, 67,484 feet of square timber, and 2,355
cedar posts. The prevailing prices for lumber in 1840 were for clear per thousand, $iS
(a&20; merchantable, $I2((?$I4; flooring, $!4<fr$i6; refuse, 8(fr$io; shingles, $2.$0@$4.
Figuring receipts of former years upon the basis of known population and reported
*Mr. Barber was lost onboard the unfortunate steamship Pacific, which never made port on her voyage from New York
to Liverpool.
tThe mill of Capt. Huntoon was near the present Chicago Avenue bridge.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 33
receipts of 1843-44-45 it is probable that the receipts of lumber for 1833 ma y be
assumed to have been 30,000 feet; 1834, 500,000 feet; 1835, 1,500,000; 1836, 2,500,000;
l8 37> 3,000,000; 1838, 3,500,000; 1839, 4,200,000; 1840, 4,479,000; 1841, 5,752,000; 1842,
6,248,000; while from this time we have fairly reliable data. In 1843 the consumption
was about 1,000 feet per capita, increasing to 2,395 f ee t per capita in the following
year; 1,863 feet per capita in 1845; and 1,905 feet per capita in 1847. 1 our calcula-
tions for some of the earlier years we have assumed i,ooofcet per capita consumption
upon the reported population.
Pausing a moment in this retrospective view of the lumber business of the earlier
days of Chicago, it will be interesting to note the growth in population. The popula-
tion of 1833 was not far from 300 souls, the charter election of four years later called
out 709 votes, which would indicate a population of not far from 4,000; the following
table, however, shows the relative growth from the earlier years to the present
time:
1833 (est.).. 300 1843.. 7,580 1865.. 178,900
1834 (est.) 650 1844 8,000 1870 298977
1835 3,265 T845 12,088 1875 407.661
1836 3,820 1846 14.169 1880 503,185
1837 4,179 1847 16,859 1885 (est.) 750,000
1838 4,000 1848 20,023 1890 1,099,850
1839 4,200 1849 23,047 1892 (est.) 1,320,000
1840 4,479 1850 28,960 1894 (Sch. Cen.) 1,567,657
1841 5,752 1855 80.028
1842 6,248 1860 112,172
It is interesting to note that the population of 1843 consisted of Irish, 773; Ger-
mans and Norwegians, 816; various nationalities, 667; native Americans, 324; a total
of 7,580.
The canal commissioners' sale of city lots in their subdivision of Chicago, at the
sale in 1836, brought from $25 to $100 per lot for land which is now of a value of from
$3,000 to $5,000 per front foot. The city debt in 1843 was #8,977.55, and tne tax
roll of that year footed up $7,852.45. The school tax was $685.24. A statement of the
exports and imports of the city for a series of the earlier years, subsequent to 1835,
was as follows:
YEAR. Imports. Exports.
1836 $ 325,203 90 $ 1,000 64
1837 373,667 12 11,065 00
1838 579,174 61 16,044 75
1839 630,980 26 33,843 00
1840 562,106 20 228,635 74
1841 564,347 88 348,362 24
1842 664,347 88 659,305 20
1843 971,84975 682,21085
1844 1,686,416 00 785,504 23
1845 2,043,445 74 1,543,519 85
1846 2,027,150 00 1,813,468 00
1847 2,641,852 52 2,296,299 00
These tables of course include the imports and exports of all kinds and classes
34 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of goods, details of which are given only in 1845, when the value of forest products is set
down at $ 196,087.10, and upon the same basis we may safely assume that the import
value of lumber, timber, shingles, etc., for 1843 was 863,000, and for 1844, $171,000.
Norris Directory of the business interests of Chicago for 1846 says:
" In 1838-39 nothing very important occurred. The canal was in progress during
this period and had necessarily an influence upon the business of Chicago. The
country was now settled to such an extent that Chicago became the depository of a
large amount of produce annually, and the trade in lumber, salt and other articles of
consumption in the interior was daily giving more and more stability and extent to
the business of the place."
Somewhere between 1839 and 1843 (assuming the correctness of Rudd's Direct-
ory of 1839) the following named persons were added to the ranks of the lumbermen
of the young city, the date of their coming not being clearly established:
"Avery, Charles E., South Water, corner of Franklin; Barber, Jabez, Market, near
Randolph; Dunlap, William, clerk in lumber yard; King, Willis, Randolph Street
bridge (King & Tinkham); Lind, Sylvester, carpenter, boards 55 Clark; McFall,
Francis, sash and door factory, Market Street; Underwood, John Milton, Market, near
Lake."
Mr. B. W. Thomas is still a hale, hearty and vigorous young man for one who
came to Chicago in 1841 and commenced in the lumber business two years later. Mr.
Thomas has for several years past been in the real estate business, and is now in
charge of the Marine Bank building, in which he has an office. He came to Chicago
in August, 1841, from Buffalo, N. Y., and was in merchandise with Ex-Mayor Alex-
ander Lloyd for one year at 101 Lake Street-. In 1843 ne became a clerk for Sylvester
Lind, who had just bought out John M. Underwood, who had a lumber yard on Mar-
ket, south of Lake Street. Mr. Lind had been a carpenter, and was noted as such in
the directory of 1839. It is a noticeable fact that a large proportion of the lumber
merchants of the first half century of national existence gravitated from the carpen-
ter's bench to the lumber yard.
At the time of Mr. Lind's purchase of the Underwood yard, Market Street was
much narrower than at present. South Water Street from its present western terminus
followed the river bank south to Madison Street, leaving a triangular or flat-iron
shaped block, between Lake and Randolph in what is now Market Street. About this
time the city traded with Mr. Lind, vacating that portion of South Water Street
between Lake and Madison, throwing the flat-iron piece into Market Street, and mak-
ing a row of lots on the river bank having both a street and river frontage. To the
new location thus formed, Mr. Lind removed the lumber yard, extending it south to
the north line of Washington Street in 1843. The Lind block on the northwest corner
of Randolph and Market Streets, which was built some years before the great fire of
1871, stands as a monument to the singular freaks of that historic event, it being at
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 37
that time but little damaged, requiring but slight repairs to render it fit for occupancy,
while for miles around everything \vas in ashes. After his sale to Lind, Underwood
established a yard on the west side of the river, and in 1844, Mr. Thomas having pur-
chased Lind's yard, Mr. Lind bought out the new yard of Underwood. Alexander
Officer had by this time obtained possession and opened a yard on the north half of
block 43, south of Randolph Street, while A. G. Throop for many years occupied
block 52 between Madison and Washington, where the Central Power block now
stands. It was upon this yard that the first packet boat for use upon the canal was
built. In 1848 as the canal approached completion, Mr. Thomas sold a bill of lumber
for the residence of Isaac Hardy at La Salle, 111.; this he rafted from his docks to
Bridgeport, where it was carted around the uncompleted locks, and loaded on flat
boats used for carrying stone, and taken to its destination. This was no doubt the
first lumber transported on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and the forerunner of an
era of great expansion to the lumber trade of the city.
The receipts of 1848 aggregated 60,000,000 feet, which immense quantity was the
cause of great rejoicing among the lumbermen and citizens generally. The Board of
Trade had now been established under the general laws of 1848 which permitted the
incorporation of boards of trade and chambers of commerce without registration or
certification from the Secretary of State. The lumbermen of the city were almost to
a man included in its membership. The board at that time met in Steele's block,
corner of South Water and Wells Streets, where George B. Carpenter's store now
stands. The esprit du corps was rather low, if we may judge from the statements of
several gentlemen who assert that it was not infrequently necessary, in order to obtain
a quorum, for the secretary to announce a free lunch, which usually consisted of
crackers and cheese, but was generally potent in securing a good attendance. At this
time the proportion of lumbermen in the membership was greater than from all other
lines of business. Even in that early day the lumber business overshadowed all other lines
in its volume and importance, and it has never from that to the present time surrendered
its prestige. The Board of Trade was subsequently removed to the opposite side of
the street. Mr. Thomas remained in the lumber business with but the intermission of
a term of service in the army during the war, until 1871, when he retired, selling his
yards to A. & T. Wilcox. In the early days of Mr. Thomas in the lumber business
Sextus N. Wilcox, who afterward became a prominent lumbermen, and at his decease
left a property valued at over a million dollars, was a shingle weaver, occupying one
corner of the shanty which for many years served both Mr. Lind and Mr. Thomas as
an office. Mr. Wilcox was drowned in Lake Superior in 1882, while on a pleasure
excursion. He was a nephew of Theodore Newell, of Kenosha, who was the
"Co." of the house of B. W. Thomas & Co., and a cousin to Mr. Thomas, and repre-
sented the interests of Mr. Newell in the Chicago partnership, using his spare time in
shingle weaving from bolts brought from across the lake. This was before the days
3
38 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of sawed shingles, which were just beginning to make their claim for public favor, and
were eventually destined to drive the breasted shingle from the field.
About 1845 Mr. Newell formed a partnership with a man named Loomis, who,
with Sextus N. Wilcox forming the firm of Newell, Loomis & Wilcox, opened a yard
on the site previously occupied by Barber & Mason, on the southwest corner of
Monroe and Market Streets. Some years later Mr. Thomas and Selah Reeves located
a yard on the river bank south of Polk Street, where they carried on a large business
for two or three years, and on the dissolution of the firm by the retirement of Mr. Reeves
the firm of Thomas, Wilcox & Co. succeeded, with yards on Empire slip, VVilcox,
Lyon & Heald succeeding when the partnership terminated. Mr. Thomas retired
from the lumber business in 1871.
The connection of Capt. David Carver with the yard business of the early days
is not well defined. That he brought in the first cargo of lumber which reached the
city, in a vessel named after himself, has for many years been accepted as history.
Our present researches, however, assign that honor to Capt. Pickering, of the schooner
Ariadne, with whom Judge Caton came to the city on a deck load of what the Judge
is confident was whitewood, and the first vessel load to reach the port. That the Judge
is correct is the more probable from the fact of his well-known memory for dates, and
his clear recollections of events of contemporaneous history. Still it may safely be
assumed that Capt. Carver was one of the first, if not the earliest of the lumber deal-
ers of the city. Mr. Milliard mentions Capt. Carver and George W. Snow as having
. yards in 1836. It is quite probable, if not reasonably certain, that, as the master of one
of the small vessels of the day, whose business consisted principally in searching
the shores for something to make a little money out of, he picked up some lumber
at St. Joe or some other point, which it was hardly difficult to do after 1833, and find-
ing an increasing trade, opened a yard for its sale. Be this as it may, it is evident
that he did not continue long in the business, as his name does not appear in the
directory of 1839. Capt. Carver's yard was on the corner of State and Water Streets,
which was the location of the dock of Newberry & Dole, which was the only dock, or
apology for a dock which was then adapted for the landing of goods. As the busi-
ness increased beyond the capacity of his little vessel to supply the yard, the Captain
sold out his business to George W. Snow.
Previous to 1833 the requirements of the settlers, whose wants in this respect were
very modest, were supplied by the local saw mills, the first of which we have record
being the pit saw mill (if mill it can be called) of James Cammack, which was located
near the present Kinzie Street bridge, and was operated by Mr. Cammack on top of
the log, with his son John in the pit beneath, and the product was about 100 lineal
feet per day of the oak, elm or cottonwood which grew near by. Neither the original
directory of 1839 nor the reprint of later years mentions the Cammacks nor William
Laister, whom the directory of 1846 names as having a " wind saw mill," North
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 39
Branch, Fourth Ward. There is little doubt that the mills spoken of by Judge Caton
and Mr. Cobb as the "Walker" and also as the " Hickling" mill, was the same as is
elsewhere spoken of as the Gurdon S. Hubbard and also as the Huntoon mill. This
mill did duty for many years in sawing the local timber, but as to when it went out of
commission there is no record. Of the Laister mill, history is silent except to record
its existence. It was undoubtedly like many another scheme whose motive power is
wind, and which eventuates in nothing but wind. Another saw mill was erected about
this time in the south part of the city indeed, well in the country in those days it
being on a slip made out of a bayou on the river near Twelfth Street, and was erected
and operated by Ephraim Childs Stowell, who was operating it as late as 1854 in
sawing native timber, with some re-sawing of square timber brought from across the
lake. This mill was used by Wood, Henderson & Co. and Goss & Phillips until 1866,
and by Palmer & Fuller as a planing mill, sash, door and blind factory until about
1871, when it was pulled down.
It is probable that the earliect lumber received from abroad came by ox-team
before the arrival of the vessel load mentioned by Judge Caton, as it is mentioned as
an indistinct recollection by several old settlers that lumber was brought from the
Ohio River by teams coming from the South in quest of goods and provisions, which
could be brought by lake and Chicago was the nearest point at which they could be
obtained. The ox-team was slow, and would be little if any slower with a moderate
load, which would help pay the expense of the long journey.
Lumber began to come from Wisconsin as early as 1837-38, and came in limited
but increasing quantities for some years after, until about 1845 '* began to compete in
volume with Michigan lumber. The first mill in Wisconsin of which we find reliable
record is mentioned in the recollections of Mr. Milliard, previously noted, being the
mill of L. Conroe, whom we later find mentioned as a yard dealer in the city in com-
pany with Henry Mitchel, under the firm name of Conroe & Mitchel (1853-54).
At this point the recollections of the venerable George M. Higginson, who is still
living and doing a real estate business with an office in the Unity Building and resi-
dence at Klmhurst, a few miles west of the city, will be of interest. Mr. Higginson
says:
" 1 came to Chicago in 1843, ar >d in the following April I formed a partnership
with Lucius Tuckerman, who for a year previous had been a member of the firm of
Norton & Tuckerman at 144 Lake Street. This firm had a store containing the usually
diversified stock of an ordinary country store, and had also in connection with it a
lumber yard which was located on the west side of Clark Street on the north side of
the river near what is now the north end of the bridge. Norton & Tuckerman dis-
solved partnership in April, 1844, and the firm of Tuckerman & Higginson purchased
the stock' of goods then on hand and the remaining stock of lumber. It was the
intention of the new firm to work out of the store business, which was largely in sup-
plies to the lumber camps of Michigan and Wisconsin.
40 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
"The new firm assumed several contracts for lumber which had been entered into
with Hall & Jerome, of Menominee, Mich., Erastus Bailey, of Oconto, Wis., and a Mr.
Fisk, of Depere. Most of the lumber at that time came from St. Joseph, Grand
Haven and Muskegon, Mich., and Green Bay, Wis. The Green Bay lumber ran more
largely into the better qualities, and sold at $7.50 to $8.00 per thousand, culls half price,
although in many cases only the amount of the freight was allowed for the culls (now
known as No. 2, and comprising the larger part of the receipts of the Chicago market).
Freights from Green Bay averaged about $2.50 per thousand. Muskegon came
next to Green Bay for quality, while Grand River, Kalamazoo (Saugatuck) and
St. Joe stock ran largely to common, and the price by cargo was from $6 to 7 per
thousand, culls half price. There was no inspection in those days, the lumber being
rated only as " merchantable and culls," and the purchase of a cargo was usually
made from an examination of the surface of the deck load, and upon the representa-
tions of the owner. In this way we sometimes got an extra good bargain, and some-
times we felt that we had a very poor one. In the spring of 1845, with freights at
1.50 per thousand we contracted with William M. Ferry for a million feet of Grand
Haven lumber at $j, delivered at Chicago, and to be cut to such bills of lengths and
sizes as we might desire to fill building contracts.
"As the season turned out, this proved a poor contract for us, as we could purchase
on the open market at from fifty cents to a dollar and a quarter less by the cargo. I
remember buying a small but excellent cargo from a Mr. Rose, of Muskegon, at $5.75
per thousand, which ran one-third first and second clear. When lumber was classified
in those days it was in four qualities, viz.: Clear, second clear, common and culls, or
if a lot was bought ' Merchantable ' it was the log run, culls out.
"I think it was in 1848 that the first cargo of Saginaw lumber reached Chicago.
This was a shipment by James Frazer of Co-qual-in (Kawkawlin) near Bay City, and
was a surprise to Chicago dealers, as we had never seen any lumber here running so
largely to uppers, so perfectly clear and well sawed, but the main novelty consisted in
the fact that it was the first cargo so far as I know which contained any circular sawed
siding and flooring, the ordinary kinds being cut with the mulay saw, or gate saw, the
siding coming in stubs of six to eight pieces each, which gave them a rough appear-
ance, leaving a rough end for several inches when broken apart and piled in the yard.*
"I made a bid of $7.50 (which I thought was the top of the market) for the cargo,
but Mr. Frazer got an offer of $8 from his brother Scotchman, Hugh Dunlap, and
of course took it. When I began business in 1844, George W. Snow had a lumber yard
on South Water Street corner of State; Newton Rossiter, had a yard corner of La Salle
and South Water; Barber & Mason wereonthe corner of South Water and Wells Streets;
John M. Underwood was on West Water Street near Lake, and was then the heaviest
dealer of the city. Sylvester Lind was on the east side of the river at what is now the
center of Market Square and Randolph. This comprises the list of dealers whom
I now recall, but the list is, no doubt, incomplete. The fall of 1847 was a season of
great trepidation among the lumber dealers, not only in consequence of the hard times
resulting from the panic which was so severely felt in the East and which could not
help to some extent affecting all sections of the country, but as well from the opera-
* We think Mr. Higginson must before this have seen some of the siding from the mill of Sir. Charles Mears, at White
Lake, and other mills which before this time were operating circnlar saw siding machines which dropped the lumber clean
cut and free from stubs.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 43
tions of a band of incendiaries who were at work nearly every night, making lumber
yards the special object of their attention, my own among the number. Some of the
yards suffered severely, but my loss was light, owing to the fact that I had two yards,
and my lumber was loosely piled, so that my loss was limited to five or six piles only.
I think that Foss & Price had their planing mill burned at this time.
" In the spring of 1846, Mr. Tuckerman, deciding to join his brother in the iron
business in New York, we dissolved partnership and I continued the business alone,
having disposed of the stock of goods in the store.
"About 1849 tne question of inspection came up in the fraternity, and we held a
meeting at which James P. Allen, who was a commission dealer and measurer,
enlightened us upon many points regarding it, but no definite action was taken at the
time. During the summer Capt. Johnson, who was in the employ of Thomas Rich-
mond, brought two cargoes of Saginaw lumber to this market, which had been piled
in the pure air of the Saginaw River for two years. They were the handsomest car-
goes of lumber that I had ever seen. After some conference with the Captain, who
acted as salesman, he agreed to sell me the cargoes (after obtaining Mr. Richmond's
consent) at $4 for culls, $7 for common, $10 for second clear and $12 for clear; and it
was Mr. Richmond's own suggestion that it should be inspected by Mr. Allen, to
which I consented. Among his culls were many split ends, boards which otherwise
were clear or second clear and would rank so in ordinary assorting yards. In fact I
felt that Mr. Allen had favored me to such extent that even my rather elastic con-
science rebelled, and I told him that it was his duty to do justice to Mr. Richmond as
well as to show favoritism to me, so you can imagine that this new matter of inspec-
tion was a surprise to me. On assorting for the yard I found that two-thirds of the
common would pass for second clear, the whole of the second clear would go into
first clear, and the first clear as inspected was so large and well sawed, of soft grain
and with a fresh clean straw color, that I made a grade of extras which brought me
820 per thousand, while the $4 culls I sold for $i I on the dock as they had come from
the vessel. When Capt. Johnson came for a settlement I told him I thought Allen
had done him an injustice and that I would be willing to pay him an advance on the
price agreed upon, but he replied that he had purchased the lumber for a freight
bill, and as he had made a handsome freight out of it, he was perfectly satisfied, and
if I had any particular advantage in the deal I was welcome to it. I had gained on
his own proposition to inspect, and my conscientious scruples being set aside by his
full consent, admission and satisfaction, I paid the bill and it was the best bargain I
ever made in the way of a purchase.* The general price at which lumber was sold
from the yard during the season of navigation in 1848, was $8 for common, $10 for
common flooring and siding, 812 for second clear and $16 for first clear.
"In the earlier years, say from 1844 to 1850, the average sales of the dealers would
run from 1,000,000 feet to 4,000,000 feet per annum. The opening of the Illinois and
Michigan Canal in 1848 increased their trade to a vast extent, the receipts of 1848
lacking but 4,000,000 feet of being double those of the preceding year. Before that
time lumber went into the country wholly by teams, requiring sometimes in muddy
weather four or six yoke of oxen to haul the wagons. I have often sold lumber
*This is the first instance of the kind of which in a half century of experience we have ever heard, and wonld to-day be
considered good evidence of hopeless lunacy on the part of bolh bnyer and seller.
44 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
to farmers who had come to the city from their own farms at a distance of 2OO
miles, bringing wheat or other produce. In preparation for the opening of the canal
I had built at St. Joseph, Mich., a canal boat of tonnage sufficient for the Illinois and
Michigan Canal, which was considerably larger than the average tonnage of the Erie
Canal boats, many of which were towed to Chicago in anticipation of the opening.
At the same time four other boats were built at St. Joseph for Messrs. W. T. Gurney,
H. G. Loomis and John C. Dodge for a passenger line between Chicago and Peru, but
I think my boat was the first one completed on the lakes for use on the canal. I
chartered my boat for the first season to William F. De Wolf, who, with my consent,
named her Roger Williams, he being from Rhode Island. She ran for one season
in the grain trade, but the next year I renamed her the George M. Higginson, and
painted her a bright red color, as an advertisement of my business, and usually
loading her with a general assortment of lumber sent her down the Illinois River to
sell the lumber at any port where it might be wanted.
"In 1849 I established a branch yard at Peoria, and in 1850 yards at Pekin and
Naples. The opening of the canal brought customers from St. Louis and other points
on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and I delivered by canal boat as far as Lex-
ington, Mo.
"In 1850-51 the Galena Railroad, the first one out of Chicago, was finished to
Elgin, and Mr. B. W. Raymond, one of the directors, urged me to establish a yard at
that point, stating that he had plenty of freight to Chicago with little or nothing to
take from the city west. I started a yard at Elgin, and soon after another at Aurora,
so that I had five yards outside of Chicago. The panic of 1857 depressed the price
of lumber for several years, and I closed up my business in that line. In the early
years of my connection with the trade the sales of the market ran from 12,000,000 to
20,000,000 feet per season. I built a steam saw mill at Grand Haven about 1846,
which I sold in 1849. 1 '53 I bought the ' Bangor Mill' at Lower Saginaw (now
Bay City), with about 2,000 acres of pine lands. This mill and property I again sold
in 1855. In 1853-54 I built the 'Chicago Mill' opposite East Saginaw, Mich."
The dealers of 1836 were David Carver and George W. Snow. We find no new
names in 1837, but 1838 introduces Walters (Virgil) & Allen (James P.) and Charles
Mears. The dealers of 1839 have been mentioned. The year 1841 adds the names of
B. W. Thomas and Andrew Smith. In 1843 we a ^d the names of W. M. Ferry and
Norton & Tuckerman, succeeded in 1844 by Tuckerman & Higginson.
THE LUMBER DEALERS OF EARLY DAYS.
From an original copy of Norris' Directory for 1844, in the possession of Mr.
John N. Bohan, of 423 South Halsted Street, and believed to be the only copy
extant, as well as the first detailed directory of the city, the others being but "busi-
ness" directories, we collate the following list of persons at that time connected with
the lumber business of the city:
Allen, J. P. & Co., Canal Street, Third Ward; Barber, Jabez, South Water, foot
of Wells; Gilson, Stephen R., lumberer at Snow's; Howard, William, shingle maker;
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 45
Jones, Tarleton, South Water at Bridge; King, Willis, lumberer at Snow's; Lind, Syl-
vester, Randolph Street Bridge, boards Sauganash; Loomis, Henry, West Water and
Randolph; Nelson, Peter, sash maker; Price, William, sash factory, South Water west
of Clark; Rossiter, Newton, South Water; Row, Nathan, sawyer; Scurgie, William,
204 Lake, lumber; Smith, Andrew, head of Lake Street; Snow, George W., South
Water; Underwood, John M., Lake and West Water; Woodruff, Joseph, shingle
maker.
It will be observed that the above list does not make mention of the names of B.
W. Thomas, W. M. Ferry, Norton & Tuckerman, nor of Tuckerman & Higginson.
This may in part be accounted for from the fact that these directories were compiled
one year ahead of their date, and the directory for 1844 would therefore take no cog-
nizance of parties who began business in the early part of the same year, much less
those who did not commence until the year was well along. Coming to 1845 the firm
of Newell, Loomis & Wilcox is to be added, and for 1846 we open the Fergus reprint
(of 1883) of Norris' " Business Directory and Statistics of 1846" and learn that in that
year the trade was in the hands of:
James P. Allen, North Canal and River Street near Kinzie Bridge; Barber
(Jabez) & Mason (Richard), South Water corner Wells; Crawford, Peter, corner Market
and Washington; Dunlap, Hugh, West Water south of Randolph; Glover, H., West
Water south of Randolph; King (Willis) & Tinkham (Richard H.), South Water
near Wells; Lind, Sylvester, at South Branch (near Randolph Street Bridge); Lloyd,
Alexander, Randolph, Third Ward; Marsh, Luther W., Randolph between Canal and
Clinton, Fourth Ward; Milne (Robert) & Ferguson (Alex.), South Water west of La
Salle; Norton, A. & G. L., Randolph southwest corner Market (William Butts,
agent); Rossiter, Newton, corner La Salle and South Water; Smith, Andrew, east
side Market south of Randolph; Snow, George Washington, South Water corner
State; Sutherland (David R. H.) & Co., River Street; Throop (Amos Gager), Wait
(Solomon) & Co. (John Eaton Throop), southwest corner Washington and Market;
Underwood, John Milton, West Water near Lake; Wright (Timothy) & Butler (Walter),
West Water west of Lake Street bridge.
This record omits several well-known names of firms who were in business at that
time, as Jacob and Henry Beidler, who began a lumber business in 1844 and continued
for many years; indeed, if their successors are to be considered, have continued until
to the present day. The omissions can be accounted for only that in the reprint an
endeavor was made to correct the list from the memories of older citizens, and by this
means some names were added which belonged to a later date, and some were omitted
because perhaps too familiar and so overlooked. We have good reason, however, for
adding to this list (dealers of 1846) the names of James McMullen, N. S. Mead & Co.,
Leonard & Williams, and George M. Higginson.
In this connection should be mentioned the planing mills of Foss Bros. (Robert
H., John P., Samuel T. and William H.), Market, between Washington and Madison,
"on the river;" Price, William H., Clinton near the southwest corner of West Ran-
46 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
dolph. Under the caption of " Doors, Sash and Blinds" we find Beidler (Jacob) &
McKee (James), South Water; McFall, Francis, Randolph, Second Ward; Rossiter
Newton, South Water corner Franklin. In the advertisements Follansbee & Gilman
announce that they are "wholesale and retail dealers in dry goods, groceries, boots
and shoes, salt, lumber, nails, etc., and pay cash for wheat," but they are not classed
as lumbermen.
In the year 1847 we ror the first time find the names of George R. Roberts (who
sold his business to D. R. Holt in this year), Devillo R. Holt.T. S. Parker, Jacob Beid-
ler, Lord & Sutherland and Green & Holden. In 1848 we add the names of Lull &
Williams, Goss & Phillips and Sheppard & Sheriff. In 1849 we include Alexander
Officer, Martin Gilbert & Co., W. M. Ferry, Williams, Ryerson & Co., Throop Bros,
(second time) and Milliard & Howard. It is not improbable that other names should
be added, of which, however, we find no data.
In this connection a few paragraphs copied from the Evening Joiirnal of that
period may lend interest. In its issue of October i, 1846, it gives the receipts of forest
products from October I, 1845, to October I, 1846, as being "Boards and planks 24, 424,-
299 feet; shingles, 8,354,000; lath, 2,069,500; timber, 16,800 feet; staves and heading
(pieces), 15,200; pickets (pieces) 24,000. September 28 it mentions a fire in the planing
mill of Foss & Bro., in which 2,000,000 feet of lumber was burned, the loss being stated
at Si 5,000 with no insurance, while the lumber yards of Throop, Wait & Co., and T. D.
Smith suffered to the extent of $5,000 each, and that of Roberts & Son, $6,000. Two
days later the Journal records the burning of Price & Parson's planing mill with a loss of
$10,000. These two fires weresupposedly incendiary, and we find no further fire records
for twenty years. Under date of November 28 the Journal says: "Twenty vessels
with lumber left Grand River, Mich., on the 24th inst., bound for Chicago, which bids
fair to become one of the most extensive lumber markets in the country." In a later
issue \\\e Journal gives the exports of lumber from Grand Haven for the season of 1848 as
15,500,000 feet, worth $126,750; 8,500,000 shingles worth $14,875, and 550 pine spars,
the value of which is not stated. The Journal sums up the year's business in 1848 as
follows:
"There are thirty-five lumber dealers in Chicago who so far this year (October 12)
have received 49,690,000 feet of lumber; 24,081,000 shingles, and 6,028,000 lath; it is esti-
mated that about 8,000,000 feet more will be added before navigation closes. The total
receipts will be nearly double those of 1847. This lumber came principally from
Michigan and Green Bay, and is reported for the Journal by T. Wright. The figures do
not include the coast and small trade."
This " coast and small trade " was no doubt the work of the small craft, which were
even more plentiful in those days than the larger vessels, making a business of calling
in at the numerous points on the shore where some hardy pioneer had established his
cabin, and here sought to eke out a precarious living by "breasting shingles" or riving
umdsoea! Bros Chicajo
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 49
staves which these coasters, few of them larger than the long boat of the ordinary
vessel of today, being able to get close to the shores, made frequent trips in search of,
paying in pork or flour, with perhaps powder and shot added.
It was in 1848-49 that the panic which created financial havoc in the East was
beginning to be felt most seriously at Chicago and throughout the West, but the open-
ing of the canal and a vast increase in trade with the West caused its effects to be less
serious than might otherwise have been the case. The receipt of 32,118,225 feet of
lumber and 12,148,500 shingles in 1847 was nearly doubled in 1848, and a little more
than doubled in 1849, while the receipts of 1850 were a trifle more than three times
those of 1847 m lumber, and four and a half times greater in shingles, and from this
point the increase year by year is steady and notable. The receipts of 1850 are
doubled in volume in 1853, and those of 1853 are doubled in 1856, hold their own in
1857, and show the effects of the panic of that year by a falling off of 181,000,000 feet
in 1858. It is not until 1862 that signs of returning strength are manifest, but from
that time until 1874 the yearly increase of receipts borders on the marvelous, and from
the latter date to 1879 no falling off is to be noted, while the market scarcely held its
own for quantity from one year to another for some years subsequent to the revulsion
of 1873.
With the impetus imparted to trade by the opening of the canal we find a large
accession to the ranks of the dealers, and a directory for 1851 gives the following list
of the lumber dealers of that year:
B. W. Thomas, Market Street; William M. Ferry, Market Street; Richmond &
Legare; W. D. (D. R. ?) Holt; Throop Bros., Alexander Ferguson, Hugh Dunlap,
Hilliard & Howard, James A. Bishop, all of whom are assigned to Market Street;
Jabez Barber, F. B. Stockbridge & Co., George C. Morton, James & Hammond,
J. W. Duncan & Co., Green & Holden, Higginson & Co., and Hannah, Lay & Co. are
designated as on Canal Street; C. Walker & Co., South Branch, West Side; Andrew
Smith, West Water Street; Sheppard & Sheriff, Walker, Day & Smith, Jacob Beidler,
George R. Roberts, Lind & Smith, and Butler & Morton are located on West Water
Street; Leonard & Williams, Canal near railroad; C. Mears & Co., Kinzie near rail-
road; Peter Crawford, West Water Street; McCagg, Reed & Co., Kinzie on river;
James Andrew, Randolph Street; Norton & Brother, corner Lake and Canal; John
Joseph West, lumber and produce, 14 Dearborn; S. F.Sutherland (hardwood), North
Water near Wells Street. Under the head of planing mills are noted: Foss Bros.,
Canal and Monroe; George W. Noble, Clinton and Randolph; and Holbrook & Dick-
inson, Adams Street. Under the head of sash, doors and blinds: J. McFall, Frank-
lin, near Randolph, and Salisbury & Steinhaus, 214 Randolph, are alone mentioned.
Lumber inspectors: Andrew Kearns and D. S. O'Connell.
Reliable data leads us to complete the above list by adding the names of Artemas
Carter, T. Newell & Co. and Martin Ryerson to the list of yards, and J. K. Russell to
the planing mill, sash, door and blind factories, these, no doubt, having been over-
50 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
looked by the canvasser for the directory. In this year also ( 1851 ) Williams & Avery,
Williams, Ryerson & Co., J. H. Pearsons, Mears, Bates & Co., Hannah, Lay & Co.,
Addison Ballard, and Cleveland & Russell are found in the historical data gathered
in the compilation of this work.
To the dealers heretofore mentioned, we find an addition in 1852, of the names
of A. T. King & Bro., Gardner, Spry & Co., Loomis & Ludington, Henry Fisher,
Ferry & Sons, and Sheppard, Sheriffs & Smith. During this year the total receipts
reached an aggregate of 147,816,232 feet of lumber, together with 70,740,271 shingles,
and the shipments are stated at 77,080,500 feet of lumber. As we have no record of
the stock on hand at the close of the season it is impossible to determine the amount
consumed in the growing city, but basing our judgment upon known consumption of
other years, it is probably safe to say that the city demanded a quantity fully equal to
the amount shipped.
The commencement of the railroad era, which has been by far the most potent
factor in the growth and extension of the lumber trade of Chicago, dates from about
this time. The Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, which later became the Chicago &
Northwestern, had its first ten miles in operation to the Des Plaines River in 1848,
beginning public business in January, 1849, an d completing its strap rail to Elgin in
1850. It was many years before the demand for lumber in the newly opened country
added greatly to the revenues of the railroad or gave impetus to the rapidly extending
business of the lumbermen of Chicago, the trade by the canal affording a trade much
more desirable. Canal boats were loaded at the yard, while railroad shipments
demanded teaming which was an increased expense. It was many years before it
dawned upon the minds of either the railroad manager or the lumber merchant, that the
interests of each would be promoted by having a railroad switch running into the
lumber yard. In fact the demand of H. K. Elkin, that as a condition to his granting
right of way through his yard, the Michigan Central which sought the privilege,
should agree to give him a switch track, was considered the height of oppression to a
struggling company, and the height of assurance on the part of Mr. Elkin, notwith-
standing it was coupled with an offer to load all their transfer freight, at one-half
what it was costing the company to transfer it by team across the city from one depot
to another. At this time lumber was loaded in the yards of the railroad company,
and a charge of 10 cents was made by the company. Mr. Elkins asked that this
charge should be allowed him in case he loaded his own lumber. This also was con-
sidered an unreasonable demand. After a day of consideration however, the utility
of Mr. Elkins proposition was realized and his offer accepted, so far as the lumber
proposition was concerned, and the first lumber yard switch was laid in the yard of
Elkins & Merrill, Sixteenth Street and the river.
The first train to leave Chicago on the Illinois Central Railroad was on May 21,
1852, and its destination Calumet, at that time the temporary terminus of the line,
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 51
which was not completed to Cairo until August 26, 1854, when an extensive country
was opened up, of which the lumbermen were not slow to avail themselves in an
extension of trade, as evidenced by the yearly increasing importations of lumber and
increased number of dealers.
The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was opened for traffic to Joliet,
October 18, 1852; the Michigan Central to the East, May 21, 1852, and the Michigan
Southern Railroad, February 20, 1852. In 1855 the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago
Railroad had completed twenty miles of track, which by November 10, 1856, had been
increased to 383 miles. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul was the first completed
trunk line to the West, running from Chicago to the State line between Illinois and
Wisconsin, where it met the line built by the Green Bay, Milwaukee & Chicago Rail-
road, both roads being completed in 1855, and consolidated in 1863. The first tele-
gram received at Chicago was on January 15, 1848, and our retrospective view truly
enables us to exclaim in the words of the first ocean cable messnge of a few years later:
"What hath God wrought!"
It is difficult to overestimate the effect produced in the settlement of Chicago
and of the vast region lying to the west, north and south by the building first of the Illi-
nois and Michigan Canal, and later of the various railroad lines, while the influence of
the telegraph and telephone systems of communication must by no means be min-
imized.
While for many years the advantage of railroads as a means for the transportation
of lumber was not fully appreciated, the improved means of reaching the prairies, and
of communication with the undeveloped region of the West and South, gave rise to an
emigration which threatened the depopulation of the New England and Middle States,
4 and in fact has in half a century operated almost wholly to change the complexion of
those sections, so far as regards the nationality of a majority of their inhabitants.
Emigration of the hardy and enterprising sons of the East, coupled with a better class
of the foreign immigrant, created a population which speedily became homogenous
and developed a characteristic hitherto unknown in the Old World or New, and which
has since become the synonym for all that is embraced in the words "push," "energy"
and "enterprise."
The directory of 1853-54 contains a greatly increased number of names in its digest
of lumber dealers. In this year the list includes:
Aldrich, James F., 238 State; Allen, James P., inspector and wholesale commission,
State near Fort, docks South Branch between Harrison and Polk; Barber, Jabez, Canal
between Madison and Monroe (lumber cut to order at mill Muskegon); Beidler, A.
& H. B., Charles between Van Buren and Harrison; Beidler, Jacob, West Water and Ran-
dolph; Bilson, G. W., lumber tallyman; Bishop, J. E., yard Market and Jackson;
Blanchard, Joseph, corner Adams and Jefferson; Boyce, Fisk & Co., 52 Lake; Briggs,
Benjamin, inspector; Briggs, William, inspector; Butts, William, Canal between Madison
52 2ND US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
and Monroe; Canfield, Edwin, Fulton and Clinton; Carter, Artemas, near Kinzie
Street bridge; Chapin (E. J.), Marsh (Alexander) & Foss (R. H.), first door south of
Foss Planing mill, Canal between Monroe and Adams; Clapp, Charles C., lumber agent
American Car Works, Conroe (L. C.) & Mitchell (Henry A.), West Water between
Washington and Madison; Crawford & Co. (Peter C.), Randolph between Jefferson
and DesPlaines; Dalton, James, corner Market and Jackson; Dean, Charles F.,
inspector; Dewey, William H., Kinzie Street bridge; Dickey, James V. (agent Ferry &
Sons; Dugal, P. E., inspector; Duncan, J. W. & Co. (J. Woolston and A. D. Woolston);
Durgin, Ezra (wood and lumber), corner Van Buren and Canal; Dye, Nathan, inspector;
Eldred, Farr & Co., Canal between Jackson and Van Buren; Ellsworth, L. S. & Co.,
corner Monroe and Canal; Ferry & Sons, Market and Washington; Ferry (James H.)
& Barton (Charles R.), Washington and Market; Forsyth & Fairchild, inspectors;
Foss & Bros., planing, Canal and Monroe; Gardner, F. B., Wells between Harrison
and Polk; Germain, George H. (lumber agent I. C. R. R.); Goss (D.) & Abbott (C.
H.), sash and door manufacturers, Twelfth near Michigan Southern depot; Green &
Holden (hardwood), Canal between Jackson and Adams; Hade, Patrick, inspector;
Hannah (Perry), Lay (A. Tracy) & Co. (James Morgan), Canal and Jackson; Hil-
liard (L. P.) & Howard (S. G. D.), Market and Adams; Holland, John, near Madison
Street bridge, east side; Holt SiMason, corner Market and Monroe; Howell & Stephens,
West Water and Madison; Hubbard, James H., corner Harrison and Lumber; Hunt-
ington (E. H.) & Co., corner Market and Van Buren; James & Pearsons, Clark near
Rock Island depot; James & Springer, yard and commission, Madison and Canal;
Johnson, Chistopher, inspector; Johnson & Westervelt, west side Kinzie Street
bridge; Jones, Tarleton, wholesale, Rush between Huron and Superior; Leaven-
worth, J. H.. Tremont House; Leonard (James) & Co. (Claude J. Adams), Madison
and Canal; Loomis (J. M.) & Ludington (James L.) Madison and Market; Ludington
(Nelson) & Co., Canal and Van Buren; Lull, Walter, Desplaines between Ran-
dolph and Washington; Mansfield, Benjamin W., West Water and Lake; Mead-
owcroft & Turner, Clark south of Twelfth; Mears (C.) & Co., east of Kinzie Street
bridge; Meglade, Andrew, inspector; Morgan, William D., lumber dealer; Morton
(George C.) & Gilbert (Ashley G.), Charles Street between Harrison and Van
Buren; Newell (T.) & Co., Wells between Harrison and Polk; Noble, George W.,
planing, Clinton between Washington and Randolph; O'Connell, Daniel, and D. S.,
inspectors; Officer, Alexander, Market between Randolph and Washington; Pierson,
Henry, Jefferson between Adams and Jackson; Pilgrim, Henry, shingle weaver; Reed,
John S., Canal and Carroll; Roberts, George R., Market between Madison and Monroe;
Savery, George W., shingle weaver; Sheppard, Sheriffs & Smith, West Water near
Randolph; Smith, Medbury & Co., Market and Van Buren; (Aldrich, Smith & Co.,
Two Rivers, Wis. ; M. B. & J. W. Medbury, Milwaukee, Wis., James F. Aldrich, resi-
dent partner); Spaids, Chauncey D., Market and Monroe (lumber and wood); Stew-
art (A. V.) & Co., planing, Canal between Adams and Jackson; Stowell, E. C., steam
saw mill, Twelfth Street and South Branch; Sutherland & Co., Canal between Carroll
and Fulton; Sutherland, S. F., Market between Jackson and Van Buren; Taylor,
James, lumber agent; Temple, J. F., agent Stewart & Co., planing mills; Thomas (B.
W.) & Lloyd; Throop (J. E.), Learned (S. J.) & Co. (W. H. Magie), Market between
Madison and Monroe; Tobiason, Nicholas, shingle maker; Truman, Horatio, 81 State;
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 55
Vanderbilt, Luke, shingle weaver; Walker & Day, Canal between Kinzie and Carroll;
Wallace & Smith (H. W. Smith, St. Joe, Mich.), Clark south of Michigan Southern
depot; Williams (Read A.) & Avery (T. M.), Canal between Carroll and Fulton;
Williams (J. M.), Ryerson (Martin) & Co., Fulton and Canal; Wing, Edward.
The directory for 1855-56 adds a number of new names to this list, viz:
Bebee, Lyon & Co.; Bonzar, Christian H.; Brewster, B. & Co.; Brown & Trowbridge;
Dewey & Co.; Hugh Dunlap; W. F. Dutcher; Charles Ewer; Fraser & Jillett;* Frost &
Bradley; John Garrison; Hilliard, Howard & Morton; Holbrook & Elkins; Holland
& Leonard; Howell & Skilton; W. C. Humaston; George Ingram; J. L. James & Co.;
S. M.Johnson; Kennedy & Stockbridge; C. Lamb & Co.; J. H. Leavenworth; Sylves-
ter Lind; Lull & Eastman; James McMullen; James H. Mills (commission); H. A.
Mitchell; Morrison & Wallace; Norton & Bro.; J. Peacock & Co. (Stowell's slip);
Pearson, J. H. & Co.; J. W. & N. S. Peck; Perry & Godfrey; Price & Fisher; S. Reeve
& Co.; Rogeis & Brown; Ryerson. Miller & Co.; Otis Sheppard; William H. Slocum;
Steers & Co.; J. M. Turner; H. N. Turner; Tuttle, Green & Co.; E. Varian; J. Volk
& Co.; Wilcox, Lyon & Co.; J. Wilde & Son; J. E. Wilkin; J. M. Williams; Wood,
Henderson & Co.; P. Wood.
Many of the names in this last list will be recognized as appearing in directories
of former years, and we can only account for their omission in the directory of
1853-54 upon the supposition of carelessness on the part of the canvasser.
THE FIRST BOARD OF TRADE.
At the time of which we now treat, the membership of the Board of Trade of
Chicago was largely composed of lumbermen, to whom a separate committee
having exclusive charge of all matters connected with the lumber trade was
accorded. A lumberman, Laurin P. Hilliard, was secretary and A. G. Throop and
W. D. Houghteling, both lumbermen, were upon the board of directors. Down
to as late as 1858 George W. Noble, a planing mill operator, was elected vice-presi-
dent, and lumbermen E. J. Tinkham and D. R. Holt were members of the board of
directors. Nelson Ludington was on the committee of reference; B. S. Sheppard and
L. P. Hilliard were members of the standing committee. The Board of Trade was first
specially incorporated in 1859, and its rooms at this time were on the northeast corner
of South Water and La Salle Streets. But an act of the Legislature, which took
effect February 8, 1849, entitled "An Act for the Incorporation of Boards of Trade
and Chambers of Commerce," provided " that any number of persons, not less
than twenty, may associate themselves together as a board of trade, with authority to
make such rules and regulations as are necessary for the government of the affairs
which come under its control." Corporations formed under this act were not required
to file articles of association anywhere, but no corporations other than boards of trade
or chambers of commerce could organize under it.
" Later spelled Gillott.
56 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
The Board of Trade of Chicago worked under the act of 1849 until its special
incorporation in 1859, and some time about the year 1857 or 1858, the exact date
being undetermined, because of the absence of any records bearing upon the subject,
the lumbermen connected with the Board of Trade formed a separate organization,
which they termed "The Lumberman's Board of Trade," of which Robert H. Foss
was made president, and Nathaniel A. Haven, secretary. Mr. Haven now resides at
New Orleans, and from him we obtain a copy of the following circular, which from
its connection we assume to have been issued about this time, but may possibly have
reference to that later date when the Lumberman's Exchange was incorporated,
the absence of data, and the lack of recollection of the facts on the part of any
lumberman who has been consulted, rendering it uncertain, while the closing sentences
seem to point to 1857-58 as the period referred to:
"The rapid increase in the volume of business, the constant succession of difficul-
ties to be adjusted, differences to be settled and regulations to be made and enforced,
demanded some bureaucratic administration differing from the aftermath of the Board
of Trade floor. Hence a special act of incorporation was passed, vesting what were
deemed the needful powers, in the Lumberman's Board of Trade of Chicago, the incor-
porators being T. M. Avery, Eli Bates, Robert H. Foss, George C. Morton and Read
A. Williams. The first president was Robert H. Foss, and the first secretary Nathaniel
A. Haven. The first sessions were held in the Lind block, corner of Market and
Randolph Streets, and were diurnal from 10 o'clock A. M. to 2 o'clock P. M. These
meetings were well attended for some time; but the financial difficulties ensuing upon
the panic of 1857 deadened the activity of the organization, which was only kept in
vitality by the commission men, who preserved the semblance of an organization and
association by meeting annually and electing officers."
This circular or note of explanation was evidently issued some years after the
circumstance to which it relates, and may have been issued for the purpose of awaken-
mg a new interest by a recital of the events of a previous period. Be this as it may,
it comprises the only printed or written record of which we can learn with reference
to the early organization. That it is in error in the statement that a special act
of incorporation was obtained is evident from the fact that the only special act
on record was that of 1869 to the Lumberman's Exchange. This, however, seems to
have been the first formal attempt to reorganize in an association for the special
purpose of 'regulating the lumber business, and was the precursor of the powerful
and influential organizations of succeeding years, which will be described further
along in this history.
The effects of the financial revulsion of 1857 were severely felt by the lumbermen
of Chicago, as an illustration of which may be cited the experience of R. K. Bickford,
then a member of the firm of Brewster, Bickford & Tildesly, with a yard on North
Street (now Sixteenth), corner of Lumber Street. William Brewster, of that firm,
manufactured about 12,000,000 feet at his mills in Oconto and 4,000,000 in Canada.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 57
The Chicago house purchased the whole cut of the Oconto mills, some of which it
handled in its yard and the balance it sold by the cargo to other dealers. Three vessels
arrived about September i, 1857, with flooring, fencing and siding strips, which were
in quick demand at 814 per thousand, and the vessels hastened back to the mill for
more. On September 7 the news of the failure of the Ohio Life & Trust Company, of
New York, and its effect upon the banks and business interests of the East was spread
over the country, carrying consternation in every direction. On the gth of September
the three vessels returned to Chicago with their cargoes of Oconto lumber, but no one
wanted it. For four days they lay at the dock without a single bid being made; on
the fifth or sixth day John B. Edwards & Brother, jewelers, who had recently disposed
of a stock of jewelry for cash, offered 87 per thousand for the three cargoes, and took
them, unloading and piling the lumber on the North Pier, where, after holding it for
three years and until by the decay of the cross boards its value had greatly deterio-
rated, it was finally sold for $10 per thousand.
The dullness continued for several years, calling for the most strenuous efforts
of all business men to avoid bankruptcy, and it was not until 1863 that a decided and
favorable change for the better was manifest.
It was during the dullness and depression of these years that in 1859 the subject
of inspection rules first engaged the attention of the trade, and a committee of the
Board of Trade, consisting of Eli Bates, Thomas M. Avery, James V. Dickey, George
C. Morton and Russell K. Bickford, was appointed to formulate rules of inspection,
which with slight modifications have continued to be the rules of the market as regards
the cargo or wholesale market to the present day.
The dealers of 1858-59 not enumerated in the foregoing lists, but found in the
directory of 1859, were as follows:
Abbott & Kinginan; Aldrich, Smith & Co.; Averill & Sons; Avery, Thomas M.;
Becker, Vrooman & Co.; Bellamy, Meeker & Co.; Blackwell, Samuel B.; Blanchard,
William; Blinn & Co.; Bourchier & Armson; Bradley & Bro.; Brevvster, Bickford &
Tildesley; Burtis, T. B. & Co.; Chatellier, John D.; Christian, D. W.; Clement, Butlin
& Co.; Cone & O'Brien; Correry, Francis E.; Courier, C. & Co.; Covert, Abram H.;
Cutter & Phillips; De Clerque, Morris & Co.; Durkee, Truesdale & Co.; Dyckman,
Hale & Co.; Eastman, Galen; Eldreds & Balcom; Fitts, Joseph; Foster, William M.;
Foster & Co.; Goodrich, Eckhold & Co.; Green, Timothy F. ; Hannah & Rockwell;
Harvey, William H.; Higginson, Geo. M.; Hills & Garrick; Holbrook & Co. (William
and Thomas); Holden, Bishop & Co.; Hoodless, W. R. & Son; Hotchkiss & Ryder;
Howard & Barton; Howland, Henry & Co.; Jennison & Roberts; Johnson, A. B. &Co.;
Johnson & Taintor; Jones B. Smith & Co.; Kennedy & Day; Kolwes, W. F.; Lind &
Slater; Lount, Gabriel F.; Lull & Lewis; Lyon, I. L. & Co.; McCaw & Co.; McDougal,
Robert and Co.; Man, Putman; Mantz & Co.; Merrill, Alex. H.; Mershon, Augustus
H.; Morgan James; New York Lumber Company; Packard, N. W. & Co.; Parsons &
Farlin; Pearson & Messer; Peck, Joseph W.; Peshtigo Company; Robinson, Richards
& Co.; Rogers, John; Ruddiman, John E.; Salisbury, Rigney & Co.; Scott & Morse;
58 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O .-
Shepard, Sheriffs & Smith; Skinkle, J. W. & Co.; Smith, Simeon & Co.; Steele, Wilkins
& Co.; Steers & Co.; Stewart, Dugald; Stottifer& Mead; Svvartout, J. H. & Co.; Thomas
& Reeve; Throop, Learned & Chase; Trowbridge, Wing & Co.; Walker, L. B.; Walker,
Wm. J. (Hw.); Wallace, John S.; Walls & Son.; Wheeler, Hiram; Whipple, E. W.
& Co.; Williams, John M.; Wing, Edward; Wood, Arms & Co.; Wood & Carter;
Woodworth, H. & Co.
The changes which were constantly taking place among the dealers from year to
year were marked in their number, each succeeding directory omitting many names
included in the previous one, and adding many others. Were we to attempt a full and
complete roster of the dealers of each year it would require a volume. We have thus
far aimed at giving as complete a list as possible of the dealers who may properly be
termed pioneers of the trade by reason of their connection with it during the first
thirty years. In D. B. Cooke & Co.'s Directory for 1859-60 we find the following
names not previously noted or included under other combinations:
Ailing, G. & Co.; Baldwin & Co.; Addison Ballard; Charles R. Barton; Alexander
Bateson; V. Becker & Co.; Thomas H. Beebe; Beidler, J. & Bro.; Blanchard& Queal;
Brewster & Hills; Brooks & Bro.; Thomas B. Burtis & Co.; Carter & Bro.; William
Cowles; James M. Dalton; Amasa F. Dwight; Edward M. Fitch; J. A. Fitch; Gage
& Soper; Ambrose Gagne; Groves & Morris; Hall & Winch; Harris & Bro.; Hilliard
& Wood; Hosmer, Fowler & Co.; William H. Hoyt; James R. Hugunan; Jakeway &
Holbrook; Jillett & King; S. M. Johnson; Tarleton James; Lancaster & Burdick;
Walter Lull; J. & C. McCaffrey; J. L. McVicker & Co.; Mann & Langley; Benjamin
W. Mansfield; H. F. Marsh & Co.; John Martin & Co.; R. Mason; Arthur Meglade
(Inspector); Barzilla Merrill; Morgan & Furness; Henry Moore; James Peacock;
Joseph Peacock; Pearson & Batcheller; Potter & Crippen; Reed & Bushnell; Charles
Reitz; James W. Rigney; Sheriffs & Smith; Benjamin Smith; B. W. Thomas & Co.;
Trowbridge & Swan; John A. B. Waldo; Walker, Bronson & Cole; Charles Walker;
Wells & Sears; Wilkins & Alcock; Wood, Henderson & Cornwell.
At this time do we find record of four shingle mills, viz.: Berard & Sander, 69-71
Canal; Lewis Halgerson, 168 North Desplaines; Rawson & Bateman, Ringold Place,
corner of Douglas Avenue; James L. Smith, Kingsbury, opposite Ontario. Shingles
were made from split bolts brought from Michigan and Wisconsin, the trade in which
was for many years quite extensive, until manufacturers began to attach machines to
their mills and to erect shingle mills contiguous to the forests, as it became more
economical to transport the finished product than the rough block.
The panic of 1857 had spent its force, and the large additions to the list of dealers
in 1859-60, with the many changes which occurred by the dropping out of old firms,
was succeeded in 1 860-61 by the depression growing out of the war cloud which was
now hanging over the nation. The list of lumbermen was not greatly reduced in
consequence, but the new additions and changed designations were less numerous
than in former years.
* 1
Goodspeed Brothers. Publishers. Clii
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 61
The additions and changes noted in the directory for 1860 were:
Adams & McEntee; R. K. Bickford; William Blanchard; Amasa F. Burt; William
Butts; G. A. Flagg & Co.; Nat A. Haven; Hurlbut Humphrey; Kennedy & Day; James
C. King; Jacob Leibenstein; Hugh Maher; Newago Lumber Company; Oconto Lum-
bering Company; R. F. Queal; E. & J. Rigney; Ferdinand Schvvarts; Stewart Bros. &
Co.; John S. Tildesly; Horatio N. Turner; Samuel Yockie.
The directories issued previous to this time were generally compiled in the sum-
mer and fall, being issued usually in September or October, and were intended to
serve for a fiscal rather than a stated year; hence the dates given must be accepted
for the earlier rather than the later of the years named. From Halpin & Bailey's
Directory for 1861 we make the following additions to the previous lists:
Avery, William W.; Brown; Mordecai J.; Bruce & Queal; Chapman; J. F. ; Clark;
S. D.; Corry & Dwight; Curtis & Nelson; Cutler, Witbeck & Co., Guysbrot, De Clerq.,
Dennison & Calkins; George J. Dorr; Easton & Mills; Elkins & Merrill; Ferry & Son;
Rogers Fowler; John D. Gardener; Hills & Mead; Henry W. Hinsdale; S. D. G. Howard;
Henry N. Holden; Hoyt & Bouton; Stanton A. Irish; Joseph Lubby; A. D. Loomis;
Frank McMullen & Co., Simeon Mayo; Miller & Liebcnstein; Parsons & McNab; Porter
& Smith; Reed& Bushnell; Ryerson & Morris; George E. Scott; Simmons & Carleton;
Sutherland & Granger; Sutherland & Lord; Stouffer & Trego; Alvah Trowbridge;
Gideon Truesdell; J. H.& L. B. Walker; Walker, Washburne& Co., Wallace & Holmes;
Edward P. Wood.
As before remarked, the prospects of a war with the South operated in 1860-61
most depressingly upon the lumber trade in common with all other classes of property,
but no sooner was it a settled fact, than lumber sympathized in common with its fel-
lows in the marts of trade, in the stimulating effects which the stirring times developed.
Lumber advanced rapidly, and by the fall of 1862 it was held at an average of $3 to
$4 above the prices of early spring, which were about those of the preceding
year. It is difficult at this time to realize the causes of the rapid advance and abnormal
demand, but, notwithstanding the withdrawal of nearly 5,000,000 men from the
pursuits of peace to engage in the destructive arts of war, business of all kinds pros-
pered, and with gold at a premium of from 200 to 240 per cent, the country was
flooded with paper money, which being issued by the Government, had a stable char-
acter, and the readiness with which it could be obtained naturally induced habits of
luxurious living hitherto unknown to the masses of the people. It is doubtful if, as a
general rule, these habits so acquired have, or will in the future prove of the highest
advantage and benefit to all classes, but of one thing we are assured that it has led to
the development of a more esthetic taste in many directions, and in none to a more
marked extent than in the building world. Before the war none but the very wealthy
contemplated the use of hardwoods in the finish of dwellings, or business houses; the
hardwood dealers sought their custom and trade from the furniture or wagon factory
4
62 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
rather than from the worker in house finish. In the evolution of trade, the use of
hardwoods for interior finish, in doors, windows, stairways, base and moulding, and no
less in floors and mantels, has become so great that no building of any pretension is
now erected without using it to a greater or less extent At no time, however, in the
history of the trade have the dealers endeavored to any great extent to mix the hard
and soft woods in their yards, or if for a short time the experiment has been tried, it
has soon been relinquished.
The City Directory for 1862-63 gives the following list of lumber dealers then
engaged in the business: Avery, Thomas M., West Water, corner Canal; Avery,
William W., West Water, corner Canal; Baldwin & Co., foot of North Water;
Ballou, L. F., Grove, between North and Old; Barton, Charles R., corner Twelfth
and Lumber; Becker & Vroorman, 460 North Water; Beidler, J. & Bro., Canal
and Jackson; Bickford, Russell K., Lake, corner West Water; Bradley, Ford E.,
agent, west side Clark, near railroad crossing; Brewster, Oscar, between Twelfth
and Empire slip; Brower, Charles H., Empire slip; Brown & Mills, south end
Canal and Lumber; Bruce, Queal & Scott, Beach, near Polk Street bridge; Burdick,
William R., Clark, near railroad crossing; - Garrigue, 242 South Water; Chapin,
Moss & Foss, northeast corner West Van Buren and Canal; Clark, Samuel D., Beach,
on Empire slip; Cone, Hubbell B., Clark, between Liberty and North; Corey &
Dwight, Canal, between Lake and Randolph; Coroles, William, Canal, southeast cor-
ner Lake; Curtis & Nelson, 91 North Canal; Dalton, Joseph M. & Bro., Lumber, near
Old; Declerg & Dorr, 10 Aikens building; Denison, E. H., corner Old and Lumber;
Eastman, Galen, West Water, between Madison and Randolph; Eldred, Elisha (agent
St. Clair gang sawed lumber), Wells, southwest corner Polk; Eldred, H. F., 566 Clark,
corner Twelfth; Elkins & Merrill, east side Clark, near railroad bridge; Elliott, J. F.
D., corner Old and Grove; Fahs & Bush, Kingsbury, southwest corner Erie; Ferry &
Son, east end Twelfth Street bridge; Foster, Thomas W., Twelfth, on Empire slip;
Furners, E. L., & Co., 57 North Wells and 93 Michigan; Fyfe, William C., 242 South
Water; Gagne, A. & Co., north side West Chicago Avenue near bridge; Gardner,
Freeland B. & Co., corner Beach and Taylor; Gardner, Howard C., Twelfth and Beach;
Gardiner, John D., agent, corner Twelfth and Beach; Garrick, John, corner South
Water and Franklin; *Granger, John, 83 Canal; Gray, A. R. & Co., corner Clark and
North; *Green & Holden, South Canal, between Jackson and Adams; Groves & Morris,
12 South Canal; Hannah, Lay & Co., Lumber, near Maxwell; Harris & Bro., Lumber,
near Old; Haven, Nathaniel A., 242 South Water; Wood, Lawrence & Cornwell, Sher-
man, corner Taylor; Hawley, C. A., west end Polk Street bridge; Herbert, Charles,
Ellsworth, between Mather and Polk; Hills & Mead, west side Clark, near railroad
*Holbrook & Co., Grove, between North and Old; *Holden, Henry N., 207 West
Market; Holt & Calkins, Twelfth and Empire slip; Howard, Samuel G. D., west end
Polk Street bridge; Hoyt, David N. S., Twelfth, south of bridge; Irish, Stanton C.,
Lumber, near Twelfth; Jillett & King, west side Sherman, near Taylor; Johnson, A.
B. & Co., North Canal, near Kinzie; King, Andrew T. & Bro., Lumber, near Twelfth;
Leonard, James & Co., South Canal, near Jackson; Ludington, N. & Co., Lumber, south
of Twelfth; McCaffery, John, Beach, near West Polk; McMullen, Funk & Co., 10 North
* Hard wood.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 63
Canal and Lake, corner Jefferson; Mansfield, Benjamin W., Lumber, near Twelfth;
Mason, Richard, 146 Market, corner Monroe; Mayo, Simeon W., Twelfth, near Lum-
ber; Mears, C. & Co., I Kinzie, and 440 North Water, Merrill Barzillus W., Water,
northwest corner Washington; *Miller & Lieberstein, corner Polk and Ellsworth;
Morgan, Franklin P., 57 North Wells; Newell, T. & Co., 394 Wells; O'Brien, M. W.,
Clark, between Liberty and North; Officer, Alexander W., Adams, corner Canal; Par-
sons & McNab, Franklin and Van Buren; Peacock, J., Stowell, corner Sherman; Pear-
son, Avery & Co., 540 Clark; Peshtigo Company, North Pier; Phillips, John, North
Green, northwest corner Third; Phillips, William B., Twelfth and Clark; Pillsbury,
Benjamin (agent Morgan & Furness), corner B. R. Railroad crossing and State; Potter,
George W., west end Randolph Street bridge; Reed & Bushnell, west side Clark near
North; Rietz, Charles & Co., Canal, near Lake; Roberts, George R., Clark, near rail-
road crossing; Sheriffs & Smith, 200 South Canal; Simms, Thomas, 331 Wells; Spald-
ing, Jesse, Lumber, near Twelfth; Stouffer & Fargo, west side Clark, near Liberty;
*Sutherland & Granger, 83 South Canal; *Sutherland & Lord, Market, near Jackson;
Throop & Learned, West Charles, near end Van Buren Street bridge; Trowbridge,
Alma, Twelfth, on Empire slip; Truesdell, Gideon, Clark, near Liberty; Waldo, John
A. B., 115 South Canal; Walker, John H., Beach, near Polk; Walker, Londus B.,
Beach, near Polk; Wallace & Holmes, corner Old and Grove; Washburne & Walker,
90 South Water; Wells & Sears, Beach, between Taylor and Polk; Wheeler, Uriah H.,
North Canal, corner West Lake; White Charles B., Clark, near railroad crossing; Will-
iams, Read A., Beach, near Polk; Wood, Henderson & Corn well, Sherman, southwest
corner Taylor; Wood, Peter & Co., Lumber, corner Twelfth.
, Under the head of " Lumber Manufacturers" are named the following:
Cowles, William N., Canal, southeast corner West Lake; Cutler, Witbeck & Co.,
120 North Canal; Peshtigo Company, North Water and North Pier; Ryerson & Morris,
71 North Canal and Beach, between Twelfth and Polk.
Halpin's Directory for 1863 adds to the foregoing list the following names of
dealers who appear in this year for the first time:
Ballard, Addison & Co., 146 Market; Bigelow Bros., corner Eighteenth and Lum-
ber; Breed & Hay, West Twelfth, between Beach and river; Carter, Artemas, 15-17
Wells, basement; Cone & O'Brien, Fourteenth and Clark; Crawford, William, Chicago
Avenue bridge; Donson, Alfred, Carroll, corner Canal; Farr, James, Jr., Beach, near
Polk; Goss & Phillips, Clark and Twelfth; Howard & Chase, West Charles, south of
Van Buren bridge; Learned, S. J., Charles, northwest corner Van Buren bridge;
Lord, James F. & Co., Lumber, near Canal; Mears & Bates (formerly C. Mears &
Co.); Meglade, Arthur, 520 Clark; Miller, Leopold, (formerly Miller & Leibenstein);
Ryerson & Morris, 71 North Canal; Underwood, J. M., 176 South Canal; White &
Trowbridge, Lumber, near West Twelfth; Wilcox, S. N., Franklin, between Taylor
and Harrison; Will & Co., Taylor and Market; Wood, Lawrence & Cornwall, Tay-
lor and Sherman.
"The omissions from the previous year are numerous, indicating the withdrawal of
* Hardwood.
64 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
some and the formation of new connections by others, while in several instances the
omissions would seem to be the fault of the canvassers, as the firms omitted are
known to have continued in business to a much later date. The list of omissions is
as follows:
Avery, W. H.; Brewster, Oscar; Bruce, Queal & Scott; Foster, Thomas; Furness,
E. L. & Co.; Fyfe, W. C.; Gagne, A. A. & Co.; Gardner, H. C.; Granger, John; Green
& Holden; N. A. Haven; Hawley, C. A.; Herbert, Charles; Hoyt, David; McCaffery,
John; Mansfield, B. W.; Mason, Richard; Newell, T. & Co ; Phillips, John; Pillsbury,
Benjamin; Potter, George W.; Simms, Thomas; Throop & Learned; Trowbridge,
Alvah; Truesdell, Gideon; Walker, Leonidas B.; Washburne & Walker; Wheeler,
Uriah H.
Under the caption " Hardwood" are named Holbrook & Co., H. N. Holden., Miller
& Leibenstein., Sutherland & Granger, and Wallace & Holmes., while the " Manufact-
urers' " list adds the names of Elkins & Merrill; Ferry & Son; Gardner, John D.;
Underwood, J. M.; Wilcox, S. N., and Bailey & Hair's Directory for 1866 gives the
following list of dealers not noted in Halpin's Directory of the preceding year:
Adams, C. J. & Co., Canal, corner Adams; Baldwin & Porter, North Pier; Bailey
& Queal, 360 Wells; Barton & Jones, Twelfth and Lumber; Batcheller, Webster & Co.;
176 Canal, (cars loaded in yard); Beach & Williams, Lumber and Twelfth; Becker's,
Vrowman, estate, 460 North Water; Beidler, J. & Bro., Taylor & Beach; Blanchard &
Borland, 242 South Water; Bradley, N. B. & Co., Clark and C. B. & Q. crossing;
Breed, Charles G., Twelfth, near bridge; Burdick & Parker, P. & F. W. R~ R. bridge;
Chase, David F., south of Van Buren bridge; Cowles, William, Canal and Lake; Dai-
ton, James & Bro., Lumber, near Eighteenth; Davis & Mason, Lumber and Twelfth;
Edwards, Park & Co., 775 Canal; Foster, Thomas W., Twelfth and Empire slip; Fyfe
& Sawyer, 242 South Water; Gagne, Ambrose, Chicago Avenue bridge; Gardiner,
Davis & Co., Eighteenth Street bridge; Garrick, John, 342 South Water; Gill, B. G.,
Maxwell and Fort Wayne crossing; Groves, Dennison F., Canal and West Washington;
Harvey, T. W., Beach, corner Polk; Hayward, A. D., (broker) 180 South Water;
Holmes & Co., Grove, near Eighteenth; Hyde, Zenas F., Lumber and Canal; Irish &
Fuller, 242 South Water; Kirby, Carpenter & Co.; Kingsbury & Carroll; Law &
Spaulding, 250 South Water; Marsh & Foss, Canal and Van Buren; Mason, Richard
& Son, 146 Market; Mears, Charles, Grove and Seventeenth; Mears, Bates & Co.,
Kinzie Street bridge and Beach Street, near Polk; Mills & Cook, Lumber and Canal;
Morris, James H., 12 Canal; Morton, George C., 242 South Water; Munn & Scott, no
North Water; Newell, T. & Son, Franklin, between Tyler & Harrison; Noble, John T.
& Co., North Canal and Carroll; Pomeroy & Co., Canal and Eighteenth; Ritchie, R.,
Roberts., Ryerson, Martin, Canal and Fulton; Starrett, David A., Lumber and Canal;
Stouffer, Henry I., Clark and Fourteenth; Truesdell, Gideon, 242 South Water; Wal-
lace, J. S. & Co., (broker) 2 and 4 Michigan Avenue; Wells & Spaulding, Lumber and
Twelfth; Wetherell, Jenkins & Co., Lumber and Canal; Witbeck, John H., 97 Canal;
White, Trowbridge & Co., Lumber, near Twelfth; Wood & Lawrence, Taylor and
Sherman.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 67
Under the caption " Hardwoods " but one name appears, that of Henry C. Col-
gate, broker, 10 Clark Street. The growth of the city is shown in the fact that Bailey
& Hare's Directory for 1865-66 embraces 867 pages, that of the previous year 612
pages, while that for 1866-67 contains 994 pages, besides a business classification of
159 pages, or a total of 1,153 pages. From the latter we make the following additions
to and changes in the ranks of the lumber dealers as compared with the previous year:
Anderson, B. L. & Co., Fisk between Twenty-second and Lumber; Bateson'
Alexander, corner Archer and Bonfield; Becker & Hippie, 460 North Water; Breed
& Hancock, 51 West Twelfth; Brewster & Fraser, 242 South Water; Bridges, Lyman,
Masonic Temple, 85 Dearborn; Browns & Sherwood, 242 South W 7 ater; Burt, W. R.,
Grove foot of Seventeenth; Calkins & Stone, Grove near Archer; Canfield & Cole,
80 North Canal; Cone, H. B. & Sons (formerly Cone & O'Brien), 242 South Water;
Cutler, Dwight, 350 Wells; Deming, Charles & Co., 242 South Water; Eldred, D. M.,
Twelfth Street bridge; Goss, Phillips & Co., Clark and Twelfth; Hall & Winch, 528-
536 Clark; Hannah, Francis A., 199 Lake; Harless, Lanchester & Bishop, Grove foot
Twenty-second; Harris Bros., Lumber and Twelfth; *H. N. Holden & Bro.; Holt &
Balcom, Lumber and Twelfth; Houghton Bros. & Benton, Beach and Sebor; Ideson &
Freese, 242 South Water; Johnson, A. B., Kingsbury foot of Ontario; Johnson, James
L., Grove and Nineteenth; Leonard, James, Canal and Adams; Loomis, John Mason,
242 South Water; Ludington, James, 242 South Water; Ludington & Wells, 242 South
Water; McDonald, E. & Co., Lumber and Maxwell; McMullen & Officer (formerly
McMullen, Funk & Co.), Lake and Jefferson; Mears, C. & Co. (formerly C. Mears),
corner St. Clair and Michigan, and Grove foot Seventeenth, also Kinzie Street bridge;
Meglade, Arthur, 242 South Water; Meglade, William, 242 South Water; Merrill, Bar-
zillia & Co., Lumber near Twelfth; Minard, Ira, Canal and Lumber; Morton & Chase>
242 South Water, also Halsted Street bridge; Newaygo Company, Taylor and Sherman;
Newell, Beaumont & Co., Franklin and Van Buren; Pearson, J. H. & Co. (formerly
Pearson & Avery), Ellsworth near Polk; Pearson & Wright, 540 Clark; Cjueal, Robert
F. (formerly Queal & Scott); Roberts, Calkins & Hull, 756 Clark; Russell, A., 18
Franklin; Slade, Jonathan, 96 Kingsbury.
The period from the beginning of the war of the Rebellion to the disastrous
panic which overtook the country in 1873 was devoid of special features. Trade
vacillated from year to year, or rather from spring to fall, according as money was more
or less plentiful, and according as the winters afforded a larger or smaller crop of logs.
The abnormal demands of the years immediately succeeding the war led to the con-
struction of railroad lines into hitherto unknown regions. The West from the lakes to
the Pacific was gridironed with iron tracks. These roads consumed immense quan-
tities of lumber other than in railroad ties, and other lines of road were projected into
the forests of the timber States to facilitate the work of the logger. Upon these lines
of road saw mills were planted even before the rails were laid. As a result, each year
has seen an abnormal and overabundant supply thrust upon the Chicago market to
the detriment of the profits, no less of the manufacturer than of the wholesaler and
68 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
jobber. It is not necessary to go into the details of the historic fires which on October
8 and 9, 1871, destroyed so vast a section of the city. Fortunately, we are called
to record comparatively small losses to the lumbermen on that memorable occasion,
and it is questionable if we might not speak of it as a boon to them rather than as a
loss. There were but few lumber yards in the track of the conflagration, while several
manufacturing establishments were swept out of existence. Among the lumberyards
destroyed were those of Jillett & King, located on Harrison and Fifth Avenue;
Mears, Bates & Co., Beach and Polk Street; H. N. Holden, (hardwood) corner Jackson
and Market; John Sheriffs & Son, 200 South Canal; Marsh, Chapin & Foss, corner
Canal and Van Buren; Peshtigo Company, on the North Pier; Street & Chatfield,
Roberts Street between Huron and Superior; Davis & Mason, 236 South Water Street;
Addison Ballard, Market and Monroe Streets, and Foss Brothers, at Van Buren and
Canal. Of the manufacturers of sash doors and blinds and planing mills, Peterson,
Springer & Co., Bremer corner Elm; U. Goodwillie, Kingsbury corner of Ontario; J.
Bartelme & Sons, 143-5 Larrabee; Jenck & Meyer, 343 Sedgwick; P. C. Campbell,
404 North Wells; James Farson & Son, 8-10 Market; T. H. & A. L. Brown, 208 East
Van Buren; T. J. Roelle & Son, 351 South Canal. The loss of lumber aggregated in the
neighborhood of 45,000,000 feet. At the same time that the conflagration was raging
at Chicago the forests of Michigan, and as well those of Wisconsin, were suffering
from forest fires to an extent which led many to believe that the sources of supply
had been wiped out, and that Chicago could no longer look to either of the States
named for what lumber would be required for her future trade.
At a meeting of lumbermen to consider existing conditions, the statement was
made upon what was for a long time considered reliable authority, that such was the
case. So strong was this impression, that Congress was appealed to and an act was
passed admitting Canadian lumber to Chicago free of duty for the next two years.
This act was not availed of to any extent, however, and we are unable to discover that
a single cargo was sent to this port from the Canadian mills in consequence. That
the ravages of the forest fires was extreme, is shown in the complete wiping out of
several saw mill towns both in Wisconsin and Michigan, while happily, although vast
extents of forest were burned over, necessitating its immediate conversion into saw
logs to save it from the ravages of the worms, the ultimate extent of damage proved
far less than had been feared and indeed, trifling in comparison, the ruined towns and
mills being at once rebuilt.
In the case of the lumbermen, recuperation from their losses was rapid, and it is
stated as a fact that before the first anniversary of the fire had rolled around, their
losses were fully made good. A strenuous endeavor was at once put forth to secure
all the lumber possible that fall, and the receipts of the following year were nearly
150,000,000 feet in excess of any previous year, reaching in the aggregate 1,183,600,000
feet. The panic of the next year put a temporary damper on the lumber trade in com-
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 69
mon with all other branches of business, and while the receipts continued practically
as great in volume from year to year, it was not until 1879 that the dealers felt encour-
aged to believe that the sun of prosperity was again dawning upon them.
The succeeding years were fairly prosperous ones in the lumber trade, leading on
to the great prosperity which has in later years prevailed. In the meantime the trade
which for so long had been confined to the use of the forest products of only the
States of Michigan and Wisconsin, with some hardwoods from Indiana and Ohio, and
poplar, black walnut and oak from Tennessee and Kentucky, began to reach out and
obtain the products of every portion of the land. It was not until 1884 that Southern
pine began to get a foothold in the Chicago market, although small stocks of flooring
had been kept by a few of the hardwood yards, yet not to an extent entitling that
timber to be named as a staple of the market. In that year, however, Frederick W.
Norwood and J. S. Butterfield, forming the firm of Norwood & Butterfield which
later became a corporation, opened a yard for the exclusive sale of Southern pine lum-
ber and timber, and although meeting with but indifferent success for a year or two
persevered and soon had competition in a rapidly growing business, which in 1892
reached to the extent of nearly 100,000,000 feet. During the same year the California
Red Wood Company of Humboldt, Cal., appointed Everitt S. Hotchkiss their agent at
Chicago for the introduction of California redwood lumber and shingles, of which
about 100,000 feet of the former and 500,000 of the latter were sold before the com-
pany met with embarrassment and its shipments ceased, when Hooper & Co., of
Humboldt, essayed to build up a trade, but with indifferent success, although several
dealers in pine and hardwood kept small stocks on hand. About 1885 the firm of
Ruddock & Seymour introduced the cypress of the South, which has constantly grown
in favor and is looked upon as one of the standard articles of the lumber yard.
With the decadence of the forests of Michigan, hemlock, which had hitherto
been wholly neglected, became a common article of trade, increasing each year in
volume and taking a well-deserved position in the building world. With the
extension of a large number of railroad lines into the forests of Wisconsin, an
increasing proportion of the lumber trade of Chicago has its inception in the interior
of that State, and less dependence is placed upon the mills on the lake shore of
Michigan and Wisconsin. About 1887-88 James Fraser, a commission dealer,
inaugurated a trade in the fir of the Pacific Coast, obtaining his supplies of long
timber, including bridge timber and car sills, from Oregon and Washington, and this,
with the introduction of the red cedar shingles of the coast, has proved the beginning
of a considerable trade which bids fair to develop, in the ratio of a wise reduction in
rates of freight from the western coast, but in the case of shingles has already
attained large proportions.
At present and for many years past the Chicago market has developed an
increasingly cosmopolitan character as regards her sources of supply. From the line
70 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of the lakes comes the pine, cedar, hemlotk, oak, ash, beech, maple and other hard-
woods of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and we might add Canada, although
the receipts from the province, even when after the fire of 1871 the tariff laws were
suspended for a time, have never proved an alarming factor in the competitive race.
By rail the North and the Northeast bring the same varieties from the interior of
Michigan and of Wisconsin, while the lines to the Northwest, West and South bring
the black walnut, poplar, oak, ash, hickory and yellow pine of the coterie of States
ranging from Iowa on the north to Florida, Texas and Mexico on the south, while
the fir of Oregon and Washington and the redwood of California find resting place
in the yards beside the white and yellow cedar of the lake country and the red cedar
of the Pacific Coast. No market on the face of the globe can compare with Chicago
in the varieties and extent of her timber supply.
LUMBERMAN'S BOARD OF TRADE AND LUMBERMAN'S EXCHANGE.
It has erroneously been asserted that a chartered institution known as the "Lum-
berman's Board of Trade" existed before 1869, but from what has already been
stated it is certain that the only association prior to that date was organized under the
law of 1849, which conveyed but slight privileges. As members of the Chicago Board
of Trade after its general incorporation in 1850, the lumbermen had a committee of
their own number to look after the interests of the trade. When in 1859 the Chicago
Board of Trade obtained a special charter, the lumbermen decided to associate under
the general law, and maintained their organization to a greater or less extent for the
next ten years, but neither record nor legend credits the organization with any great
amount of benefit to the trade.
No records are to be found and none are believed to exist, of any action either
as a committee of the Board of Trade, nor yet of the Lumberman's Board of Trade
from its organization in 1859, to the incorporation of the Lumberman's Exchange in
1869. That an organization was kept alive although in a dormant condition, is satis-
factorily evidenced by circumstances, in the election in 1859 of Robert H. Foss as
president; Eli Bates, vice-president, and Nathaniel A. Haven, secretary, and their
reelection in 1860, after which neither history nor legend point to any work accom-
plished by the organization until after the war. In 1866 an effort was made to revive
the association, and Artemas Carter was elected president, George C. Morton, vice-
president, and John Garrick, secretary, and the same parties were reflected in 1867.
For 1868 Jesse Spalding was elected president, George C. Morton, vice-president, and
William L. Southworth, secretary. In 1869 by special act of the Legislature the
Lumberman's Exchange was incorporated and Thomas M. Avery was elected presi-
dent, W. D. Houghteling, vice-president, and W. L. Southworth, secretary. For 1870
and 1871 W. D. Houghteling was president, and Mr. Southworth secretary, an office
he continued to hold until 1875. No vice-president seems to have been required in
/////////// '//
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 73
1870-71, but Augustus G. Van Schaick became treasurer, and continued to hold the
office until 1886, except for the years 1874, when John J. Borland was elected and the
subsequent years 1881-82, which were filled by John McLaren.
The records up to this time are extremely meager, amounting to scarcely more
than legend, except as regards the act of incorporation, which, being a part of the
organic law of the State, is, of course, available, and is as follows:
"CHARTER.
"AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE LUMBERMAN'S EXCHANGE OF CHICAGO.
Approved March 3 is/, 1869.
"SECTION I. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in General
Assembly: That Freeland B. Gardner, Martin Ryerson, Eli Bates, Nelson Ludington,
Harrison Ludington, Augustus A. Carpenter, Jesse Spalding, George R. Roberts and
Thomas H. Beebe, and their associates, be, and the same are hereby created a body
politic and corporate, under the name and style of the " LUMBERMAN'S EXCHANGE OF
CHICAGO," and by that name may sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, receive,
acquire and hold property and effects, real and personal, by gift, devise or purchase,
and dispose of the same by sale and conveyance, or by lease, or otherwise; may have
a common seal, and may alter the same at pleasure; and shall possess and enjoy all
the powers, privileges and immunities incident to corporations for the purposes herein
mentioned and contemplated. Provided, that the corporation hereby created shall
not, at any one time, hold real estate, the value of which shall exceed one hundred
thousand dollars.
"SEC. 2. The affairs of said corporation shall be managed and conducted by
a board of not less than five, nor more than thirteen directors, who shall be elected
annually, and continue in office until others are chosen in their place; a majority
of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The officers
of said corporation shall consist of a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer.
The president and vice-president shall be elected annually by, and selected from, said
board of directors, and the said board of directors may appoint the secretary and
treasurer, and require of the latter such bond and sureties as may be prescribed by
the by-laws of said corporation; and the said corporation may appoint such other
officers, agents and servants as the directors may deem necessary for carrying into
effect and accomplishing the objects and purposes of this act, not inconsistent with
the laws of this State.
"SEC. 3. The said corporation is hereby authorized to establish such rules, regula-
tions and by-laws for the management and conduct of its business and offices; and of
its officers, agents, servants and members, as they may think proper, and for the time
and manner of holding elections, filling vacancies, and appointment of agents, servants
and employes. Provided, always, that they be in conformity to the laws of this State.
"SEC. 4. Said corporation shall have the right to prescribe the rules, regulations,
terms and conditions under and upon which members may be received into and
expelled from said corporation, and may revise and alter the same from time to
time as they may think proper.
74 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
"SEC. 5. Said corporation shall have power to appoint inspectors, as many as they
shall see fit, to examine, measure and inspect lumber, timber, shingles, wood, and
every other article of traffic commonly dealt in by the members of said corporation,
or any of them, or by persons engaged in what is commonly understood to be the
lumber business, and to prescribe the rules and fix the grades by which such inspectors
shall be governed in the discharge of their duties; and the certificate of such inspector
as to the quality, quantity or character of such article thus inspected, and their mark
thereon, shall be evidence between buyer and seller of the grade, quantity, quality
or character of the same, shall be binding upon the members of said corporation,
or others interested, who shall obtain, require or assent to the employment of said
inspector. Nothing herein contained, however, shall compel the employment by any
one of any such inspector.
"SEC. 6. Said corporation may impose fines upon any of the members thereof,
and collect the same, for breach of its rules, regulations or by-laws, but no fine shall
exceed $25, and such fines, when incurred, may be collected by action of debt before
any justice of the peace in the city of Chicago, in the name of the corporation.
"Snc. 7. Said corporation is hereby authorized to constitute and appoint com-
mittees of reference and arbitrations, and committees of appeals, who shall be gov-
erned by such rules and regulations as may be prescribed in the rules, regulations or
by-laws, for the settlement of such matters of difference as may be voluntarily sub-
mitted for arbitration by members of said corporation or by other persons not mem-
bers thereof. The acting chairman of either of said committees, when sitting as arbi-
trators, may administer oaths to the parties and witnesses, and issue subpoenas and
attachments, compelling the attendance of witnesses, the same as justices of the peace
and in like manner directed to any constable to execute.
"Snc. 8. When any submission shall have been made in writing and a final award
shall have been rendered (and no appeal taken within the time fixed by the rules or
by-laws of said corporation relating thereto), then, on filing such award and sub-
mission with the clerk of the Circuit Court an execution may issue upon such award
as if it were a judgment rendered in the Circuit Court, and such award shall thence-
forth have the force and effect of such a judgment and shall be entered upon the
judgment docket of said court.
"SEC. 9. For the purpose of organizing the corporation hereby created, the cor-
porators herein named, or a majority of them, are hereby authorized and directed to
call a meeting of the members of the " Lumberman's Association," so called, now
existing in said city of Chicago, to be held in said city at such time and place as they
may think proper, for the purpose of fixing upon the number of directors and electing
the same, and for the transaction of such other business as may be necessary to per-
fect such organization, of the time and place of holding which said meeting notice
shall be given for ten successive days next preceding the time of holding the same,
in one of the daily newspapers published in the said city of Chicago.
"Ssc. 10. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
"T. CORWIN, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
"J. DOUGHERTY, Speaker of the Senate.
"Approved March 31, 1869.
"JOHN M. PALMER, Governor."
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 75
"UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, \
STATE OF ILLINOIS. | s '
OFFICE OF SECRETARY.
"I, Edward Rummel, Secretary of State of Illinois, do hereby certify that the fore-
going is a true copy of an act to incorporate the Lumberman's Exchange of Chicago,
approved March 31, 1869, now on file in this office.
"In witness whereof I hereto set my hand and affix the great seal of State,
[SEAL.] at the city of Springfield, this 2d day of April, 1869.
"EDWARD RUMMEL, Secretary of State"
Upon receipt of the certified charter the organization adopted the following
preamble and proceeded to formulate suitable by-laws for the government of the
Exchange:
PREAMBLE.
"Having a desire to advance the commercial character and promote the general
lumber interests of the city of Chicago and the Northwest, and wishing to inculcate
just and equitable principles in trade, establish and maintain uniformity in the com-
mercial usages of the city, acquire, preserve and disseminate valuable business infor-
mation, and, with a view to avoid and adjust, as far as practicable, the controversies
and misunderstandings which are apt to arise between individuals engaged in trade
when they have no acknowledged rules to guide them, we, the members of the Lum-
berman's Exchange of Chicago, by virtue of the power vested in us by the preceding
charter, do hereby agree to be governed by the following rules and by-laws."
APRIL, 1869.
These rules and by-laws it is scarcely necessary to introduce in extenso, being of
the ordinary character suitable for such an organization; Article 1 defining the title,
"The Lumberman's Exchange;" Article II treating of the board of directors and their
term of office and as well providing for committees of arbitration and appeals, and
for the annual election. Subsequent articles defined the duties of the various officers,
terms of office, meeting of directors, rooms and docks, suspension of members, arbi-
trations, appeals, awards, bonds, fines, fees, contracts, memberships, visitors, vacan-
cies, duties of committees, etc., with by-laws regulating debates, and the orderly con-
duct of the meetings.
That the new organization was at once permitted to drop into a condition of
innocuous desuetude is not to be supposed; meetings were held and action taken for
the advancement of what was thought to be the best interests of the trade, yet no
records are available giving even the slightest hint of the work accomplished. It is
not until after the great fire of October, 1871, which destroyed the records of the
Exchange, together with hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of still more valuable
property and records, that we find any further written evidence of the existence of
such an organization, and in the lapse of time even the memory of the participants in
such action as may have been taken fails to recall any details. The confusion into
which the entire city was thrown by the great fire, and the abnormal energy which
76 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
succeeded the first feelings of gloom and dismay, may well account for a subsequent
interregnum. The immense demand for lumber which was at once manifest for the
rebuilding of the city, giving abundant play to every energy requisite for the obtain-
ing and distribution of building material, will of itself be accepted as an excellent
reason why each merchant was too much engrossed in his individual cares to pay
much attention to legislation upon matters which were taking care of themselves in a
remarkably healthy manner. When at last the time arrived when conference and
unity of effort was thought desirable, enough importance was not attached to the
work to make it a matter of record, and the interregnum continues until March, 1874,
of which period we shall speak later.
The first available records of any association after the great fire of 1871 are
the minutes of a body which was evidently not in full sympathy with the chartered
organization. This body kept a record book and its proceedings are traceable. The
record opens as follows, viz.:
"Pursuant to call and adjournment of previous informal meetings, a meeting of
the Chicago lumbermen was held at the Grand Pacific Hotel, February 14, 1874, at
8 o'clock P. M. Malcolm McDonald acted as chairman, Charles A. Street as sec-
retary. At a previous meeting of the lumbermen of Chicago a committee was
appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws for the government of a proposed asso-
ciation of lumbermen. W. D. Houghteling, as chairman of that committee, reported
that the committee, after a careful consideration of the subject, present the rules and
by-laws which have been printed and distributed to the lumber dealers of the city.
Upon motion it was ordered that the rules and section of rules be voted on separately,
which being done, the following were adopted as the rules of the proposed associa-
tion:
PREAMBLE.
"Chicago having become the great lumber market of the Northwest, situated mid-
way between the pineries of the lakes and the sections which are destitute of lumber,
enjoying unsurpassed facilities for transportation both by lake and railway; with this
vast business employing an amount of capital second to no other branch of trade, we
deem it important that an organization should be effected which should embrace this
entire lumber interest; and further believing that this organization is demanded to
regulate transactions, adjust differences, promote fair dealing and furnish all possible
information that can benefit its members, we hereby organize an association and adopt
the following rules and by-laws:"
We do not think it essential to copy the entire list of rules and by-laws, which
differ but little from those of the Lumberman's Exchange, and are such as would
naturally be adopted by such an organization. A few extracts, however, will not be
out of place.
"Rule i. This association shall be called the "Chicago Lumberman's Associa-
tion" (on February 2 ist this was changed to "Chicago Lumberman's Board of Trade")
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 79
and shall be for the benefit of all lumber dealers who may become members thereof,
and shall have its office and place of business at Chicago, 111."
Rule 2 provides for a president, a vice-president and seven directors, a committee
of arbitration and a committee of appeals.
We assume that Rule 13 expressed the real cause which rendered a different
organization from the chartered Exchange desirable; it is as follows, viz:
"Rule 13. The benefits of this association, as herein contemplated, shall be
granted to all its members in every respect alike."
The rules then go on to make necessary provision, prescribing the duties of the
different officers, also of the directors and of the committees of arbitration and appeals,
of the method of obtaining membership and of withdrawal, making the membership
fee $15 and the annual dues $10, and giving the directors power to make an assess-
ment for any amount needful to defray the legitimate expenses.
As soon as the constitution and by-laws were adopted, an election of the first
officers was in order, and a ballot resulted in the choice of A. C. Calkins for president
and Charles M. Charnley for vice-president. Eleven directors were also elected, viz:
Alexander Officer, R. F. Queal, M. McDonald, C. A. Street, A. R. Gray, W. D.
Houghteling, A. G. Van Schaick, B. L. Anderson, A. A. Carpenter, J. B. Goodman
and G. C. Benton. After a vote of thanks to the proprietor of the Grand Pacific, the
meeting adjourned to meet at the call of the president. The record is signed by
Charles A. Street, secretary. The board of directors met February 16 at the office
of the Kirby Carpenter Company, 244 South Water Street, President Calkins pre-
siding. C. A. Street was chosen secretary and held that position at the daily gather-
ings of the succeeding month and until a permanent and paid secretary was elected.
At this meeting Messrs. Street, Charnley and Goodman were appointed a committee to
obtain suitable blank books and stationery for the use of the association, and Messrs.
Houghteling and Charnley were appointed to secure suitable rooms for a permanent
home, and Messrs. M. McDonald, C. A. Street, E. Rietz, B. G. Gill and C. C. Thomp-
son were appointed a "commercial" committee, and the question of a revision of the
lien laws of the State was referred to them.
At the meeting February 20 the committee on rooms reported that they had
secured the store No. 258 South Water Street, with its basement, for the rental of S8oo
per year, with a fair prospect of subletting the basement at $300 per year, also that
they had supplied the room with necessary furniture and that it was ready for occu-
pancy. At this meeting W. D. Houghteling and C. M. Charnley were appointed a
committee on rules and by-laws, and to Messrs. Calkins and Van Schaick was delegated
the duty of securing a permanent secretary. An inspection committee consisting of
M. McDonald, James McMullen, James C. Brooks, G. C. Benton and J. H. Swan was
also appointed.
80 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
On February 21 an arbitration committee consisting of A. P. Kelley, J. A. B.
Waldo, J. F. Noble, E. A. Lord and W. Bushnell.and a committee on appeals consist-
ing of J. Beidler, E. W. Brooks, T. M. Avery, R. P. Dennison and E. Crepin were
chosen. At this meeting, on motion, the word "Association" was stricken from the
title, and the designation ''Lumberman's Board of Trade" substituted, and a full set
of by-laws adopted.
At a meeting February 26 the committee on lien laws reported a necessity for
their revision, and recommended that the association join with other interested parties
in hiring an attorney to draw up a satisfactory law, but this was voted down and
the committee asked to perfect a law and report it to the directors. The meeting
authorized a subscription to the Chicago Daily Times, Tribune, Inter Ocean, the North-
western Lumberman, Menominee Herald, and papers published at Muskegon, Saginaw
and Menominee, Mich.; Albany, N. Y., and the St. Louis Republican. At the meeting
of February 28 it is noted that " misapprehension exists as to the objects and scope of
this Board of Trade," and it was
"Resolved, That it is not the policy of the Lumberman's Board of Trade to exclude
from its membership any reputable and responsible firm or person engaged in the
manufacture, purchase or sale of lumber, subject only to the approval of the board of
directors, as provided in the rules."
Messrs. Street and Thompson were instructed to join the representatives of the
brick and other interests in going to Springfield, the Legislature being in session, and
to secure if possible the passage of a revised lien law. The labors of this committee
appear to have been successful, and the law then passed remained unchanged until a
subsequent revision in 1891, in the passage of which the lumbermen were much inter-
ested.
March 6 the committee recommended that a chief inspector and three deputies be
appointed, and on motion they were instructed to prepare a set of rules for the inspec-
tion of lumber, and a general meeting of the trade was ordered to discuss the subject.
At a meeting of the board of directors March 13 George E. Stockbridge was
elected secretary with a salary of $>i,2OO per annum. Mr. Stockbridge was the first
salaried secretary in the employ of the lumbermen as a body. At this meeting the
committee on commercial relations recommended the trial of a plan outlined by them
for keeping a record of the financial standing and responsibility of dealers through-
out the West who are dependent upon Chicago for their supplies of lumber. The
report was accepted and the committee requested to appoint a " rating committee"
to consist of three of their number.
The committee on inspection reported a conference with a committee of the Lum-
berman's Exchange, and submitted rules for the government of the inspectors and
defining the grades of lumber. Section I provides for:
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 81
"a. The appointment of one chief and four deputy inspectors.
"b. The maximum charges for the inspection of lumber shall be for straight meas-
ure, 15 cents per thousand; for inspecting and marking in two qualities, 20 cents per
thousand; for inspecting and marking three or four qualities, 25 cents per thousand;
for inspecting and marking five or more qualities, 30 cents per thousand."
The balance of the report, consisting of fifteen sections, describes the different
grades of lumber, lath and shingles, and the duties of the inspector.
These rules were discussed section by section at this and the next meeting, and
as adopted became the rules which have since governed the Chicago market, being
with slight modifications the same rules that were adopted in 1858. At a subsequent
meeting the action regarding the appointment of a chief inspector and three deputies
was reconsidered, and provision made for the appointment of a chief inspector at a
salary of 3,500 per year, and an assistant chief whose salary was at a subsequent
meeting fixed at 200 per month for a period of eight months. Peter Fish was elected
chief inspector and John Cortis assistant chief. March 23 the city was divided into
four inspection districts, and a recommendation that fifty inspectors and measurers,
and twenty-five tally boys be appointed, was approved and salaries fixed at $100 per
month for the best inspectors, 890 per month for the best measurers, and 830 per
month for tally boys, and the fees were changed to 12 cents for measuring and
tallying two kinds, 14 cents for three kinds, 16 cents for four kinds, 18 cents for five
kinds, dimension and piece stuff to be charged according to the time occupied in
doing the work. For inspecting shingles (three to be drawn from each quarter thou-
sand bunch, and each bunch to be branded by the inspector) 3 cents; counting
shingles 3 cents per thousand; counting lath 3 cents; counting posts 82.50 per thousand
pieces; inspection and counting 83; counting, measuring and inspecting $5 per
thousand. Stringent resolutions, forbidding any member of the inspection department
from taking any gratuity, or being directly or indirectly interested in buying or selling
for himself or others, were adopted.
The policy of the Board of Trade at this time does not seem to have been the
result of a fixed study of conditions and requirements, for each succeeding daily
meeting seems to have been devoted to undoing the work of the former meetings, as
daily experience developed necessity for change and amendment, and on March 25
the action fixing the salary of deputy inspectors at $2OO per month was reconsidered,
and on motion an amendment adopted to insert the words "not to exceed 82,500 per
annum," and William J. Frawley was elected first deputy at a salary of 82,500, and
William McCallum, William Oppenhagen and George Gilbert were appointed second,
third and fourth deputies at a salary of $2,000 each per year.
At this meeting the rates of inspection for car load lots were fixed at 83 for one
car and 82 for each additional car at the same place on the same day, and 83 per car
for hardwood. A book-keeper was ordered to be employed for the inspection depart-
82 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
ment under bonds of $5,000 and the treasurer ordered to give bonds in the sum of
820,000. Another change in the inspection rates was made on March 27, the charge for
two kinds being advanced to 16 cents; inspecting and marking, 20 cents; three and four
qualities to 30 cents; counting shingles was reduced to 2 cents; counting posts from
$2.50 to $2 per thousand pieces for split posts. On March 30 a visitor's registry book
was ordered and a resolution adopted confining the use of the room to the member-
ship. On April 6 the secretary was instructed to send the following circular to all
dealers in lumber in Illinois, Ohio and Indiana:
"Dear Sir: The dealers of this city have formed an association known as the
Chicago Lumberman's Board of Trade, with rooms located at 258 South Water Street,
for the general promotion and advancement of the interests of lumbermen here
and elsewhere. In furtherance of this they have invited dealers and manufacturers
throughout the Northwest to unite with them, and would be glad to have you become
a member of the Board of Trade. Among the measures adopted are a revision of the
rules of inspection, to which we invite your attention and ask your cooperation, and
a change in the general method of measuring and inspection, by which the labor and
the character of the labor employed comes under the superv.sion of competent men
employed by the Board, the price of which has been reduced to sixteen cents for
straight measure, and for inspection a corresponding reduction, it being the design to
reduce this important branch to a correct system and charge prime cost.
A. C. Calkins, president; Charles M. Charnley, vice-president; A. G. Van Schaick,
treasurer; George E. Stockbridge, secretary. Directors A. C. Calkins, C. M. Charnley,
C. A. Street, A. G. Van Schaick, Alexander Officer, James C. Brooks, M. McDonald,
A. R. Gray, George C. Benton, A. A. Carpenter, T. W. Harvey, J. B. Goodman,
W. D. Houghteling."
The railroads were at this meeting requested to fix their lumber tariffs on the
basis of weights rather than by carloads or the thousand feet.
The Northwestern Lumberman had recently been established in this city, and in
order to do as much missionary work as possible, made application for permission to
obtain the statistics gathered by the secretary, but that was going a little too far and
the record shows that the permission was refused by a unanimous vote. The trade
had not been educated to give its secrets to the public. At this meeting it was decided
to place seventeen desks in the room of the association, and rent them to members at
the rate of 850 per year. The question of inspection rates cropped out at almost every
meeting, and on May 1 1 the rate for measuring and tallying one kind was advanced to
18 cents, three kinds to 20 cents, four kinds to 22 cents, five kinds to 24 cents. Inspect-
ing and marking was advanced to 30 cents for two qualities, 35 cents for three or four
qualities, and 40 cents for five or more qualities.
About this time there, appears to have arisen some disagreements regarding the
inspection department, and two prominent members of the association tendered their
resignations of membership, and a committee was appointed to ascertain the trouble
and endeavor to secure harmony.
^1
^v-
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 85
At the meeting June 29 a communication is noted from the Lumberman's
Exchange, and a committee of five was appointed to confer with a committee of the
Exchange relative to entering into an agreement whereby the sellers of lumber by
cargo should bind themselves to patronize only the inspection department of the
"Board of Trade," and in July a circular was sent to country dealers and others pur-
chasing lumber in this market by the cargo, asking them to sustain the inspection
department of the Board of Trade by refusing to purchase under an unofficial inspec-
tion. At a meeting August 3 the secretary was instructed to correspond with manu-
facturers throughout the Northwest relative to the practicability of holding a national
convention of lumbermen before the logging season commenced.
That the inspection scheme did not work to the full satisfaction of the trade is
evidenced by the following circular, which on September 19 was approved by the direct-
ors and ordered sent to each member of the city organization:
On July 6 was forwarded you, by a committee of this Board of Trade, a circular
calling your attention to the absolute necessity of giving to same all of your measur-
ing and inspecting, in order that the large obligation assumed by the association
might be met without a resort to an assessment of its members. Since that time many
of them have given cargoes to inspectors outside the board, while with the present
light receipts of lumber on this market, the monetary receipts of the Board will be
inadequate to meet the winter expenses. For the last three weeks the receipts of the
inspection department have not met its outlay, and failure on the part of members to
give during the balance of the season all their measuring and inspecting to this
Board of Trade will certainly necessitate an assessment of its members to meet winter
expenses.
By order of the directors.
GEORGE E. STOCKBRIDGE, Secretary.
At a meeting of the Board of Directors October 5, 1874, the secretary was in-
structed, in view of an apparent prospect of an overstock of logs for the next year, to
gather reliable figures of lumber, shingles, lath, pickets and posts on hand in the yards
of the city on October I, and to correspond with all producing points tributary to
this market and all points tributary to the Mississippi River, and on October 19 he
sent out the following report:
The number of yards in the city of Chicago October i, 1874, is no, of which four
are estimated, and the returns from the balance being from actual measurements, are
as follows, viz:
Lumber and
timber. Shingles. Pickets. Lath. Cedar posts.
358,432,582 49,248,000 1,703,028 40,985,958 230,598
This is the first detailed inventory of stock on hand for any month except Janu-
ary, when the annual inventory was taken, and of which the earliest available are those
for 1871, while the list is complete from that year. The figures were apparently not
reassuring and a circular was prepared and widely distributed, urging manufacturers to
5
86 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
conservatism in their logging operations of the winter. It must not be forgotten that
but one short year had elapsed since the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., of Philadelphia,
had proved the preliminary step leading to the worst panic which the country had
ever experienced, and building operations were practically at a standstill. Lumber
was selling at a minimum of profit and in many cases without profit. In the circular
referred to we find the following paragraph:
" The average annual receipts of pine lumber at the port of Chicago for three years
past exceeds 1,000,000,000 feet, and of this vast amount more than half is received and
paid for when landed, by lumber dealers who own no saw mills. In other words, the
yard interest pays annually in cash on delivery here, to mill owners who have no docks
in Chicago, the large sum of $6,000,000 for lumber, and an additional sum of $2,000,000
for shingles, lath and other products. The mills that saw lumber for the Lumber
Exchange cargo market, for sale afloat, depend wholly on yard dealers to furnish
money to operate their mills in summer and repay advances received from commission
firms during winter. The course pursued by these mill owners during the present
season of 1874, would, in almost any other branch of business, have brought ruin to the
parties who furnished their working capital, and owing to their large manufacture,
has caused a declining market during the entire season, and an average depreciation
of ten per cent in the value of stocks in pile."
After stating that an amount exceeding 900,000,000 feet, consigned to the Chicago
market in 1875, must have the effect of causing yard prices to decline to a point below
the lowest prices of 1874, and cause the withdrawal of one-half the dealers, while
leading to the establishment of a credit system which had hitherto been avoided,
the circular closes with the following statement:
" For the following good reasons all prudent mill owners will reduce rather than
increase their business, until the surplus lumber now in market is disposed of.
" First. That during the season of 1874 no profit has been realized, and from
excessive manufacture the markets of the country are now largely overstocked, with
no prospect of a permanent advance in prices.
" Second. That the inauguration of sales of cargoes on credit by manufacturers,
during 1875 will, in event of excessive manufacture, soon become the custom of the
market.
" Third. That a further shrinkage in the value of lumber will cause the with-
drawal of large amounts of capital now furnished by yard dealers, a class that pay
for and distribute more than half the product of the saw mills.
" Fourth. That all concede that a large amount of lumber forced on the market
in 1875 must cause a lower range of prices, and a reduction, either great or small,
will place the lumber business of the country on a better foundation."
As a commentary on the effect of this circular, in restricting production, it may
be pointed out that the receipts of 1875 exceeded those of 1874 by about 57,000,000
feet. Those of the following year, however, fell short 118,000,000 feet.
In December it became apparent that the inspection department had not covered
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 87
its expenses, and an assessment was proposed to make up the deficiency. It was
finally decided to collect the needful amount by voluntary subscription, the deficit
amounting to 2,700.
An inventory of stock on hand was ordered to be taken January i, 1875, and the
secretary reported as follows, viz.:
344,109,373 ...... 142,902 ...... 81,019 ...... 2,499,880 ...... 39,551,850 ...... 81,019
This, as compared with the stock on hand January I, 1874, was an increase of but
16,231,631 feet, as against increased receipts for the year of 69,416,516 feet, and as
compared with the October inventory it showed a decrease of 14,323,209 feet of lum-
ber, and an increase of 31,771,000 shingles; and at the meeting of January 18, 1875,
we find an apprehension expressed that the circular issued in November may have a
greater effect in the curtailment of the log crop than was desirable, and a fear is mani-
fest that in place of too large a supply during the coming season, there may not be
enough to supply the demand, and in February a second circular was issued, which
was intended to counteract the effects of the first.
The annual election took place according to adjournme'nt on February 15, 1875,
when A. C. Calkins was reflected to the presidency, and A. A. Carpenter was elected vice-
president, and a board of directors comprising Malcolm McDonald, O. D. Wetherell,
W. E. Strong, John McLaren, C. A. Street, C. C. Thompson, B. L. Anderson, Alex-
ander Officer, George C. Benton, A. G. Van Schaick and Thaddeus Dean. As a com-
mittee of arbitration A. P. Kelley, John Sheriffs, R. P. Derickson, James McMullen
and Charles M. Charnley. Committee of appeals W. D. Houghteling, A. A. Bige-
low, A. R. Gray, T. W. Harvey and Jacob Beidler.
At an adjourned session of this annual meeting a motion prevailed to canvass the
trade for the purpose of ascertaining the loyalty of the membership, and the desire for a
continuance of the inspection system, which had evidently not met with the success
and support which had been anticipated, and a motion for its discontinuance for the
coming year was referred to the board of directors for investigation and recommenda-
tion. At this meeting also a motion prevailed that an effort be made to consolidate
with the Lumberman's Exchange, and Messrs. Carpenter, Dean and Van Schaick
were appointed a committee to investigate and report.
As a result of this action on March 9 the committee presented the following
proposition from the Lumberman's Exchange, as the conditions upon which amal-
gamation would be considered desirable:
"First. The adoption by the consolidated associations, of the present laws. of the
State of Michigan, so far as the same defines the grades and qualities of lumber, but
with the understanding that no by-law shall be adopted requiring members to place
their cargoes under inspection by grades, except from choice.
"Second. That inasmuch as the present surplus in the treasury of the Exchange
88 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
was raised by assessment on cargoes sold on the market the previous season as a
special fund to pay for docks, this fund shall be kept for that particular purpose, and
all further expense that may be incurred for sales docks shall be paid by assessments
on cargoes offered for sale on the market.
"Signed, W. L. SOUTHWORTH, Secretary"
This proposition appears to have been received with favor, for the next notation
of the minutes is the simple statement:
" And a motion prevailed that the details of the union be referred to the president
and board of directors, and that A. C. Calkins should be the first president of the
consolidated association."
It is unfortunate that the records of the Board of -Trade, nor yet of the Lumber-
man's Exchange, should not give any further particulars of the debate or other action
leading up to so important an end, but neither of the secretaries appear to have
thought that any interest would be taken in the matter beyond that felt by the imme-
diate participants, and it being a matter with which they were already familiar, a
simple reference to the fact was all that was requisite, but of this we shall speak
elsewhere.
The record speaks of meetings March I, 8, 15 and 16 to deal with an offending
inspector, but nothing further appears regarding consolidation, and the records close
abruptly with the meeting of the latter date. The roll of membership of the Lum-
berman's Board of Trade at this time, as shown by the records, was as follows:
The Kirby-Carpenter Company, by A. A. Carpenter, president; McMullen &
Officer; Oconto Company, by G. Farnsworth, president; H. P. Murphy; Bushnell,
Walworth & Reed; The B. L. Anderson Company, by B. L. Anderson; Elkins &
Cook; Lowell & Dalton; Kelley, Wood & Co.; Holbrook & Co.; Hempstead & Beebe;
Porter & Co.; Shoemaker & Howell; J. A. B. Waldo; G. C. Benton; Grusendorf &
Mueller; M. B. Hull; Ketcham, Stephens & Co.; B. G. Gill & Co.; Ford River Lumber
Company; Mendsen & Winter; Hair & Odiorne; Batcheller & Slaight; Charles Rietz
& Bros.; Calkins & Fisher; Noble & Little; Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick; Mears,
Bates & Co.; O. D. Wetherell; Barton & Jones; Hatch, Holbrook & Co.; Davis &
Murray; Adams & Lord; Frederick Edler; Thompson, Henry & Co.; H. F. Getchel
& Sons; N. Ludington Company; Robert F. Queal & Co.; Curtis & Skinner; T. M.
Avery & Son; Simpson, Ruddock & Co.; McArthur, Smith & Co.; J. P. Merrill;
Hannah, Lay & Co.; J. Beidler Bros. Lumber Company, W. F. Beidler, secretary;
H. J. Denickman & Sons; Dean Bros.; Charnley, Bros. & Co.; Street & Chatfield;
M. McDonald & John Roe; A. R. Gray & Co.; Sylvester Wheelock; Loveland &
Spencer; Avery, Murphy & Co.; Chase & Pate; The Peshtigo Company, by W. E.
Strong, president; White, Swan & Co.; North Branch Lumber Company; Martin,
Ryerson & Co.; Waldo, Waters & Co.; Gifford, Ruddock & Co.; John Mason Loomis,
& Co.; R. K. Bickford & Co.; Fitzsimons & Connell; Bigelow Bros.; Plowdon Stevens;
T. W. Harvey, by A. J. Cross; Ferry & Bro., by N. H. Merrill; John D. Gardener &
Co.; Bush & Hill; S. K. Martin.
t Z~ C a-
*
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 91
While the lumber dealers were trying to regulate the inspectors, the latter were
not idle, and in April, 1868, they organized "The Lumber Inspectors and Measurers'
Union," and after many conferences and much labor, presented and adopted, in June
of that year, a constitution and by-laws, which answered the purposes of the organiza-
tion until revised in 1873. The preamble of the association says:
"WHEREAS, In all well-regulated societies certain laws or rules are adopted as nec-
essary for the order thereof. We, the members of the Lumber Inspectors and Meas-
urers' Protective Union of Chicago, do, for the purpose of furthering the object for
which we are united, agree to support the following for our code of laws."
The constitution provides for the usual officers of the association and prescribes
the manner of their election and their duties. Article II (2) on membership was as
follows:
"SECTION I. No person shall be admitted to membership who is not a competent
measurer of lumber, and who has not passed the board appointed by the Lumber
Association of Chicago to examine inspectors and measurers, and had his name put
on the list as a competent inspector or measurer of lumber in the Chicago market.
He shall pay an initiation fee of not less than $i and not more than $5."
Section 2 provides for the proposal of the name at a regular meeting by a mem-
ber in good standing, the proposal to be in writing, and to state the residence of the
applicant, and how long he has been in the lumber business, and the application shall
be referred to the executive committee for investigation and report upon the charac-
ter and fitness of the candidate, and they shall report at the next regular meeting.
"SEC. 3. Balloting shall be by ball ballots, and more than one-third black bal-
lots shall reject the candidate, who cannot again be proposed before the expiration of
three months."
Section 5 provides that an unfavorable ballot cannot be reconsidered, but a new
ballot may be ordered at any time previous to the admission of a candidate who has
received a favorable ballot. Section I of Article 3 provides that any member on
becoming a "boss" inspector shall be considered an honorary member.
Article 10, Sections I 2, provide for the punishment of any member for improper
conduct, intoxication at a meeting or at the market, or while employed to measure or
inspect on dock or cargo, or in going to or from such work, or appearing so on the
cargo, and the testimony, verbal or written, of a lumber dealer, broker, boss inspector
or member, shall be received in evidence.
Section 3 forbids members working on cargoes with men not belonging to the
union, or for any boss inspector who employs non-union men, or for any boss who
refuses to pay union men for the time they are employed, or for any other boss
inspector while there are any day men on the market, and Section 4 forbids members
from working for less wages than the rate established by the union, viz.: Measurers,
92 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
$5 per day according to schedule adopted July, 1872; inspectors, $5 or more per
day; measurers, per week not less than $22; inspectors, not less than $24, subject to
change at any time it may seem best to the union.
The first officers were Patrick Reynolds, president; J. O'Donnell, vice-president;
J. M. Douglas, secretary; John Frundt, assistant secretary; M. Naughton, treasurer.
The executive committee consisted of Edwin M. Brosnau, P. H. Gilmartin, John
Frundt, Timothy Gorman, John Kelley and John Schroeder, and the arbitration com-
mittee of Mark Dooner, P. Bernard and John Frundt.
This association is still in existence, and with little or no change in its rules has
reflected the same officers as far as was practicable from year to year. The association
has never been aggressive in its operations, but has in its silent influence frequently
nullified the efforts of the dealers to enforce the authority of their associations, and
thus compelled the abandonment of measures which did not meet the approval of the
inspectors, and has as well been potent to deter the addition to the inspection corps
of the city of a larger number of measurers than was found desirable, in order to secure
remunerative employment to the members of the union. Few associations of this
character have wielded a more powerful influence in a quiet way for the accomplish-
ment of its purposes, at all times seemingly conforming to the demands of the
Lumberman's Exchange and taking its licenses, but succeeding at all times in thwart-
ing any effort to introduce non-union measurers and inspectors into the market, to
come into competition with its own membership.
THE LUMBERMAN'S EXCHANGE.
The Lumberman's Exchange of Chicago has held a preeminent place among
representative associations in connection with the commercial industries of the nation,
standing second to the great Chicago Board of Trade, whose operations are now
confined to other than the products of the forest, but the acknowledged head of
all the many organizations scattered all over the land, incited by the usefulness and
success of this the parent organization in the interest of those who deal exclusively
in the products of the forest. Of the operations of the Lumberman's Exchange of
Chicago, no records are to be found subsequent to the obtaining of the charter in 1869,
until a stray sheet is accidentally discovered upon which is the annual report of Secre-
tary W. L. Southworth, of the operations of the association for the fiscal year ending
March 2, 1874. The records of the Exchange previous to the fire of 1871 were destroyed
in that conflagration, and it may well be assumed that for the succeeding year or two
the lumbermen were too busy to take much interest in statistics, or to take a very
active part in the promulgation of rules and regulations for the government of a busi-
ness which was taking care of itself in a remarkably healthy manner; yet there was an
annual meeting held in 1872, at which Anthony G. Van Schaick was elected president;
William Blanchard, vice-president, and W. L. Southworth, who was the unsalaried
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 93
secretary from before the incorporation in 1869, and continued from year to year, was
elected again, and as well during the succeeding years, until the amalgamation in 1875,
when the old war horse was laid aside and a stranger put into his harness. But if
associations like republics are ungrateful and unceremoneously thrust aside old and
faithful servants, the memory of Mr. Southworth's unselfish services to the craft will
always be of perpetual remembrance so long as this record shall exist. The report of
Secretary Southworth for the year 1873, the fiscal year ending March 2, 1874, gives an
index of what was done by the Exchange during the period of which we fail to find a
record.
"To THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
"Gentlemen: Since the last annual meeting but little of importance to the trade
at large has been transacted. At the regular meeting of the board held March 10,
1873, a resolution was passed directing that no commodities other than lumber, lath
and shingles should be exposed for sale on the lumber market. During the season
several cargoes of cedar posts were put on the market for sale by William Ripley in
opposition to this rule, which was well known to him, and in which he determined
to test the power of this body to regulate and control the dock frontage of the lum-
ber market. Seven suits were entered in Justice court against the owners of the
vessels carrying the goods stated, in each of which we were successful in obtaining
judgments to the amount of $5 per hour while the vessel was at our docks. Five of
these cases were appealed to the Circuit Court, one was settled by mutual agreement
without penalty, and one was settled on payment of $25 in lieu of judgment for $50.
"At the same meeting it was determined by the board of directors that the inspec-
tion of lumber on this market should be the same substantially in grades as that
now in use in the yards of this city, and a large number of inspectors were examined
and instructed by the inspection committee in the qualities as agreed upon and dis-
played in the yard of Mears, Bates & Co., on North Kinzie Street. A classification
of grades was agreed upon to be established and 1,000 copies printed for distribu-
tion. At the same meeting the death of E. M.. Doubleday was announced and suita-
ble resolutions were presented and adopted and copies furnished the daily papers
and an engrossed copy sent to the widow of the deceased.
"An account of the lumber, etc., on hand and for sale in the yards of this city
January, I, 1874, was taken in the usual manner of previous years, showing as follows:
Lumber. Shingles. Lath. Pickets. Poets.
328,517,000 29,542,000 28,830,000 1,582,000 79,000
"There has been received since report of March 3, 1873, a total of 54,668.62; for
memberships, $320; sales lumber market, 4,208.62; wintering vessels, $115; Ander-
son account of judgment, $25. Paid to John J. Borland, treasurer, 4,668.62. There
remains uncollected 125. Respectfully,
"W. L. SOUTHWORTH, Secretary"
It does not appear that much was accomplished by the Exchange from year to
year beyond the election of officers and thus keeping up the semblance of an organ-
ization, unless it be in the endeavor to prevent the use of the docks controlled by it
94 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
being prostituted to the sale of cedar posts, and of that they evidently grew tired as
they saw the absurdity of excluding any legitimate product of the forest which was
handled by the trade. No records are to be found, either previous to the fire of 1871
nor subsequently, until the report given above, and yet the closing statement of this
report that the inventory was taken in the same manner as in other years confirms
the belief that annual reports of stock on hand January I were secured for several
years prior to this one. Subsequent to the revival of the Lumberman's Board of
Trade and the employment of a salaried secretary, the effort to obtain statistics of
stocks on hand was systematized and was approximately successful, and during the
following year it was resolved to obtain these statistics monthly.
Of the details of the consolidation of the Lumberman's Board of Trade and the
Lumberman's Exchange our information is extremely meager. The annual election
of the Exchange March 2, 1874 (the first of which we find details), resulted in the elec-
tion of William Blanchard as president; S. A. Irish, vice-president; J. J. Borland, treas-
urer; W. L. Southworth secretary. The board of directors consisted of A. G. Van
Schaick, W. H. Bush, John McLaren, Artemas Carter, R. K. Bickford, S. A. Irish, Will-
iam Blanchard, Charles Deming, W. B. Phillips, George R. Roberts, H. H.Getty, A. A.
Carpenter and C. B. White. The committee of arbitration consisted of Malcolm
McDonald, E. K. Hubbard, A. A. Carpenter and A. G. Van Schaick. The committee
of appeals E. E.Crepin, W. D. Houghteling, J. H. Swan, A. Carter and John J. Bor-
land. Committee on finance J. McLaren, A. G. Van Schaick, W. B. Phillips. Inspec-
tion committee R. K. Bickford, W. H. Bush, William Blanchard, George R. Roberts
and C. B. White.
As before stated the records of the Board of Trade end abruptly and without any
statement of detail concerning the amalgamation. The records of the Exchange are
fully as abrupt so far as any particulars are concerned no record is to be found which
gives the terms of union, or any hint that the Exchange existed prior to April 5, 1875
(except as embraced in the annual report of Secretary Southworth as shown above,
and which was found in the shape of a sheet of legal cap partially destroyed, the frag-
ment being pasted upon the cover of what was evidently the first formal record book
of the Exchange). The first entry in the Exchange books states: "An adjourned
meeting of the board of directors of the Lumberman's Exchange of Chicago was
held April 5, 1875. President Calkins in the chair" (this would indicate that the
expressed opinion of the members of the Board of Trade heretofore referred to, had
been adopted and the election of Mr. Blanchard vacated, and Mr. Calkins recognized
as the first president of the consolidated bodies. Ed.). The record proceeds as follows:
" Present: Messrs. Calkins, Irish, McLaren, Getty, McDonald, Blanchard, Street,
Strong, Dean and Officer.
" The minutes of meeting of March 29 were read and approved, the minutes of
the general meeting of April 3 were also read and approved.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS 97
" Mr. McDonald, of the committee on plan of inspection, stated that they were
not as yet prepared to make any report as nothing definite had been done.
" On motion of Mr. Carpenter a committee of five was appointed to canvass among
the lumber dealers of the city, for the purpose of obtaining a definite knowledge as to
membership and to solicit their joining the association. The chair appointed Messrs.
Getty, Carpenter, Street, Officer and McDonald, and on motion, Mr. Dean was added.
The meeting then adjourned until Saturday, April 10 at 3 o'clock P. M.
" W. L. SOUTHWORTH, Secretary."
From the above record we ascertain that by some unrecorded action on the part
of both bodies, a certain number had been designated from each body to form a new
board of directors for the United Association. "President" Calkins was in the chair
evidently in accordance with the resolution adopted by the Board of Trade at its
annual meeting February 15. Of the directors, Messrs. McDonald, Street, Dean,
Strong and Officer will be recognized as among those elected by the Board of Trade
at its annual meeting, and it is to be inferred that Messrs. Blanchard (who is known
to have been president of the Exchange in 1874), Irish, Getty and McLaren had
been selected from the Exchange membership to form the new directorate, together
with Messrs. George C. Cook and C. C. Thompson, whose names appear in the attend-
ance at the subsequent meetings of the board of directors. There was also an under-
standing that the yard dealers should predominate in the directorate. It is interest-
ing also to note that the efforts of the Board of Trade to control the inspectors had
not proved eminently successful, as the subject is the first formal business to engage
the attention of the new board of directors. It is also interesting to note that while
Mr. Stockbridge signs the minutes, it is as the substitute of Mr. Southworth, whose
claim to the office is indicated by the designation "pro tern." Evidently both gentle-
men were on the ragged edge of expectancy, awaiting the formal action which would
decide between them. The next meeting was held April 10, and the principal busi-
ness transacted was the consideration of a resolution offered by Mr. McDonald:
"Resolved, That inspectors and measurers be required to undergo examination as
to their competency, and if accepted shall pay a license fee of $25 and give bonds in
the sum of Si.ooo."
Which resolution was laid on the table. A canvass of the membership at this time
showed a total of sixty-eight firms and individuals as entitled to the privileges of
the organization.
The following is the complete list, as declared at this meeting to constitute the
membership for the year 1875 an( ^ until March 7, 1876:
Calkins & Fisher; Chase & Pate; J. Beidler Bro. Lumber Company; Irish, Bullen
& Co.; Eggleston, Hazleton & Co.; Pond & Soper; Kirby-Carpenter Company;
Henry Barker & Co.; Burdick, Mead & Co.; J. M. Loomis & Co.; T. W-. Harvey;
Bigelow Bros.; M. Ryerson & Co.; Avery, Murphy & Co.; The H. Witbeck Company;
98 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO;
Street & Chatfield; S. K. Martin; The B. L. Anderson Company; H. F. Getchell &
Sons; C. Mears &Co.; McMullen & Officer; C. C. Thompson & Co.; Dean Bros.; The
Peshtigo Company; Roberts & Hull; Oconto Company; Menominee River Lumber
Company; Geo. T. Cook (agent VVm. Peters); McDonald & Roe; Thompson Bros. &
Lowe; Simpson, Ruddock & Co.; The Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick Company;
Page & Church; Hatch, Holbrook & Co.; Ferry & Bro.; E. Mendsen & Co.; Adams
& Lord; Walkup & Merrill; E. B. Rice; Lowell & Dalton; C. S. Gardner & Co.;
Chapin & Foss; Hartman & Graham; Bushnell, Walworth & Reed; McArthur, Smith
& Co.; Charles Reitz & Bro.; A. R. Gray & Co.; Palmer, Fuller & Co.; William Ruger;
O. D. Wetherell & Co ; Sylvester Wheelock; Wm. M. Woodruff; Hempstead & Beebe;
Shoemaker & Howell; Mears, Bates & Co.; Blanchard, Borland & Co.; Kelly, Woods
& Co.; White & Swan; Hannah, Lay & Co.; John Sheriffs & Co.; Ketcham, Stephens
&Co.; T. Wilce&Co.; The South Branch Lumber Company; E. Eldred & Co.; Barton
& Jones; Hair & Odiorne; The Hamilton-Merryman Company.
At the same meeting at which the above list was approved, Messrs. Blanchard,
Thompson, Carpenter, McDonald and Officer were appointed an inspection com-
mittee. The salary of the secretary was discussed and fixed at $1,200 per annum, and
in the election which followed, George E. Stockbridge received six votes, and W. L.
Southworth four votes, and Mr. Stockbridge was declared elected to the secretaryship,
and was subsequently reelected in 1876-77-78, holding the office for four consecutive
years.
Under Mr. Stockbridge a system of monthly reports of stock on hand was inaugu-
rated, open only to the examination of members, and the secretary was instructed
to procure daily reports of the receipts of lumber, shingles and other forest products
arriving by lake or rail, and this was continued from year to year until 1887, when the
record was discontinued as to daily collections, but is still kept up as to weekly,
monthly and yearly statistics. The lease of the premises occupied by the now defunct
Board of Trade, at 258 South Water Street, was renewed, and a sub- lease of the base-
ment authorized to the Inspectors' Union, at a rental of $300 per year, which gave the
association the ground floor at 500 per year.
The new organization assumed all the obligations of the old ones. On May 10 a
resolution was offered by A. A. Carpenter, that "The good of the trade requires that
sellers of lumber record their sales on the sales record book of the Exchange, and they
are requested to do so, and where they fail to do it buyers are requested so to do."
It does not appear what was done with the resolution, but from the well-known reti-
cence of the dealers to let such matters be known, it is safe to say that it was not
adopted, and if adopted that the record book has not yet been provided.
A quorum was not obtained at the regular meeting of May 17, but on May 24,
with a bare quorum present, Mr. McDonald offered the following resolution, which we
may assume would not have been made a matter of record but for its adoption, the
record itself being silent as to its fate:
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 99
"Resolved, That this Exchange, recognizing the value and importance to the lum-
bermen of the statistics and general information furnished by the Northwestern Lum-
berman, and recognizing it as the leading journal of the kind in the country, does
cordially commend the same to its members and to members of the trade at large, as
in every way worthy of general patronage and support."
This was a wide departure from the doctrine generally held by the trade previous
to this time, that secrecy was an essential to success, and that the less a man knew of
the competitive powers of his neighbor, the more prosperous and successful was he
likely to become. The era of intelligence is by this resolution recognized, and it is
comprehended that a knowledge of surrounding conditions is the best possible road
to business success.
The interest of the directors in the work of the Exchange seems at this point to
have failed, probably through the rush of trade which at this time favored them, and
we find against the record of June, July, August, and each succeeding month until the
annual meeting of March 6, 1876, the significant entry "no meeting," with the excep-
tion of a special meeting June 12, to take action expressive of their regret at the
decease of Mr. George R. Roberts, of the firm of Roberts & Hull.
Perhaps the apathy was more apparent than real, and, as was the case in subse-
quent years, the feeling that in Secretary Stockbridge's hand the association would
do as well as though his work was constantly being interfered with by the directors,
may have been potent to produce that sense of security which is never prejudicial to
any organization.
At the annual meeting, March, 1876, a board of directors was elected, and it was
decided to inaugurate a system of "commercial credit" ratings, to protect in a measure
the members from irresponsible dealers and contractors. At the subsequent meeting
of the directors Thaddeus Dean was elected president and A. A. Carpenter vice-presi-
dent, and in accordance with the action of the annual meeting, C. A. Street, M.
McDonald, O. D. Wetherell, C. R. Barton and Alexander Officer were appointed a
committee to suggest a plan for obtaining and recording commercial ratings. It is
sufficient to say that after a fair trial of the scheme which these gentlemen recom-
mended it was decided that it was not feasible for the Chicago dealers to maintain
such a record within the bounds of reasonable expense, and the scheme lapsed into
disuse.
The endeavor to control the inspectors met with hardly better success, and on
April 3 it was ordered that all disputes in the matter of inspection should be referred
to the committee of arbitration, and the Inspectors' Association submitted a propo-
sition placing $500 in the hands of the treasurer of the Exchange, in trust, as a guaran-
tee of faithful performance of their obligations as inspectors in connection with the
agreement to settle disputes in this manner.
A sort of summer adjournment now occurred, with no meetings of the directors
100 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
from May I until November 13, when a deficiency was found in the income of the
Exchange to the extent of $586 and a collection was authorized to meet the deficiency,
but no further meetings were held until February 19, 1877, when a special meeting of
the directors was held and among other business a committee was appointed
" To conceive and report some plan by which the Exchange could exercise con-
trol over the measuring and inspecting of lumber in this market."
The committee so appointed reported to the annual meeting on March 5, with a
plan which has remained in vogue substantially as then adopted until the present
time. Their recommendation was as follows:
"That the committee on inspection examine any applicant desiring to be a
measurer or inspector of lumber sold by the cargo in this market, as to his ability,
integrity and general character, and upon the recommendation of the said committee,
the board may appoint such applicant as a measurer or inspector of lumber sold by
cargo in this market."
For this year Malcom McDonald was elected president, and Stanton A. Irish,
vice-president. John McLaren, W. H. Bullen and R. K. Bickford were appointed
a dock committee. This committee was empowered to lease the dock frontage,
or so much of it as they might think desirable and necessary, between the Wells
Street bridge and the Lake Street bridge, on the south side of the river, to the
use of which all vessels arriving with lumber consigned to commission dealers
should be entitled, each consignee at the end of the seaso.i to report the gross
amount of his receipts, upon which the expense incurred by the committee should
be imposed pro rata. A resolution was also adopted forbidding any inspector or
measurer holding a certificate from the Exchange from being a buyer or seller
by cargo or car lot, directly or indirectly.
At a meeting March 19 it was decided to change quarters, and a lease was
authorized for the basement at number 238 South Water Street, at a rental of 8150
per year. This basement was subsequently retained until 1881, with an increased
rental from year to year, until $300 per annum being demanded, it was thought to
be a good time to secure better quarters.
The appointment of inspectors and measurers absorbed the business of the
several following meetings, until on May 12 a special meeting was called to testify
the esteem of the lumbermen for their comrade and first president, Artemas Carter,
who died May 10, 1877, and whose funeral was attended by the lumbermen in a
body, a resolution prevailing that all offices be closed during the hour of the
funeral.
No further meetings are recorded during 1877 until December 20, when the
death of Mr. Henry F. Getchel led to a special meeting of the trade, to take suit-
able action to testify their esteem and regret.
On January 23, 1878, the secretary reported a deficiency in the resources amount-
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 103
ing to 8480, and a motion prevailed to raise that amount by an assessment of 75 cents
per million feet of the sales of the preceding year by the members of the Exchange.
The yards were divided into seven classes, embracing sales of five, ten, fifteen, twenty,
twenty-five, thirty and thirty-five million feet, and the secretary was instructed to send
bills to the representatives of each class.
At the annual meeting of March 4, 1878, a committee was appointed to circulate
a petition asking Congress to repeal existing bankrupt laws. The election of presi-
dent at the directors' meeting of March 7 was not as harmonious as on previous
occasions, it requiring five ballots to elect Thaddeus Dean president, his most formid-
able competitor being Malcolm McDonald, the retiring president. John McLaren
was chosen vice-president; A. G. Van Schaick treasurer, and George E. Stockbridge
secretary. The rules governing inspectors and measurers were continued for another
year; the treasurer was requested to give a bond in the sum of 85,0x20, and the secre-
tary in the sum of $>i,ooo, while his salary, which for the previous three years had
been $1,200, was cut down to $1,000. This was from no dissatisfaction with the sec-
retary, but on account of the limited income of the association. That ever-present
menace of many years, trouble with the inspectors, again becoming manifest from a
refusal on the part of some of the journeymen to work upon cargoes in company
with "boss" inspectors, a resolution was adopted directing that such refusal should
subject the offender to a revocation of his license certificate.
At a meeting June I a communication was received from the recently organized
" North Western Association of Retail Lumber Dealers," asking a committee of con-
ference upon points on which the two bodies were at variance, and a general meeting
of the trade was ordered for June 3 to consider the matter and to meet the North
Western Association of Retail Dealers on the next day.
The North Western Retail Dealers' Association was formed from retailers of
lumber throughout the Northwest to resist and, if needs be, to retaliate upon wholesale
dealers who sold lumber direct to consumers, in towns where there was a retailer to
supply the wants of the community, the argument being that the retailer having
invested his means and devoted his time to establishing a business, was entitled to
the local trade of his neighborhood free from the competition of the wholesaler, who
should content himself with the trade of the yard dealer. The retaliatory policy
included the blacklisting of the wholesaler so offending, each member of the Retail-
ers Association agreeing to withhold his trade from such wholesaler, who yet might
compromise his offense by the payment of $i per thousand on the amount of his ship-
ment, to the retailer whose territory he had invaded. Of the proceedings of the con-
ference, or of the meeting June 3 no record was made, but at the meeting June 10
after discussion: "On motion, Messrs. A. McArthur and A. A. Carpenter were
elected as this Exchange's representatives in the joint arbitration committee of this
Exchange and the National Association of Lumber Dealers."
104 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
But two meetings of the board of directors appear to have been held from June
10 until December 15, when the following resolution appears upon the minutes:
"Resolved, That it is the sense of this board of directors that while we are willing
to support under its present rules and penalties the constitution and by-laws of the
North Western Association of Lumber Dealers, we are not willing to protect such mem-
bers of that association who buy at wholesale on this cargo market, and it is the sense
of this board that the committee to be appointed shall be instructed to propose this
amendment and urge its adoption."
Messrs. Carpenter, McArthur and Thompson were appointed a committee to meet
a similar committee from the Dealers' Association for conference on this and kindred
subjects of mutual interest.
On the 2d of January, 1879, Secretary Stockbridge tendered his resignation, which
was accepted, and resolutions of confidence and thanks were adopted, certifying his
ability and faithful service, and on January 6, 1879, Mr. A. H. Hitchcock was elected
to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Stockbridge.
The annual meeting was held March 3, 1879, and the board of directors at that
time elected, held its first meeting on the loth, when Mr. Dean was reflected presi-
dent, Mr. McLaren vice-president, and Mr. Hitchcock secretary. Nothing of special
interest occurred during the year except that on June 9 a communication was pre-
sented from the assessor of the West Town asking access to the reports of individual
dealers of stocks in yard May I as a guide to him in making his yearly assessment.
The communication was referred to the executive committee, who decided that all
reports of individual yards should at all times be kept secret, even to the extent of
permitting no member to know the figures returned by any other dealer. These sta-
tistics were gathered through the medium of postal cards, each yard being assigned a
number known only to the secretary and the individual dealer, so that no name
appeared to indicate the identity of the party reporting. At this meeting letters
were presented asking aid for cyclone sufferers at Irving, Kan., and the secretary was
authorized to circulate a subscription paper among the lumbermen. As to the results
the records are silent, but we may rest assured that the response was on the liberal
scale, for which Chicago lumbermen have always been noted. On July 31, 1879, began
a series of meetings for the performance of the first and practically only unpleasant
duty which has ever devolved upon the organization, in the trial of a member for
uncommercial conduct, and the charges being sustained in the hearing before the
board of directors, upon the report of that body to the membership in general meet-
ing, a decree of expulsion was adopted by a practically unanimous vote.
Until this time but little effort had been made by the lumbermen of Chicago to
protect themselves from unjust charges in the matter of freight rates, and as an organ-
ization no effort had been made in this direction, but about this time the railroad com-
panies came to feel a respect for the organization, which on September 20 resulted
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 105
in the reception of a communication from Mr. J. W. Midgely, commissioner of the
reorganized Southwestern Railway Association, enclosing a copy of a resolution passed
by the association, asking the Exchange to appoint an arbitrator to act in conjunction
with one to be appointed by the lumbermen of the Mississippi Valley, the two to
select a third, to decide between opposing factions of the railway commission in
regard to the adjustment of freight rates on lumber, which should be just and equit-
able to all concerned. Mr. A. A. Carpenter was selected as such arbitrator on behalf
of the Lumberman's Exchange.
At the annual election March 8, 1880, Anson A. Bigelow was elected president
and Corwin C. Thompson vice-president. During the summer President Bigelow took
a trip to Europe, having first tendered his resignation both as president and director,
neither of which was accepted, leave of absence for the summer being granted upon
a motion to that effect. The duties of the presidency, however, devolved upon vice-
president Thompson for the balance of the fiscal year, and it is needless to say that
they were well performed. At this annual meeting, also, Mr. Van Schaick was elected
treasurer and Mr. Hitchcock was reflected secretary.
The Bell Telephone Company, which in 1878 had, in order to secure a foothold
among the lumbermen and merchants of the city, supplied both a public and a private
line connection with the lumber district free of charge, now gave notice that they
should place the Exchange on the same basis with all other users. The use of the
telephone, which in 1878 was scarcely thought of, had now become a prime necessity
to commercial houses, and no longer needed the example and influence of the
Exchange to recommend it to public favor. The .Telephone Company correctly
assumed that it had become so much of a necessity to the lumbermen that they
would not dispense with it at any price.
April 20 was again an occasion for expressing the sorrow of the lumbermen at
the removal by deaih of their comrade N. W. Dean, of the firm of Dean Bros. At
this meeting also a revision of the rules for the grading of shingles was adopted, and
action looking to the convening of a general meeting of the trade to consider lumber
values was taken.
These meetings of dealers for the consideration of lumber values and adopting a
uniform price list became a prominent feature of the next six or eight years, and
from being held at long intervals, were convened monthly from and after the spring
of 1 88 1. At these meetings grades were discussed, stocks on hand of each item of the
price list were compared and relative values determined. A "price list" was then
printed in sufficient quantities to meet the requirements of the trade, and each mem-
ber supplied with his quota. It can hardly be said with truth that the lists served
any useful purpose other than as a general guide to values, as each firm was believed
to modify the quotations to suit the bill of lumber or the particular customer with
which it was figuring.
106 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
As these meetings were not confined to the membership of the Exchange, but
were participated in by dealers who were not members, a collection was taken up to
defray the expense of printing the lists, and as this usually left a deficit of several
dollars for the secretary to pay, it was finally determined to pay the bills from the
general treasury, and look to an ultimate assessment to repay the deficit. This course
was not intended to make the price list an Exchange list, although circumstances often
gave color to the assertion that the term "official" referred to an endorsement on the
part of the Exchange, rather than the authorized publication and promulgation of a
dealers' general meeting.
On the 2Oth of December, 1880, Secretary Hitchcock tendered his resignation to
take effect January I, 1881, or as soon thereafter as his successor should be elected,
and the resignation was accepted, but Mr. Hitchcock continued to devote a portion
of his time to keeping the records and making the monthly reports until the annual
meeting in March.
On the 5th of March a special meeting was held to take action upon the death of
Stanton A. Irish, who was a prominent and useful member of the Exchange, and
whose death was deeply deplored.
A PROSPEROUS "EXCHANGE."
The annual meeting in 1881 was held March 7, and Messrs. A. G. Van Schaick,
John McLaren, S. K. Martin, R. L. Henry, Thad. Dean, B. L. Anderson, A. A. Car-
penter, Phillip Auten, Thomas Walkup, B. F. Ferguson, F. A. Keep, T. H. Sheppard
and C. C. Thompson were elected a board of directors. Committee on arbitration
Perley Lowe, A. R. Gray, C. B. White, J. H. Skeele and H. W. Chase. As com-
mittee of appeals Alexander Officer, A. T. Lay, T. W. Harvey, J. B. Thompson and
J. J. Borland. At the subsequent meeting of the directors on the following Monday
A. G. Van Schaick was elected president; S. K. Martin, vice-president; John McLaren,
treasurer, and George W. Hotchkiss, secretary, an office to which he was reflected
for the following six consecutive terms. The Exchange had now for four years occu-
pied the basement of No. 238 South Water Street, which had been retained more on
the score of economy than for its adaptability to the wants of the organization, and
at this meeting a committee was appointed to secure new quarters.
At the annual meeting and also at a previous price list meeting, a sumptuous
lunch was ordered by the Kirby-Carpenter Company and the B. L. Anderson Com-
pany, which proved to be the precursors of a system of banquet lunches provided by
individual firms or dealers to which a general invitation was extended to all members
of the craft, including such visiting lumbermen as happened to be in the city. These
lunches were at first given monthly and later semi-monthly, and added greatly to the
interest taken in the Exchange by the trade of the city, as was manifest in the large
accessions to the membership during the next four years, doubling any previous
figures and including nearly all the city lumbermen.
GooispeetLBiothers.FulUstiers. Chicago
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 109
The committee on new quarters had so well accomplished its mission, that on the
2d of May the directors' meeting was held in a new hall on the second floor
of the Hicklin building, No. 252 South Water Street, which had been fitted up
expressly for the use of the Exchange, on a five-year lease at 8400 per year, the
Exchange expending about $800 in extra fittings and furniture. This room was 40x65
feet, with a private office for the use of the secretary, telephone and toilet rooms, and
was fitted with racks for a large number of newspapers, including the city and trade
journals. After occupying the rooms one year and allowing the plastering to thor-
oughly harden, the walls were appropriately finished in panels representing the vari-
ous kinds of hardwood lumber, and portable tables and a sufficiency of chairs
were obtained to comfortably seat 140 persons at the banquets, which it by this
time became evident would be tendered by various dealers. And now for the
first time in their history as an organization, the lumbermen found themselves in quar-
ters which comported in some degree with the dignity and extent of their business.
A meeting being called for May 7 for consideration of the price list, the Ford
River Lumber Company authorized Secretary Hotchkiss to order a banquet for the
occasion, and at I o'clock P. M., 125 persons sat down to the well-filled tables, and
having done justice to the excellent repast provided by the celebrated caterer Eck-
hardt, cigars were in order, and speeches of congratulation were supplemented by a
consideration and revision of the price list.
So acceptable did this prove, that at the next meeting of the directors, a resolution
was adopted establishing monthly meetings to be held on the 2/th of each month for
consideration of the price list, and this action was ratified at a general meeting of the
trade held May2i, when the following resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, That on the 27th of each month a meeting of the yard dealers shall
be called to go through the price list, making such alterations as to them shall seem
wise, which list shall be in force from and after the first day of the succeeding month,
and shall be the standard at which all orders shall be filled until its successor shall be
promulgated. If any changes are deemed necessary prior to the 27th of each month,
a meeting of the yard dealers shall be called, and its action shall be binding on all
orders received after a lapse of seventy-two hours."
In this connection a resolution was adopted making it obligatory on all yard
dealers to issue no list " printed, hektographed or by advertisement, at prices less than
those authorized by the regular meetings," and this subsequently proved a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offense of a most serious character, which threatened the
life and usefulness of the organization. It was a fiction of speech that the Exchange'
as such, was not the author of, nor responsible for, the monthly price list, responsibility
being assigned to rest in the dealers regardless of the question of membership in the
Exchange, but in assuming to make the observance of the lists obligatory on the mem-
bers and dealers, and at a later day delegating to the board of directors the duty of
110 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
assembling a few hours before the general meeting of dealers, as a committee for the
consideration of existing conditions, and to recommend such changes in the list as
they thought to be necessary, and in assuming the payment from the treasury of the
Exchange of the cost of issuing the lists, but more particularly in assuming to disci-
pline members for issuing lists not in accord with the decision of the general meeting,
the directors made the list practically " Official " in more ways than one.
An endeavor was made by the passage of a resolution at the meeting of May 9 to
establish daily reports of cargo sales, but the attempt, like previous ones, proved a
failure, from the refusal of the commission dealers to report their sales or of the deal-
ers to report their purchases.
At the same meeting a committee was appointed to report upon a schedule of
wages to be paid during the coming season, and another approving the establish-
ing of an " advisory committee " from the chief inspectors, from whom should come
primarily all recommendations for the licensing of journeyman inspectors. During the
balance of the year and until the annual meeting in 1882, no business of importance is
noted in the records, except a meeting October 13 to express the regret caused by
the death of Mr. John J. Borland, of the firm of Blanchard & Borland, one of the
active working members of the Exchange, which occurred the previous day.
That the Exchange had taken a new lease of life was evidenced by the large num-
ber of additions to the membership which marked the year, including between March
14, 1881, and March 21, 1882, no less than forty-two new members, viz.:
Addison Ballard; The Michigan Lumber Company; S. R. Fuller & Co.; L. E.
Merrill; Chicago Cedar Post Company; R. B. Stone; Bogue-Badenoch Company;
Fraser & South worth; Sturgeon Bay Lumber Company; G. C. Benton; Marsh Bros.
& Ransom; William Ripley & Sons; Getty & Blanchard (South Chicago); C. Reitz
Bros. Lumber Company; Eau Clair Lumber Company (St. Louis, Mo.); S. T. Gunder-
son; Fred Edler; Charnley & Lovedale; Chippewa Lumber & Boom Company (Chip-
pewa Falls, Wis.); M. Engleman (Manistee, Mich.); Kershaw & Sons (Milwaukee);
Northwestern Lumber Company (Hannibal, Mo.); A. R. Colborn & Co. (Michigan
City, Ind.); S. B. Barker & Co.; Walworth & Reed; J. S. Hair & Co.; Louis Hutt; E.
Washburne & Son; H. Williston & Co.; C. Tegtmeyer & Son; Chicago Lumber
Company; P. G. Dodge & Co.; B. G. Gill; Hatch, Holbrook & Co.; Holden & Pendle-
ton; Henry N. Holden; L. Miller & Co.; Boardman & Keep; Boyle, White & Co.;
Holbrook & Co.; Wells & Bingham; M. C. Huyett & Co. (Detroit); Methudy &
Meyer (St. Louis, Mo.).
This list comprises twenty-four pine yards, eleven hardwood yards and eight
yards from outside of the city.
The year had not only developed a new interest among the dealers in pine lum-
ber, but had led the hardwood dealers to begin to feel an interest not hitherto excited,
and to see that their branch of business could be benefited by the Exchange. An
effort to obtain monthly statements of stocks on hand throughout the Northwest had
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. Ill
brought eight outside firms into the membership to show their appreciation of the
work, and the year which began with a membership of 83 closed with 126 upon the
rolls. An effort to collect the statistics of the hardwood trade of the city had led to the
discovery of the fact not hitherto appreciated, that its volume was fully one-sixth that of
the total lumber trade of the city. To this time the trade in Southern pine had been
and was restricted to an occasional car load, while considerable quantities of black
walnut, cherry, oak and some other varieties of hardwood lumber was brought from
Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas, but the trade with the South had not as yet
assumed the vast proportions which it was destined to realize in the succeeding years.
An inquiry for a car load of yellow pine was met with the presentation of the card of
some dealer in St. Louis who could probably fill the order. So late as 1885, when
Secretary Hotchkiss issued the third edition of a Lumberman's Directory of Chicago
and the West and Northwest, and by circular letter invited 500 Southern manufact-
urers to make use of it without cost to them, but thirty-five were found to avail them-
selves of the opportunity to make themselves known as manufacturers of a commodity
for which they desired to seek a Northern market; but from this time forward the
Southern timber began to attract attention, until in 1892 the imports of Southern pine
and cypress into the Chicago market were estimated at 100,000,000 feet, and these
varieties had been largely adopted as finishing woods. The Montauk block, on Mon-
roe Street, erected in 1883, was the first large building in Chicago to be finished
throughout with Southern pine, in oil finish.
At the annual meeting of March, 1882, representation upon the board of directors
was accorded to both the hardwood interest and the outside membership. During
the year eleven volunteer banquets were given in the hall of the Exchange, which
went beyond any influence hitherto employed in making the members acquainted
with each other, and to feel that community of interest which is the concomitant of
confidence and good will. The jealousies which had hitherto existed, especially
among the hardwood dealers and between the two branches of the lumber business,
now gave way to a feeling of confidence and mutual interest, and a more intelligent
system of interchange of products between the yards was established.
The deaths of Stanton A. Irish, March 3; Sextus N. Wilcox, who, although not
a member of the Exchange, was highly esteemed by the fraternity, and who was
drowned in Lake Superior in June; and of Eli Bates, who died June 15, had cast a
gloom over the fraternity, and in each case had called for suitable expressions of
regret from the lumbermen at special meetings.
On September i, 1881, a fire had devastated a vast territory in the "thumb" of
the Michigan Peninsula, in which more than one hundred lives were lost, a vast
amount of forest, mill and farm property destroyed, and great suffering entailed upon
thousands of victims who had lost their all. An appeal being made to the people of
the United States for aid, Secretary Hotchkiss appealed to the lumbermen of the city,
112 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
and this became the nucleus of a general movement on the part of the citizens. A
public meeting was called at Central Music Hall, at which Mayor Carter H. Harrison
was called to preside, and was made the permanent president of an organization for
making a systematic effort to raise a fund for the relief of the suffering district.
Lyman J. Gage, Esq., was made treasurer, and George W. Hotchkiss secretary and
manager. An appeal to the public through committees appointed for the purpose
resulted in filling the rooms of the Lumberman's Exchange with an immense amount
of second-hand clothing. The drapery which had evidenced the public sorrow at the
death of the lamented President Garfield, and which had now served its purpose, was
donated by the wagon load, and the ladies of the various churches of the city met at
the Exchange rooms and made it up into bedquilts and comfortables. As the gross
result of this effort, money donations to the extent of $34,349.31 (of which the lum-
bermen contributed $2, 909.95 ) 840 quilts and comforts, and 438 packages of clothing
of all kinds were forwarded to the relief of the sufferers.
In the fitting up of the Exchange rooms and in the issuance of price lists and
other unavoidable expenses during the year, the treasury was depleted, and an assess-
ment was ordered of one mill per thousand feet of the sales of the preceding year, and
this was so generally responded to by members and non-members, that the sum of
81,466.11 was realized therefrom.
The annual meeting of March 6, 1882, at which the reports of the officers
embodied the general facts as above stated, was the most enthusiastic in the history
of the organization, and after a vote of thanks to the retiring officers, their reports
were ordered printed in pamphlet form. The banquet which preceded the business
meeting was tendered by Hannah, Lay & Co., and was the thirteenth in the series
since the opening of the new hall.
At the directors' meeting March 13, 1882, A. A. Carpenter was elected president;
W. E. Kelley, vice-president; John McLaren, treasurer, and George W. Hotchkiss,
secretary. A new departure was now inaugurated. The annual report of the secretary
had shown the approximate extent of the hardwood interest to be 300,000,000 feet
per year. A large number of hardwood dealers were now members of the Exchange.
W. Scott Keith of the hardwood firm of Hatch & Keith, had been elected a director,
and it was now proposed to introduce two innovations in the interest of the hardwood
branch of the lumber trade. Hitherto there had been no formal rules for the inspec-
tion of hardwood, and no control over the inspectors or their methods of inspection.
At this meeting an " advisory committee " consisting of H. N. Holden, Chauncey
Keep and Philo G. Dodge was appointed to take especial charge of the general
interests of this branch of the trade in the Exchange. A hardwood inspection com-
mittee consisting of W. Scott Keith, Isaac H. Holden, L. Miller, P. G. Dodge and R.
A. Wells was appointed, to whom all applications for license as hardwood inspectors
were to be submitted, and on whose recommendation licenses were granted or refused.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 115
At this time also the designation " chief inspector " was substituted for that of " boss "
inspector, and these gentlemen were declared eligible to membership, and several of
them having been accepted, an " advisory " committee was formed from their num-
ber, to whom all applications for license as inspector, measurer or tally boy, should be
referred, and licenses granted only upon their recommendation to the inspection com-
mittee, and approved by the board of directors. As any person, whether a practical
lumber inspector or not, was eligible to the position of chief (or employing) inspector,
a resolution was passed that no chief inspector should be permitted to inspect any
lumber by cargo or car load, unless he also held a journeyman inspector's certificate.
The first advisory inspection committee was appointed April 3, 1882, and consisted of
Peter Fish, William J. Frawley, George F. Gilbert, John Cortis and M. V. Briggs, all
holding chief's certificates, and all on that day admitted into the Exchange, as were
William C. Ott and H. H. Meacham.
The meeting of June 6 developed the first inharmoniousness, and one which for
a time threatened to disrupt the Exchange. As before mentioned the price-list meet-
ings, while ostensibly meetings of the trade distinct from the Exchange, had yet by
natural gravitation drifted into the hands of the directors, who met prior to each gen-
eral price-list meeting for the purpose of recommending such changes as in their
judgment were desirable.
A resolution had also been spread upon the records which virtually provided
that any member issuing any other list than that regularly adopted at the price-list
meetings should be considered guilty of uncommercial conduct, and might be dealt
with by the Exchange.
Much dissatisfaction was frequently manifest among those who, dissenting from
the decision of the majority present at the meetings, claimed the right to sell at such
prices as pleased themselves and to issue lists upon their own judgment of values,
amenable only to the honorable laws of competitive trade, and not thereby be guilty
of uncommercial conduct. As a result of this condition on June 5 the secretary laid
before the board of directors communications from R. L. Henry & Co., and the South
Branch Lumber Company, in maintenance of the last-named proposition, and tender-
ing their resignations as members of the Exchange, if in the opinion of the board the
issuance of individual lists at variance with the "Official" list was to be considered
improper on the part of a member. In response to these communications the secre-
tary was instructed to reply by citing to the parties the following resolution which on
motion had been adopted at a previous meeting of the board:
"Resolved, That the parties in issuing a price list quoting prices lower than those
made by the Exchange, have violated a well-known rule of the Exchange, and we
hereby ask them to withdraw said list, and pay a fine of $25 in accordance with the
by-laws, and we respectfully ask them for a reply to this communication by 10
o'clock, A. M., to-morrow."
116 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
In order to expedite the reply, the secretary was instructed to deliver the com-
munications by special messenger. At a general meeting of the trade on the follow-
ing day the matter was fully discussed and communications presented from each of
the firms named, maintaining the position they had taken, and declining to withdraw
their lists, or to pay the fine, and, on motion, their resignations were accepted by a
vote of ayes, 29; nays, 20; which was indicative of the relative strength of the "Bull"
and the "Bear" elements of the trade. Upon the adoption of the motion to accept
the resignations, Mr. Thad Dean moved that the Exchange adjourn sine die, which
being lost on a viva voce vote, a motion to adjourn prevailed, and the meeting stood
adjourned.
This proved to be an unfortunate piece of business, notwithstanding that at the
next meeting of the board of directors all records pertaining to the matter were
ordered stricken from the minutes, and a resolution adopted to the effect that the
action of the board and of the general meeting not having been taken in a legal and
proper manner, the whole matter should be, and was, referred to the next meeting of
the trade, with recommendation that it be reconsidered and all records regarding it be
expunged. The action accepting the resignations of the two firms was reconsidered,
and the resignations laid on the table. The feeling had, however, by this time become
too deep seated, and the gentlemen, while recognizing the concession, presented formal
requests that their resignations be accepted, and their request was reluctantly
acceded to.
Contrary to many fears expressed, but four other firms asked to withdraw, and
these applications being laid on the table temporarily, time, the great healer, brought
about a better state of feeling, and the danger passed over for a time, but the adverse
effects of the controversy were never wholly overcome, and finally led to divisions
and the reorganization which will be mentioned further on.
On January 6, 1883, upon invitation of Messrs. White, Swan & Co., plates were
laid for 136 guests, in a resumption of the volunteer banquets which had proved so
great an influence in promoting unity and good fellowship in the past. It was on this
occasion that Mr. J. H. Swan laid before the assembled lumbermen, figures and state-
ments which had been prepared by the secretary, relative to the control of the sale
of spirituous liquors in the city, based upon the effect and practical operation of the
high-license laws of the State of Michigan, and the probable effect of removing the
question out of the domain of politics, and a committee consisting of Messrs. J. H.
Swan, A. A. Carpenter, A. G. Van Schaick and Addison Ballard was appointed to go
to Springfield and present the matter to the Legislature then in session. As a result
of this action on the part of the lumbermen, what was afterward known as the
" Harper" Law was passed by the Legislature, making it mandatory upon all town,
village or city officials to fix a license fee of not less than 8500 upon the sale of spirit-
uous liquors within their borders. The mandatory provisions of this law had the
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 117
effect of destroying to a large extent the influence of the saloon in politics, while
increasing the license revenues of the city of Chicago from about $300,000 per year
to nearly 82,500,000 at the present time. A majority of the aldermen of this city,
in considering the tax levy of the succeeding year, and influenced by a retaliatory
policy on the part of the saloon men, imposed a license fee of 8100 upon lumber yards,
and, that none might escape, included all brokers, which took in the non-yard element.
This was the first license fee which the trade had been called upon to pay since the
license imposed upon Mr. N. J. Brown in 1835.
A special meeting of the lumbermen was called January 16, 1883, to express their
regret at the death of Mr. Nelson Ludington, which occurred on the day previous.
Mr. Ludington was one of the elders in the ranks, and his decease was sincerely
mourned, suitable floral offerings were ordered, and the funeral was attended by
a large concourse of lumbermen.
At a lunch meeting tendered by Marsh, Bingham & Ransom, on February 20, the
assembled lumbermen subscribed the sum of $1,275, which was afterward increased to
81,370, in aid of sufferers by flood in the Ohio River, and from a mine disaster at Braid-
wood, 111.
The annual meeting of March 5, 1883, was an intensely interesting one. The secre-
tary's report mentions correspondence during the year with England, Germany, Austria,
Norway and Denmark upon matters wherein information was desired by parties resid-
ing in those countries, while representatives of the Panama Canal had sought the
aid of the Exchange, exemplifying the extent of its fame and the influence exerted
by it. The membership was reported to have reached 156 as a total, and deducting
resignations and deaths, a net membership of 149. The statistics of the year showed
the receipt of 2,116,341,000 feet of lumber, 954,549,000 shingles, 59,737,000 lath, 2,462,-
866 cedar posts, 3,644,711 railroad ties, 67,092 cords of wood, 22, 160 cords of bark,
24,255 cords of slabs, and 250,867 telegraph poles, the aggregate value of which is
stated at 854,000,000. It is a good time to contrast the 15,000 to 20,OOO feet which
formed the first cargo in 1833, valued probably at 8150, with the report at the end of
the half century. The secretary also reported that the code of rules for the inspec-
tion of hardwood lumber had met with such universal acceptance, both at home and
abroad, that a demand for copies of the rules had arisen from all parts of the country.
These rules for the inspection of hardwood lumber were the result of arduous
labor on the part principally of Director W. Scott Keith and the secretary. No rules
for the grading of hardwoods had ever been written, so that no precedent existed. In
fact it was the general opinion of the hardwood dealers that no description of grades
could be written. Secretary Hotchkiss, however, having a few years previously
accomplished an equally hopeless task, in the compilation of a description of the
Chicago yard grading of pine lumber, felt that the varieties of hardwood were capable
of description with equally good effect, and with the cordial, practical, patient and
118 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
intelligent assistance of Mr. Keith, rules were written, which, on examination and dis-
cussion by the members of that branch of trade, were certified to the board of directors
as approved, and being officially approved by the board, at once obtained acceptance
in all the hardwood markets of the country. That this first compilation was perfect
would be too great an assumption, and the originals have since been subject to such
changes as time and experience have dictated, both in this and other markets, but the
printed rules for inspection of hardwood lumber originating with the Exchange at
that time have been and are the base of all rules upon the subject which are in use
throughout the nation. In these subsequent revisions George E. White and W. S.
Smith were prominent actors, each taking a deep and intelligent interest in the
endeavor to provide just and equitable rules for the inspection of hardwood lumber.
In his report of this year the secretary says:
"The membership fee of this body is the lowest demanded by any trade organ-
ization, while few if any of them command the respect, exercise the influence, or con-
tribute as much to the general fund of statistical information, nor yet represent a more
wealthy and respected membership."
The secretary also notes in addition to the charity before mentioned, that in July
of the previous year 748 in money, together with several car loads of lumber of a
fully equal value, had been contributed -by the lumbermen of the city in aid of the suf-
ferers by cyclone at Grinnell, Iowa, bringing up the public charities of the membership
to fully $3,000 for the year. The new members admitted during the past year num-
bered twenty-six, viz.:
Cheboygan Lumber Company (Chebojigan, Mich., and Chicago); George E.
White & Co. (hardwood); L. Sands & Co. (Manistee, Mich.); Inspectors, Peter Fish;
George F. Gilbert; Cortis & Palmer; W. C. Ott; H. H. Meacham; W. J. Frawley; M.
V. Briggs; E. & C. Jager; and Naason Young; William Spooner & Co., Chicago; O. S.
Whitmore & Co, Cadillac, Mich.; D. F. Groves & Co., Richards, Hanks & Co.; S. A.
Brown &Co.; J. H.Wallace (hardwood); Crandall, Cantwell & Co.; G. B. Shaw & Co.;
Charles Gibson (iuspector); Michigan Cedar and Lumber Company; Cutler & White;
O. G. Gibbs; Condon, Dyer & Phillips; all of Chicago; and W. D. Morton, Detroit,
Mich.
For 1883 Mr. James P. Ketcham was elected president and Mr. W. E. Kelley vice-
president; A. G. Van Schaick, treasurer; G. W. Hotchkiss, secretary. The question
of the right of the city under its charter to impose a license fee upon lumber dealers
and commission dealers, which had been referred to a special committee, was reported
back March 27 with a recommendation that the lumbermen be thankful that they have
escaped for so many years, and gracefully accept the inevitable, which the committee,
consisting of Messrs. M. B. Hull, Thad Dean, J. C. D'urgin and J. B. Thompson, esteem
to be both legal, under the city charter, and within the constitutional power of the
council to impose.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 121
In the spring of this year the inspectors who had hitherto taken out license under
the rules of the Exchange refused to do so, and President Ketchatn at once caused
advertisements to be sent to prominent lumber points inviting inspectors to come to
Chicago. This had the desired effect, and the recalcitrant inspectors at once applied
for license and have since shown a readiness to comply with all proper regulations of
the Exchange.
Nothing of especial interest occurred during the summer and fall of 1883; busi-
ness was good and prices well maintained, with but few and slight changes in the price
list from month to month. On the 26th of December a meeting was called to express
the regret of the lumbermen at the death of Mr. Freeland B. Gardner which occurred
on the 24th inst. In February, 1884, a deficit in the funds of the Exchange being
apparent, an assessment of one mill per thousand feet on all lumber sold the year pre-
vious, was ordered by the board of directors. (This included shingles to be counted
at ten thousand and lath at five thousand to the thousand feet of lumber, and twenty
cents per million feet on that sold by the commission dealers.) This as essment was
responded to to the extent of $1,600.
Death again invaded the ranks and on the 22d of February a special meeting was
called and appropriate action taken regarding the death of Mr. Alvah Trowbridge, a
pioneer of the trade, who died at the age of eighty-three, and of Mr. Peter Wood,
also aged eighty-three, both of whom had been connected with the lumber trade of
the city for fully forty years. Suitable resolutions were adopted, ordered engrossed
upon the minutes, and copies forwarded to the families of the deceased.
At the annual meeting in March the old officers were reflected for another year
without change. The secretary's report revealed a falling off in the membership
reducing the number from 149 at the last annual meeting to 129 at this time. This he
accounts for partially from the effects of the price-list controversy of the previous
year, which was intensified as time rolled on, leading to the withdrawal of five
firms dealing in pine, six firms dealing in hardwood, and five non-resident members
who had not discovered the direct and palpable benefits which they had anticipated,
while eight firms had gone out of business and two inspectors had been dropped for
non-payment of dues, making a loss of twenty-six, compensated in some degree by
the admission of six new members, viz.:
Seymour & Sargent; Mann Bros.; Crombie & Co.; J. P. Richardson (St. Louis
and Chicago); Ed. E. Ayers and Alexander Agnew.
He reports that in a recent visit to England he found that the reputation of the
Chicago Lumberman's Exchange had preceded him, and that its standing among
commercial bodies of that and other nations was an enviable one.
The receipts of the year 1883 were 1,897,815,000 feet of lumber, 1,185,108,000
shingles, 65,477,000 lath, 2,416,155 cedar posts, 1,714, 388 railroad ties, 175,293, tele-
graph and telephone poles, 22,737 cords of wood, 26,413 cords of slabs, 26,065 cords
122 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of tan bark, 9,750 logs, 316 spars and 960 pieces of piling, and these figures do not take
cognizance of a vast amount of the coarser products of the forest received by rail and
ot which no record is available. He estimates the volume of hardwood receipts at
350,000,000 feet.
It may be proper at this point to explain to the uninitiated that the Exchange
had from year to year, since 1869, leased the docks on South Water Street, between
the Lake Street and the Wells Street bridges, for the use of vessels arriving with
lumber seeking a purchaser. These vessels were consigned, as a rule, to the com-
mission dealers and were moored to the dock until a purchaser was found. The
rentals were paid from a pro rata assessment levied upon the consignee, who made
returns on a request of the dock committee having this matter exclusively in charge.
The extent of this interest is reported by the secretary as shown in the receipt of
wharfage during 1883 upon 371,276,586 feet of lumber, 738,063,500 shingles, 56,465,470
pieces of lath and 21,065 cedar posts. The secretary notes at this meeting the char-
itable contributions of the lumbermen to public demands of suffering from Ohio and
Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin amounting to 82,451, besides a large sum in private
donations not reported.
During this year the secretary inaugurated a plan for placing the hardwood
inspection of the city upon a more reliable basis. To this end a few hundred feet of
each variety of hardwood lumber, comprising the stock dealt in by the hardwood
merchants, was gathered in the Exchange hall and each applicant for an inspector's
certificate was required to test his ability in comparison with a standard established
by the committee of the Exchange, under the rules of inspection as officially adopted.
The utter incompetency of several so-called inspectors, who had previously been
held in good repute, was thus made manifest and they were refused license, while
some who had previously gained but little repute were found to be excellent judges
of the various grades and were granted full certificates, others being certified only for
such varieties of lumber as the test developed their fitness to honestly determine
the grade of, under the rules.
April 14, 1884, a special meeting was called to take appropriate action regarding
the death of George H. Ambrose, an old and esteemed member of the craft, who died
April 13, aged fifty-nine years.
The sixteenth annual meeting of the Exchange was held March 2, 1885, with the
eclat attending a banquet at which 120 persons were present. The secretary presented
his annual report, showing the receipts of lumber for the year 1884 to have been
1,802,727,000 feet, with 895,528,000 shingles, 73,077,000 pieces of lath, and of the
coarser products of the forest by lake only, 3,087,376 cedar posts, 947,938 railroad ties,
116,024 telegraph poles, 64,825 cords of wood, 20,385 cords of tan bark, 43,532 cords
of slabs, 12 spars and 517 piles. In his report the secretary gives some data which
will give a clearer view of the immensity of the lumber trade of Chicago at this time:
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.
123
"From this it will be seen that the trade of Chicago took about twenty-two and a half
per cent of the lumber product of the Northwest for the year 1884; that the lumber
sales of the Chicago yards for the past six years averaged 74.42 per cent of the yearly
receipts, and that the sales of 1884 were about two per cent below the general average,
the shingle sales being but one-fifth of one per cent below the general average of the
past six years. Of the lumber cut of the Northwest, including Michigan, Wisconsin,
Minnesota and the Mississippi River, dividing the region into three districts, viz.: the
eastern, the central and the western, the first embracing Michigan and a portion of
the northern peninsula, the central including the territory tributary to Chicago west
to the Wisconsin River, the western including all west of the Wisconsin River, I find
the following percentages of handling and trade: Total production, 7,935,033,054 feet;
eastern district, 2,700,734,693 feet, or 34.3 per cent; central district, 2,700,000,000 feet, or
34.2 per cent; western district, 2,534,298,361 feet, or 31.4 per cent. The eastern district
markets its product principally in the East and Southeast, the central district, with
Chicago as its center, supplying the South and Southwest, largely competing with the
western district for the trade of the West and Northwest. When we further consider
that the production of lumber has increased in six years from a reported 4,806,943
feet in 1879 to 7,935,033,054 feet reported in 1884, the enormous drain upon our timber
resources will be appreciated. In considering the importance of Chicago in handling
so large a proportion of the total cut of each year, it is only necessary to bear in mind
that it represents a concentration atone point of the central district, as distinguished
from a multitude of operators scattered over a vast area of territory in each of the
other divisions."
A table is appended to the report, showing the amount of lumber cut for several
years past in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the line of the Mississippi River,
together with stocks left over at the end of each year at the mills, and including
Chicago, Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and Michigan City, together with the percent-
ages of consumption and left-over stock for the six previous years:
YEAR.
Lumber cat.
Lumber left over.
Logs left over.
1879
4806943000
2 318 823 437
1880
5,651,295,006
2,836,954,969
1,098,250,000
1881
6,768,856,749
2,386,061,634
1,639,938,000
1882
7 552 150 744
3,122 370 946
734 648,482
1883
7,624,789,789
3,592,910,487
1,346,161,859
1884
8,070,533,054
4,275,467,513
not compiled.
By adding the left-over lumber of one year to the cut of the succeeding one, we
find the following result:
YEAR.
Lumber resources.
Lumber left over.
Per cent left
over.
Consumption.
Per cent con-
sumed.
1880
7,965118443
2 836 954 437
37
5 128 164 006
63
1881
9,585,807,158
2,386 061 634
25
7,199,745,524
75
1882...
9,938,212,378
3,122,370,946
31K
6,815,841,432
68 K
1883
10,746,560 635
3 592 910 487
S3 'A
7 153 650 148
66%
1884
11,663,443,541
4275467,513
36 .K
7,387,976,028
63'A
124
INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
The average left-over stock for the four first named years was 33^ P cr cent, the
average percentage of consumption for the same period being 68^ per cent, showing
a reduced consumptive average for 1884 of 4% per cent, and an increase to the same
extent of stock left over.
The report also gives an analysis of the Chicago lumber trade for a series of years
as follows:
LUMBER.
YEARS.
Receipts of
Year.
Inventory
Jan. 1.
Total repources
of the Year.
Disposed of
daring Year.
Parcel
Left
over.
ItRKes.
Dis-
posed of
1879
1,483,008,322
1,522.431,000
1.906,639,000
2,116,341,000
1.897,815,000
1,802,727,000
410,773,860
451,282,059
497,840,673
560,416,842
698,254.659
679,477,301
1,893.782,182
1.973,713,059
2.404.479,673
2,676,757,842
2,586,069,657
2,482,204,301
1,442,500,123
1,475,872,386
1,844,062,831
1,974,543,655
1,906,592,356
1,789,031,939
255
25#
2A
26^
26%
27 M,
76J
74^
76A
73^
"3'/ 3
A
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
Total
10,728,941,322
14,017,006 741
25#
72^
G
eneral averag
e for six years
SHINGLES.
YEARS.
Shingles
received.
On hand
Jan. 1.
Total resources
of the Year.
Disposed of
during Year.
Percei
Left
over.
itages.
Sold.
1879
683,574,000
650,922,500
866,075,000
954,549,000
1.185,108000
895,528,000
200,750,500
190,057,000
188,722,000
260,906,494
305,697,350
466,677,496
884,324,500
840,979,500
1,054,797,000
1,215,455,494
1,490,905,350
1,362,205,496
694,267,500
652,257,500
793,890,506
909,758,144
1.024,227,854
1,007,458,385
21 K
22M
24^
&
3IA
26
78^
77%
75X
74ft
8A
74
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
Total
5,235,756,500
6,848,667,340
Per cen
25|
74i
t for six years
The total number of dealers in Chicago in 1885, as shown in a directory issued by
the secretary, was 115 in the pine lumber branch, 32 in the hardwood branch, and 137
in the list of manufacturers, brokers and commission dealers, making a total of 284.
In the membership of the Exchange there was a net loss of one, the new memberships
of the year comprising Seymour Bros. & Young, Harlan, fage & Son and C. H. Bogue
& Co.
At this meeting James H. Swan was elected president; Perley Lowe, vice-presi-
dent; A. G. Van Schaick, treasurer, and George W. Hotchkiss was reflected secretary.
The first arrival of lumber in this year by lake was on April 2O, when a steam
barge arrived from Saugatuck, Mich., sailing vessels putting in an appearance on the
22d and 23d, but it was not until May I that anything like a fleet of vessels made its
appearance.
The market opened upon a basis of 88.50 for green small dimension sizes, dry stock
ranging from 89.25 to $10, according to size and length. Cedar shingles which from
about 1875 had been an increasing quantity, until they rivaled pine in the extent of
their manufacture, sold at the opening at 81.75 to 81.85 per thousand, by the cargo.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 127
The seventeenth annual meeting of the Exchange occurred March 9, 1886, result-
ing in the election of Perley Lowe as president, John McLaren as vice-president, A. G.
Van Schaick as treasurer and George W. Hotchkiss was again reelected secretary.
The secretary reported the receipts of 1885 at a total of 1,744,699,000 feet of lum-
ber (a decrease of 57,694,000 feet from the receipts of the preceding year), shingles
770,727,000 (a decrease of 124,801,000 from the receipts of 1884). Of the coarser
products he enumerates 64,650,000 lath, 62,139 cords of wood, 21,006 cords of bark,
3,187,501 cedar posts, 1,690,861 railroad ties, and 68,181 telegraph poles and oak piles,
the figures representing lake receipts only. For the first time the secretary calls atten-
tion to the volume of city trade, asserting that of the 1,702,291,642 feet of lumber dis-
posed of during the year, basing the shipments upon an average weight of 2,400
pounds per thousand feet, their volume aggregated 896,044,493 feet, leaving the city
consumption at 806,257,149 feet. As the city ordinances forbid the use of shingles
within the fire limits of the city, he estimates the city consumption to be but 20,000,-
OOO and the shipments of the year to have been 640,000,000. He finds the production
of lumber in the Northwest to have been 7,030,991,779 feet, to which, adding the left-
over stock of 1884, 4,275,467,513 feet, he finds that of a total of resources of 11,306,-
459,292 feet, there was 70^ per cent, or 7,981,353,602 feet consumed or disposed of
and 29^ per cent, or 3,325,105,690 feet left over for the trade of the following year.
These statistical figures are well calculated to give a correct idea of the immensity of
the lumber trac'e, not only in Chicago but throughout the Northwest. As a statistician
of some repute, the secretary reiterates his heretofore repeatedly expressed opinion
that the consumption of lumber in the country at large, averages not far from 500 feet
per capita, which for the estimated population, viz., 64,000,000 would demand a pro-
duction of no less than 32,000,000,000 feet of lumber annually. The compilation for
1892 (which in the nature of things cannot include a vast number of small mills
which fail to report) gives the production of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota
forests at 8,934,053,173 feet. As there are saw mills in all portions of the country
manufacturing to a greater or less extent, it is no stretch of imagination to conclude
that these figures do not exceed twenty-five per cent of the grand total of production.
When the mind recurs to the opening pages of this history, the conditions evi-
denced by the receipt of perhaps 30,000 feet in Chicago in the year 1833, con-
trasted with receipts of 2,150,000,000 feet in 1883, and 2,250,000,000 in 1892, a
general production of 32,000,000,000 feet throughout the nation in 1892, of a value,
at a low calculation (including coarser forest products), of $500,000,000, it taxes
the credulity of intelligent minds to conceive that the change has taken place in but
little over half a century, or that so vast a trade is comprised in a single branch of the
nation's commerce. None other equals it. And this vast source of national wealth,
like iron and coal, is the gift of nature to our favored land.
During the year 1885 the lumbermen of Chicago successfully endeavored to secure
128 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
a floating fire protection to their property in the lumber districts, and on their agree-
ment to pay the running expenses of a fire tug, the city acceded to their request. This
cost the lumbermen something like $6,000, but the advantage was so apparent that the
city authorities permanently adopted the fire tug system, counting it a most valuable
auxiliary to the fire department, and two tugs, each of capacity equal to five ordinary
steamers in efficiency, are now an essential part of the fire department of the city.
The membership of the Exchange still showing signs of a decrease in numbers,
the secretary, in reporting the number at but 117, is inclined to attribute the decrease
to the influence of the price-list controversy. During this year the president and sec-
retary were authorized to visit Washington in the interest of a speedy settlement of
the lake-front controversy, hoping to secure its opening to the admission of the
heavier traffic of the city, including the lumber business. In their statistical repre-
sentation of the subject it was shown that the arrivals and departures of vessels at
Chicago in 1884 exceeded the aggregate arrivals and departures from New York, Bos-
ton, Baltimore and Philadelphia combined, and that nine-elevenths of the Chicago
fleet was engaged in the lumber traffic.
A deficiency arising in the funds of the Exchange at the end of the fiscal year, an
assessment of one mill per thousand feet was levied upon the sales of 1885, the com-
mission dealers being asked to contribute $10 each; this assessment was at the next
annual meeting reported to have netted Si, 963.45.
On March 25 of this year complaint was made by officers of the Chicago, Bur-
lington & Quincy Railroad of incompetency on the part of one of the inspectors of
the Exchange, and on investigation said inspector was suspended from the privileges
of an inspector and his certificate revoked. On the same day the death of Christo-
pher Tegtmeyer, an old and highly respected member of the fraternity, was noticed
by suitable resolutions.
In April of this year the five-year lease of the Exchange hall being about to
expire, it was decided to remove to rooms No. 6 and 7 at 248 South Water Street.
In May, 1886, occurred the great strike which has become historic in connection
with the "Haymarket Massacre." This had its inception in the lumber district,
although other elements than those connected with the lumber business were simulta-
neous in their demands. The laborers in the lumber yards having struck, ostensibly
for higher wages, but really from a spirit of discontent excited by demagogues of the
anarchistic branch of the Socialistic party, and without any clear idea of what they
were striving for, a general meeting of the lumbermen was called, and it was deter-
mined to shut down all business until advised by an executive committee into whose
hands the whole matter was relegated, that it was wise to resume. An increased
number of watchmen was placed in each yard for night and day service, and every
precaution taken to avoid a conflict with the laborers who had developed a spirit of
destruction and of murderous intent in an attack upon the factory of the McCormick
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 129
Reaper Company and other manufacturing establishments located in the lumber dis-
tricts. The executive committee (of which A. G. Van Schaick was chairman) met in
daily session, and at first exhibited a willingness to meet committees of the strikers
and listen to their complaints and demands until these were presented by professional
agitators not in any way connected with the yard men, when further hearing was
denied, except to such as were directly interested in the subject at issue, and no
further endeavor was made to conciliate the striking element, who were assured that
no further negotiations would be entered into until they resumed work, when, if they
had any grievances, they should receive a respectful hearing from the lumbermen in
their Exchange, and all wrongs, if any were shown, would be promptly corrected.
This ultimatum provoked some threats of burning the yards, etc., but the prompt
arrest of those making the threats, and above all the dastardly explosion of bombs in
Haymarket Square by anarchists, of whom it is but just to say that none of the lum-
ber yard laborers were found in their ranks, put a sudden end to the strike, and work
was at once resumed, the laborers showing little or no resentment at their failure to
coerce their employers. No suggestion of a concerted strike has since developed
among the laborers in the lumber yards of the city.
On August 4 a general meeting was called to take appropriate action regarding
the death of Charles R. Barton, of the firm of Barton & Jones, one of the oldest mem-
bers of the Exchange.
During the fiscal year 1886 the admissions to membership included T. H. Shep-
pard & Co., A. R. Gray & Co. and A. R. Beck & Co. (South Chicago.) At the meet-
ing January 10 nine applications for membership from the ranks of the hardwood
dealers were received and L. V. Boyle & Co., Thomas McFarland, R. Granger & Co.,
Rogers & Baldwin, Vinnedge Bros., L. Miller & Co., J. H. Wallace, Washburne &
Son, Charles Messinger & Co., and on March 8 W. B. Crane & Co. and R. B. Appleby
were admitted to membership.
February 14, 1887, was marked by a request from the hardwood dealers for power
to handle their branch of the business independently, but under the provisions of the
Exchange charter, asking power to appoint sub-committees of arbitration and appeal,
committees on inspectors and inspection rules, giving to the action of the "committee
on hardwoods" the same force and effect as if made directly by the board of directors.
In the discussion of this matter it was held that this delegation of power could not
legally be made and the following resolutions were adopted:
" WHEREAS, The hardwood dealers members of this Exchange desire, so far as is
consistent with the rules and by-laws of the Exchange, to take separate action upon
all matters pertaining exclusively to the hardwood lumber business and ask for certain
distinctive title and powers to that end; and
" WHEREAS, So much of their said resolutions as seek to give title to the hard-
wood element, or seeks to give them authority to make rules, or take action, without
130 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the ratification of this board of directors, is contrary to the spirit and letter of the
by-laws of this Exchange and would lack the legality necessary to their enforcement;
Be it, therefore,
"Resolved, That the exclusively hardwood lumber dealers who are now or may
hereafter become members of this Exchange be constituted "the executive committee
on hardwood lumber," who may organize, elect their own chairman and for con-
venience, delegate their power to a sub-committee, and who may take such action for
the government of the hardwood business as is in their judgment required, and who
shall submit such action to the board of directors of this Exchange at any regular
or called meeting, for approval;
"Resolved, That said executive committee on hardwood be requested to place in
nomination for action at the annual meetings on the first Monday of March in each
year, the names of some of their members from whom may be selected two directors
for the ensuing year, one member of the committee on appeals, one member of the
committee of arbitration and five members to constitute the committee on hardwood
inspection."
At the directors' meeting of March 8 a resolution was adopted increasing the
representation of the hardwood branch to two members each on the committees of
arbitration and appeal.
The eighteenth annual meeting of the Exchange was held March 9, 1887, with a
banquet tendered by the retiring president, Perley Lowe, who presided. A full board
of directors, consisting of John McLaren, D. S. Pate, C. A. Paltzer, Granger Farwell,
R. A. Wells (h. w.), J. C. Durgin (commission), M. B. Hull (manufacturer), A. C.
Soper, W. P. Ketchum, W. W. Schultz, D. S. Baldwin (h. w.), W. E. Strong and
Walter Shoemaker were elected, together with a committee of arbitration, consisting
of T. G. Morris, C. B. Flinn, James Charnley and two hardwood members, C. Boyle
and R. Larkins; the committee on appeals J. H. Swan, W. O. Goodman, John C.
Spry with J. H. Wallace and C. L. Washburne, as the representatives of the hardwood
interests. The secretary's annual report makes mention of the strike heretofore men-
tioned and descants upon the benefits of the Exchange, not only to the lumbermen,
but to the mercantile community at large, as evidenced by the suggestion of many
representatives of other interests, that the committee appointed by the lumbermen
should be continued as a central committee of defense against the devices of strikers,
in the interests of all classes of mercantile and railroad industry. The secretary also
notes the fact that the Exchange has been taken as a model for the formation of
Exchanges throughout the country, and that its reputation makes it worthy of a
higher appreciation on the part of the membership and of the non-members of the
trade than it has been accorded during the past year.
JO
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.
133
The statistical record of the preceding year the secretary gives as follows:
Ltn
intit.
SHI:
JGLE8.
1886.
1885.
1886.
1885.
Inventory at beginning of year
725,928,261
683,520,903
396,053,940
354,747,111
Season's receipts
1,660,589,000
1,744,699,000
775,725,000
770,727,000
Total resources
2,386,517,261
2,428,219,903
1,171,778,940
1,125,474,111
Inventory at close of season.
664,270,622
725,928,261
493,216,600
463,234,100
Sales of season
1,722,246,629
1,702,291,642
678,562,340
662,240,010
Shipments . ...
979,652,297
896,044,493
650,562,340
640,240,010
742,594,342
806,257,149
28,000,000
20,000,000
These figures are inclusive of the trade at South Chicago and of hardwoods.
The secretary in this report says:
"The hardwood trade shows no less volume than for preceding years, and an
increased average monthly stock on hand indicates a constant increase in this rapidly
developing branch of the lumber business of the city. With the disappearance of
pine timber from the producing sections, a value is discovered in the hardwood and
hemlock, which still remain upon the ground, and the increased consumption of these
products is apparent in the substitution of them in many places where pine was
formerly used. The tendency to finish business and residence blocks and buildings
with hardwood lumber is manifestly on the increase, and it is with pleasure that I
report a recognition of the growing importance of this branch of the lumber trade of
the city, and a necessity for greater cooperation with the pine interest, in the applica-
tion during the year of twelve of the leading hardwood dealers, in addition to the five
formerly admitted."
In closing his report the secretary announces that after a service of six years he
will not be a candidate for re-election, his health demanding a relaxation from a
service which had received his most earnest attention until he was admonished to
stop.
At the directors' meeting, March 15, John McLaren was elected president and
M. B. Hull, vice-president; James H. Swan, treasurer, and at the meeting of April II
the executive committee reported the engagement of Mr. Theodore H.Swan as secre-
tary at a salary of $1,200 per year.
June "j a special' meeting was called to take action for the protection of the ves-
sel interest, and of the lumbermen, from the oppressive demand of vessel men, in an
ordinance then pending in the city council looking to the closing of the bridges of
the city between the hours of 8 A. M. and 7 P. M. A committee was appointed, and
acting in connection with other interests, accomplished effective service. About this
time it was suggested that the monthly reports of stocks on hand should be confined
in their publicity to those members or non-members who make report, and while the
secretary was instructed to keep the statistics private to all except the classes named,
7
134 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the futility of the effort was shown in the regularity of their publication by the lumber
journals.
On August 24 appropriate action is noted as having been taken at a special
meeting of the trade called in consideration of the death of Walter S. Babcock, and
on September 8 a similarly called meeting expressed its sympathy with the family of
the veteran lumberman Martin Ryerson who died at Boston September 6. The
eighth paragraph of the lengthy resolutions adopted, was as follows:
"As a monument to his business sagacity and enterprise, may be seen some of the
best and most useful buildings on our thoroughfares, nor would we forget that other
monument erected by him in one of our public parks, that testifies to his kindly mem-
ories of a people who in his early years were his faithful friends, and also that they
shall not be forgotten, though they may ultimately become extinct as a people before
the march of our civilization."
The beautiful bronze statue of the Indian scout erected by Mr. Ryerson in
Lincoln Park will remain a perpetual monument to his public spirit, and its correct
delineation of Indian physiognomy and character will prove a valuable object lesson in
the history of the Indian tribes of America to many succeeding generations.
On September 26 a special meeting convened to take appropriate action regard-
ing the death of Lewis W. Pick, for many years a member of the firm of Ketcham
& Pick, who died on the 24th inst.
On the Qth of January, 1888, a communication was prepared and forwarded to
Washington advocating and approving a mooted suggestion looking to a Columbian
Exposition in Washington, of which Ex-President Perley Lowe and Ex-Secretary
Hotchkiss had been made promoting members by the central committee at Washing-
ton, which proposed the inauguration of a World's Fair in commemoration of the
four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the continent by Columbus. The
subsequent history of this enterprise and its final location at Chicago, the grandeur of
its inception and successful culmination, will be found beautifully set forth in another
part of this series of the city's history.
The nineteenth annual meeting was held March 5, 1888, and after mentioning the
fact that on assuming the duties of the secretaryship one year previous, he had
found the routine of a different nature from anything in his previous experience, Sec-
retary Swan adds:
" It would appear that an unfortunate epoch in the history of the Exchange had
arrived at the time of my assuming the secretaryship. The period of active interest
which at one time pervaded the organization seemed to have passed, and had been
succeeded by one of inertia. The practice which had at one time prevailed of meet-
ings, which combined the discussion of matters that had reference to the best interests
of the lumber trade in this city, and the cultivation of social relations between the
members had relapsed into innocuous desuetude; no meeting of that nature has been
held during the past year. Only three general meetings called by the president have
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.
135
been held during the year, and these were occasioned by the deaths of those who
were or had been members of the Exchange."
Secretary Swan reports a membership of ninety-six at the beginning and ninety
at the close of the year. In his analysis of the receipts of the year he finds that of the
1,846,187,000 feet of lumber received 136,932,000 feet of pine and 215,700,000 feet of
hardwood were brought by the railroads, while 1,455,181,000 feet of pine and 38,374,-
OOO of hardwood came by lake. In a detailed analysis of the trade of the year he
makes the following calculations of the year's business.
LUMBKB.
SUINOLES.
1887.
1888.
1887.
1886.
Total resources
2,510.467,622
666,548,425
1,843,909,197
2,386,517,261
664,270,622
1,722,246,629
1,106,205,750
440,491,850
665,713,900
1,081,778,940
493,216,600
678,562,340
On hand January 1, 1888-1887
Sales and shipments ....
Shipments
1,038,013,018
805,896,179
979,652,297
742,594,997
625,714,900
39,999,000
650,562,340
28,000,000
Local consumption
At this meeting Mr. James H. Swan mentioned a rumor which he had heard of a
movement looking to the merging of the Exchange into, and with, a new organization,
which was the first public notice of what later became an accomplished fact. Mr.
Swan spoke at some length of the value of the Exchange charter, and the legal advant-
ages to be derived from its legislative powers in various ways, and in the interest of
various topics kindred to the work of the organization, made a strong plea for its
continued life. The board of directors at this time elected consisted of A. C. Soper,
W. P. Ketcham, W. Shoemaker, Granger Farwell, C. A. Paltzer, Perley Lowe, M. T.
Green, D. S. Pate, Joseph Rathborne, W. W. Schultz, R. K. Bickford (Com.), George
E. White and Clarence Boyle (h. w.); committee of arbitration A. R. Vinnedge
and C. L. Washburne (h. w.), T. G. Morris (Com.), Thomas H. Sheppard and C. B.
Flinn; committee of appeals Rodney Granger and A. W. Rogers (h. w.), A. G.
Van Schaick, J. H. Swan and VV. O. Goodman. At the first directors' meeting A. C.
Soper was elected president; D. S. Pate, vice-president; J. H. Swan, treasurer; and a
committee was appointed to whom the question of a secretary was referred, and which
subsequently recommended the retention of the present incumbent, and Mr. Theo F.
Swan was consequently re-elected. (Mr. Swan died in August, 1894.)
On March 20 a called meeting of the fraternity expressed the sorrow of that
body on learning of the death of Mr. William B. Prettyman, an old and highly
respected lumberman of the city.
On May 14 a committee was appointed to ascertain if it was practicable to obtain
the repeal of the city ordinance taxing lumber yards. This committee, consisting of
Messrs. George E. White and C. A. Paltzer, reported on August 13 that the tax was
not an onerous one, and that its repeal would involve a reduction in the license fees
136 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of other branches, which would be undesirable, and recommended that no further
action be taken in the premises.
The death of Mr. George A. Marsh was made the subject of appropriate action at
a special meeting called August 16, and the meeting of December 10 was made mem-
orable through the recording of the names of A. C. Calkins, B. L. Anderson, James
McMullen, Alexander Officer, John F. Mensden, Charles B. White, M. B. Hull,
Thomas M. Avery and Thaddeus Winter, all retired members of the Exchange, to
honorary membership, under Rule 10, Section i, of the by-laws. A revision of the
rules for the inspection of hardwood lumber was, on recommendation of the hard-
wood committee, adopted.
The twentieth annual meeting was held March 4, 1889, at the Tremont House,
with a banquet tendered by President A. C. Soper. The secretary presented his
report, showing a membership of eighty-six, a loss of six during the year. He
reported receipts for 1888 aggregating 1,699,801,000 feet of pine lumber and 312,259,000
feet of hardwood, a grand total of 2,012,060,000 feet of lumber, and 629,685,000
shingles, with 48,831,000 lath, 4,577,173 cedar posts, 1,969,873 railroad ties, 115,666
telegraph poles, 52,417 cords of wood, and 12,645 cords of bark. He found a stock
on hand January i of 755,399,566 feet of lumber and 421,502,210 shingles, and asserts
the shipments of the year to have aggregated 801,462,867 feet of lumber and
566,291,250 shingles and the local consumption to have been 1,123,755,032 feet of
lumber, with 77,222,250 shingles. The expansion of the city boundaries is full
explanation of a doubling in the local consumption of shingles, and a large increase
in the local use of lumber, as the fire limits did not extend into the annexed territory,
which had settled with an unexampled rapidity. In his annual address President
Soper speaks of a strike on the C. B. & Q. R. R., which had contracted shipping
in the early season, cutting off a large territory to the South and Southwest which had
hitherto been controlled by Chicago, but had now passed into the hands of the
Mississippi dealers. He says further:
" We have seen more profitable years, but on the whole I cannot recall where
values were more steady; it is worthy of note that with a volume of business amount-
ing in value to not less than $35,000,000, not a single disagreement has arisen that
required arbitration. I think this speaks volumes for the fairness, the honor and
integrity of the lumbermen of Chicago, and we can fairly challenge any other line
of trade to make an equal showing."
For the past two years the dealers, while the larger part, and in fact nearly all
of them retained their membership in the Exchange, had sought the regulation of the
price list and of some other matters through an independent and unincorporated asso-
ciation, holding its meetings at various offices throughout the Twenty-second Street
lumber district. The first president of this association was C. A. Paltzer, who was
succeeded by Francis Beidler and W. W. Schultz. Referring to this association Presi-
dent Soper said:
5
bocdspesd Biothirs Fullisliers. Chicago
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 139
" There has been some fear expressed that the ' Dealers' Association ' would
detract from the interest in the Exchange. In my opinion there is little to fear,
doubtless there is room enough for both organizations, each in its peculiar sphere.
But this Exchange must cover a wider range of usefulness than can be possible for
the other organization. While the latter can take cognizance only of matters of par-
ticular interest to dealers, the Exchange will always have a broader field, covering
our relations with other markets and other exchanges, between manufacturers and
commission men, as well as dealers in both the lines of pine and hardwood, and in
times of emergency, which will be sure to arise, the Exchange will always be the
rallying point for the trade. Nor must we forget that the Exchange has a valuable
charter, with powers and privileges, which could never be secured again under the
laws of Illinois. But let me say just here, that while I am not a prophet, nor the son
of a prophet, I will venture the prediction that within two years we shall see the
Dealers' Association merged in this Exchange. And why should it not be so? The
preponderance of dealers not manufacturers, in the Exchange membership is now
so large that they can always control the elections, can always have a majority of the
directors, and by having a special committee on yard matters can accomplish all that
they can hope to do by a separate organization, and at far less expense. In saying
this I would not be understood as detracting one whit from the work done by the
other association during the past year; 1 only claim that it can be, and should be
done by this Exchange. I will make no recommendations upon this subject, as it
seems to me to be one of the questions that in due time will furnish its own solution."
At the directors' meeting Davy S. Pate was elected president; W. O. Goodman,
vice-president; John McLaren, treasurer; Theo. F. Swan (re-elected), secretary.
Nothing of interest is noted during the year until on November 11 a meeting was
called to pass suitable resolutions of respect to the memory of Winslow Bushnell,
of the Lord & Bushnell Company. Only four meetings are noted in the record as
having been held during the year.
The twenty-first annual meeting took place March 3, 1890, and, as will appear
later, proved to be the last meeting of "The Lumberman's Exchange." President
Pate invited the members to a banquet at the Sherman House, which was attended by
about seventy-five lumbermen and fifteen invited guests and newspaper reporters.
The secretary reports a membership of seventy-nine, a loss of six during the year.
In his opening address Secretary Swan laments:
"It would seem that an organization which has the prestige of age and an illustri-
ous record in the past, should not be permitted to sink into inertia and neglect, and
while it is true that times and conditions have changed somewhat since its first organ-
ization, and the aid that such a chartered association could afford to every dealer and
manufacturer of lumber is perhaps not felt to-day as it was in an earlier period, or in
fact as it would be to-day should it by any mischance lose a charter that is beyond
price, it is sincerely to be hoped that every yard dealer and all others who are
interested in the lumber trade of this city realize the necessity and value of such an
organization."
140 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
The statistical report shows receipts for the season of 1889 of a total of 1,930,-
227,000 feet of lumber, of which 1,600,862,000 feet was pine and 329,365,000 feet was
hardwood, with 637,377,000 shingles, 43,666,000 lath, 3,580,004 cedar posts, 1,510,000
railroad ties, 60,000 telegraph poles, 44,918 cords of wood and 14,955 cords of bark.
The sales and shipments are stated at 1,944,131,462 feet of lumber, of which 739,510,-
OOO was shipped and 1,204,621,000 feet set down as city consumption. Of shingles
509,901,500 are noted as shipments and 127,475,000 to city consumption.
At this meeting the death of Walter C. Williams, one of the younger members of
the fraternity and junior member of the firm of J. H. Pearson & Co., was noted and
appropriate resolutions adopted. Steps were taken for the union of the "Exchange,"
the "Hardwood Dealers' Branch" and the "Lumberman's Association," and C. A.
Paltzer, W. W. Schultz and M. T. Green were appointed a committee to confer with
committees of the other organizations and to report as soon as possible. At the
directors' meeting, March 10, C. A. Paltzer was elected president; E. Harvey Wilce,
vice-president, and the election of treasurer and secretary deferred to the next meet-
ing; the committee on union with the other associations reported progress and was
continued, and on March 19, through its chairman, A. G. Van Schaick, presented the
following resolution as embodying the action of the joint committees:
"Be it Resolved, That it is desirable that the two lumber associations now organ-
ized in Chicago be brought into closer business relations, and it is the sense of the
committee that the Lumberman's Exchange and the Lumber Dealers' Association
lease a hall and office jointly, each paying one-half the annual rental, which should
include telephone and janitor service, the furniture to be owned jointly."
The report was accepted on motion of Perley Lowe and the committee was con-
tinued, with power to act in arranging for a joint rental, at a cost to the Exchange not
to exceed $500 per annum. At the next meeting, held April 21, 1890, the committee
presented another report, accompanied with a resolution to the effect that the
Exchange join with the Dealers' Association in renting a hall at a joint expense of not
to exceed $i ,OOO per year, to share equally the cost of telephone service and to assume
a proportion, not to exceed 8750, for a secretary's salary. This was declared carried
on a vote of six in favor to three opposed, when Mr. Dean, of the minority, contested
the legality of a decision arrived at by less than a quorum of the "members elect" of
the board of directors and the chair upholding the legality of the vote, Mr. Dean
asked that his protest be recorded. The committee was continued, with power to
arrange all matters of office rent, including the appointment of a secretary.
The next meeting is noted as being held at "The Lumberman's Exchange, Room
No. 417, Chamber of Commerce," President Paltzer presiding and Mr. L. W. Fuller
acting as secretary pro tern. On motion of A. G. Van Schaick Mr. E. E. Hooper was
elected secretary at a salary of 8750 per annum (an equal sum being paid by the
"Association,") and the resignations of nineteen manufacturing and commission
houses hitherto in the membership were tendered and accepted.
fffE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 141
At a special meeting May 26 appropriate action was taken regarding the death
of Albert Soper, one of the oldest and most highly esteemed of the membership, who
had reached the ripe old age of seventy-eight years, respected and beloved of all
who knew him.
July 14 a resolution was adopted discontinuing the publication of the monthly
stock reports, which are hereafter to be considered the private property of the mem-
bers of the Exchange and the Yard Dealers' Association.
THE LUMBERMEN'S ASSOCIATION.
With the approach of the autumn of 1890 the inevitable began the more clearly
to be revealed, and October 18 a committee consisting of President Paltzer, D. S. Pate
and A. C. Soper was appointed to confer with the directors of the Dealers' Associa-
tion in the interest of an amalgamation of the two bodies.
On January 7, 1891, the Exchange was called to take action regarding the death
of Charles H. Hayden, of the firm of Hayden Bros., a leading firm in the hardwood
branch, and on January 12 a meeting of the directors was held, at which were present
by invitation, directors of the Lumber Dealers' Association, and also directors of the
Hardwood Dealers' Association. The committee on amalgamation reported that a
circular letter had been addressed to the members of the different associations, number-
inga total of 72; that 66 votes had been returned, of which 61 were in favor of merging
the associations into one, and 5 votes in opposition to the plan; that in the matter of
a name 54 voted in favor of the designation " Lumbermen's Association," 33 in favor
of "Lumberman's Exchange," 2 were in favor of the "Yard Dealers' Association,"
and 2 in favor of "The Lumber Dealers' Association," and the following resolution
was unanimously adopted:
"Resolved, That a special meeting of the members of the Lumberman's Exchange
of Chicago be called for the purpose of submitting to a vote of the members of said
corporation the question of changing the name of said corporation from Lumberman's
Exchange of Chicago, its present name, to ' Lumbermen's Association of Chicago,'
and also altering and amending the by-laws of the corporation, and the transaction of
any and all business that such special meeting may deem advisable or in the interest of
the corporation, and that a meeting of the members of the Lumberman's Exchange
of Chicago be called by the secretary pursuant to its rules and by-laws, and that said
meeting be held on the 28th day of February, A. D. 1891, at the hour of 8 o'clock
P. M., at the office of the Lumberman's Exchange of Chicago, Room 618, Chamber of
Commerce building, southeast corner of La Salle and Washington Streets, Chicago,
111., and that a general notice of the time, place and object of such meeting shall also
be published for three successive weeks in some newspaper published in the county
of Cook and State of Illinois."
Clarence Boyle, A. R. Vinnedge and W. Scott Keith were appointed a committee
on the part of the hardwood dealers, W. W. Schultz, Joseph Rathborne and A. G.
142 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Van Schaick, representing the pine yard lumbermen, to carry out the intents of the
above resolution, in accordance with which a special meeting was held February 28,
being called in manner prescribed by law, and a quorum of the membership of the
Lumberman's Exchange being found present, the committee certified to the inser-
tion in the Chicago Legal News, a weekly publication, of the notice prescribed by law
for the calling of such special meeting for the consideration of the subject of chang-
ing the name of the corporation. The following resolution was then offered by W.
P. Ketcham and it was
"Resolved, That the name of the ' Lumberman's Exchange of Chicago,' be, and
the same is hereby changed to ' Lumbermen's Association of Chicago.' '
The question of adopting the resolution was then put, and all present voting "aye, 1
it was declared to be unanimously adopted, and the amendments to the constitution
and by-laws as recommended by the committee as requisite to harmony with the new
conditions were unanimously adopted, and the following certificate was then ordered
to be filed in the office of the Secretary of State, as by law required:
"CHANGE OF NAME TO LUMBERMEN'S ASSOCIATION.
February 28, 1891.
"STATE OF ILLINOIS, |
County of Cook, j s;
"We hereby certify that a special meeting of the members of the Lumberman's
Exchange, of Chicago, was held at the office of said corporation, Room 618, Chamber
of Commerce, Chicago, 111., on the 28th day of February, A. D. 1891, at 8 P. M., pur-
suant to notice given in the manner provided by law. That the following question
was submitted to the members of said corporation:
"Resolved, That the name of the Lumberman's Exchange, of Chicago.be, and the
same is hereby changed to Lumbermen's Association, of Chicago.
"We further certify that said resolution was unanimously adopted at said meeting,
and that all the members of said corporation present at said meeting voted in favor of
said resolution.
"In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and affixed the seal of said
corporation this 2d day of March, A. D. 1891.
A .. . "CHARLES A. PALTZER, President.
EDWIN E. HOOPER, Secretary."
j CORPORATE )
\ SEAL. J
"STATE OF ILLINOIS, )
County of Cook. \ ss '
"Charles A. Paltzer, being duly sworn, deposes and says, that he has read the fore-
going certificate subscribed by him, and knows the contents thereof, and that the
same is true, in substance and in fact, and that he is president of said corporation.
"CHARLES A. PALTZER, President."
"Subscribed and sworn to before me by said Charles A. Paltzer, this 6th day of
March, A. D. 1891. MORRIS M. HIRSH."
[SEAL.] "Notary Public in and for the Comity of Cook in the State of Illinois."
*
"^
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS 145
The twenty-second annual meeting was held at the Tremont House, March 2
1891. At the preliminary meeting of the board of directors the following named
firms, previously members of the Chicago Lumber Yard Dealers' Association, but not
of the Exchange, were admitted to membership in the new organization:
Badenoch Bros., Charles Bruse & Co., A. Gourley & Co., S. R. Howell & Co., E.
S. Hartwell & Co., Hemlock Lumber Company, Loomis & Gillespie, T. R. Lyons, S.
K. Martin Lumber Company, Marsh & Bingham, N. & C. H. Mears, W. J. Neebes,
O'Brien, Green & Co., Rittenhouse & Embree, Albert Russell, South Branch Lumber
Company, J. Stephenson Company, John Spry Lumber Company, T. H. Sheppard &
Co., Walter Shoemaker & Co.. Tegtmeyer Lumber & Box Company, Thompson Bros.,
Hayden Bros, and G. T. Houston & Co.
The annual meeting convened at the banquet table which the courtesy of Presi-
dent Paltzer had provided, the members in attendance numbering forty-five, with
eight invited guests representing the railroad interests of the city. In presenting his
annual address, President Paltzer said:
" * * In reviewing the work of the association during the past year we find
that the membership of former years made up as it was of lumber manufacturers,
commission men, inspectors and dealers, has been changed to a membership of lum-
ber merchants only, the manufacturers and commission merchants to the number of
nineteen withdrew from the Exchange last spring, prompted thereto, no doubt, by
what seemed to them good and sufficient reasons. I do not refer to this in any spirit
of criticism, but simply to note the fact. This left the membership composed entirely
of dealers with the exception of two inspectors. Of course, there are now among our
members a number of lumber manufacturers, but as they handle and dispose of the
product of their mills through a yard here or elsewhere, they are properly classed as
dealers. I wish to say to those gentlemen who withdrew from our association last
spring, and I am sure that I voice the sentiments of every member in the statement
that we have none but the kindliest feelings for them and that we appreciate their
labors in and for the advancement of the Exchange (many of them having 'been
members since its incorporation in 1869) and that we will continue to regard them as
valuable members of the lumber fraternity. While we regret the loss of this portion
of our members, we cannot overlook the fact that the change in our membership
which is now homogenous will tend greatly to increase the usefulness of our associa-
tion, for no organization can achieve the best results unless the individual interests
of its members in the work to be accomplished are identical. It was deemed advisa-
ble to change the name of the association from the " Lumberman's Exchange " to the
" Lumbermen's Association," because the former name has become a misnomer for
the past fifteen years, if not from the date of the charter of the association. This
change has been made in accordance with the laws of the State, and hence all the
valuable privileges and powers granted in our special charter are in no way affected.
The association rooms have been moved from the old and inadequate quarters on
South Water Street to the magnificent Chamber of Commerce building, a building
which, with its thirteen stories and magnificent appointments, is an ornament to our
city, and speaks volumes for the energy and enterprise of one of our oldest lumber
146 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
firms and members (Hannah, Lay & Co.). The Lumber Yard Dealers' Association
and the Hardwood Association, whose memberships were largely made up of members
of this association, have discontinued their separate organizations and have come
back into the fold. This association with a membership of about eighty, whose busi-
ness interests, if not absolutely identical, are in no wise conflicting, may now go for-
ward and accomplish results of greater benefit to all its members than at any time
heretofore. * * * *
"The volume of the business of our country in every branch of trade and industry
during the year just passed has been of immense proportions; the activity in the lum-
ber business has been unprecedented not only in our territory but in all parts of our
country. The shipments and consumption of lumber at this point for the past twelve
months were larger by 134,000,000 feet than in any previous year. Recently published
statistics show the lumber production of the Northwest during the year 1890 to have
been 8,600,000,000 feet, of which Chicago handled nearly one-fourth. While we have
lost a part of our shipping trade, which in the nature of circumstances we can never
regain, we have a home trade which is enormous, aggregating the past year over
1,200,000,000 feet. The growth of our city, of which we are all justly proud, is simply
marvelous; during the past year nearly 12,000 buildings were erected within the city
limits, covering a frontage of over fifty miles and representing a value of about
$60,000,000. * * * * "
The secretary reported that the year began with seventy members; thirty-three
had been added during the year, and twenty-eight, including twenty commission
houses and eight pine yard dealers, had tendered their resignations, the present mem-
bership being seventy-five. The deaths during the year of Messrs. Albert Soper,
Charles Hayden and John Spry, Sr., were noted in the report. Messrs. Soper and
Spry were among the oldest members of the fraternity of Chicago lumbermen.
The statistical report for 1890 showed receipts of 1,969,689,000 feet of lumber,
524,440,000 shingles, 72,773,000 lath, 3,693,432 cedar posts, 2,652,365 railroad ties,
89,000 telegraph poles, 35,490 cords of wood, and 10,599 cords of bark. With a stock
on hand at the beginning of the year of 656,708,775 feet of lumber and 423,999,250
shingles, and at the close of 527,850,235 feet of lumber and 344,873,720 shingles, the
dispositions of the season of 1890 are classified as: shipments, 884,058,000 feet; city
consumption, 1,214,489,560 feet, and the disposition of shingles as 603,565,530, being
the largest totals shown by the records to have been disposed of in any one year of
Chicago's history.
W. W. Schultz was elected president, George E. White vice-president, James P.
Soper treasurer, and Edwin E. Hooper secretary for the ensuing year, the secretary's
salary being fixed at $2,500 per annum. The selection of Mr. Hooper was an eminently
wise one, he being a thoroughly posted railroad man and the freight problem being
now one of the most important with which the association would be called to deal.
The first directors of the rejuvenated association were as follows: Pine Francis
Beidler, W. P. Ketcham, J. P. Soper, D. S. Pate, C. A. Paltzer, W. W. Schultz; hard-
wood Clarence Boyle, A. R. Vinnedge and George E. White, the number being
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 147
reduced under the reorganization from thirteen to nine. Committee on arbitration:
Pine Joseph Rathborne, T. H. Sheppard, George Green; hardwood R. A. Wells,
E. Harvey Wilce, F. L. Bryant. Committee of appeals: Pine C. B. Flinn, L. W.
Fuller, S. W. Wyatt; hardwood C. L. Washburne, R. Granger, W. B. Crane. Com-
mittee on hardwoods George E. White, W. Scott Keith, Philo G. Dodge, A. R.
Vinnedge, H. S. Hayden.
The exactions of the insurance companies in the abnormal increase of premium
rates upon the lumber yards of the city when compared with the losses experienced,
led in May, 1889, to the establishing of a "Lumberman's Mutual Insurance Company,"
for the purpose of insuring lumber yards only, and as the organization was put in ope-
ration and officered by members of the Lumbermen's Association, office room was
rented to it April 13, 1891, and it became practically an appendage of the new organ-
ization.
At this annual meeting appropriate action was taken regarding the recent death
of Gen. William E. Strong, of the Peshtigo Company, and Henry Witbeck, of the H.
Witbeck Company, both of whom were among the oldest and most influential mem-
bers of the Chicago lumber trade.
In May the question of membership dues, which from the organization of the
Exchange in 1869 had remained at 25 per year, was again considered and the rates
fixed upon a graded scale, firms handling ten millions and under, to pay $35 per year;
over ten and under twenty millions, $60; over twenty and under thirty millions, $80;
over thirty millions, $120 per year; hardwood members under five millions, $50; over
five and under ten millions, 75; ten millions and over, $100.
It was with an overwhelming sense of loss that on October 15 of this year the
fraternity was called together to express the deep sorrow occasioned by the death of
Anthony G. Van Schaick, which occurred at Denver, Colo., on the I3th inst. Few
men had taken so deep an interest in the Exchange from its inception, and he had
filled every position of usefulness to which circumstances had called him at any time,
whether the call was to hold office, furnish funds, or to give valuable and invariably,
judicious advice. Few men in the community will be more seriously missed or more
sincerely mourned. One week later, on October 23, the members were again con-
vened to mourn the death of James Soper, a veteran friend and lumberman, who had
for over thirty years been actively engaged in the lumber business of the city.
On January 12, 1892, a committee representing the yellow pine interests presented
a communication asking if they would be admitted to membership, and they were
informed that all yard dealers were eligible, but no others. The yellow or Southern
pine branch of Chicago trade had now become quite an important factor, and with hem-
lock, had made heavy inroads into the domain of pine, which from natural causes was
greatly reduced in quality, although the quantity still continued large. In the earlier
years of the trade the quality was expected to reach fully fifty per cent of what are
148
INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
known as the finer grades. Indeed it was difficult in the earlier years to dispose of
common and culls. With the decimation of the forests and the utilization of coarser
timber, it is safe to say that not to exceed five per cent of the yearly receipts of lumber
at Chicago can be ranked as strictly clear, and the finishing grades of to-day are
largely composed of the inspection common of thirty years ago.
Death seemed in this year to have an especial call to decimate the ranks of the
lumbermen of Chicago, and the craft convened February 12, 1892, to mourn the death
of Philo G. Dodge, who for many years had been a prominent hardwood merchant,
and three days later, February 15, to tender their sympathy to the family and friends
of a highly respected associate and ex-president of the Exchange, James P. Ketcham.
The twenty-third annual meeting occurred March 7, 1892, at the Tremont House,
where President Schultz had ordered a fine banquet to which seventy members and
their guests sat down. President Schultz' address congratulated the association upon
the results obtained from the amalgamation of the three associations, in the harmony,
good fellowship and financial benefits attained. Secretary Hooper reported a present
membership of sixty-nine. The statistical report showed receipts for 1891 of 2,087,-
462,000 feet of lumber, 310,168,000 shingles, 57,139,000 lath, 4,233,720 cedar posts,
2,052,055 railroad ties and 53,375 telegraph poles. His analysis of the year's business
was as follows:
LUMBER.
SHINGLES.
1891.
1890.
1891.
1890.
Inventory at beginning of year. . ..
Receipts of year.
527,860,235
2,087,462,000
656,708,775
1,969,689,000
333,326,370
310,168,000
423,999,250
524,440,000
Total resources .
2,615,312,235
472,719,021
870,931,000
1,271,662,214
2,626,397,775
527,850,235
884,058,000 I
1,214,489,560 }
643,494,370
180,142,559
463,351,811
948,439,250
333,326,370
615,112,880
Inventory at close of year
Shipments
City consumption
Total disposition
2,142,593,214
44,045,654
2,098,547,560
Decrease, 1891,
Increased sales, 1891 ....
151,761,069
Mr. Schultz was reflected president; Clarence Boyle, vice-president; J. P. Soper,
treasurer, and F^. E. Hooper, secretary. May 9 the subject of lumber weights was
introduced, and at that and subsequent meetings a full scale of weights applying to the
shipment of various descriptions of lumber was adopted. Nothing of import is to be
noted for the remainder of this year nor until the 6th of March, 1893, at which time
the twenty-fourth annual meeting was held. At this time the death of Wayne B.
Chatfield, of the firm of Street, Chatfield & Co., was noted with words of eulogy and
respect. The secretary notes the holding of four price-list meetings during the past
year, and reports the total receipts for 1892 to have been 2,250,298,000 feet of lumber,
413,266,000 shingles, 52,986,000 lath, 4,170,118 cedar posts, 2,104,347 railroad ties and
25,597 telegraph poles. This was the largest reported receipt of lumber in the history
Guodspeeit Brother
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 151
of the trade, and no doubt was stimulated by the use of enormous quantities of lumber
in the construction of the buildings of the World's Columbian Exposition, which had
called for probably 150,000,000 feet of lumber in their construction. The figures
further show that the inventory at the close of the year gave a stock on hand in the
yards of the city of 410,499,289 feet of lumber and 221,919,905 shingles. The ship-
ments of the year included 1,058,407,000 feet of lumber, and the city consumption is
placed at 1,254,110,732 feet, an increase in dispositions for the year of 169,924,518 feet,
while the shingle dispositions show a decrease of 91,763,157.
The following board of directors was at this time elected: Edwin S. Hartwell,
of E. S. Hartwell & Co.; VV. W. Schultz, of Crandall, Schultz & Co.; Edward Hines,
of E. Hines Lumber Company; Perley Lowe, of Perley Lowe & Co.; T. H. Shep-
pard, of T. H. Sheppard & Co.; Davy S. Pate; Allen R. Vinnedge, of Vinnedge Bros,
(hardwood); E. H. Wilce, of Thomas Wilce & Co., and F. E. Bartelme, of the Keith
Lumber Company (hardwood). At the succeeding meeting of the board of directors,
Thomas H. Sheppard was elected president; A. R. Vinnedge, vice-president; James
Soper, treasurer; E. E. Hooper, secretary, and an executive committee was appointed
consisting of Perley Lowe, T. H. Sheppard and W. W. Schultz. Inspection committee
on pine Arthur Gourley, A. F. Fisher and John Nourse (of the Sawyer-Goodman
Company), the hardwood committee being placed in charge of that branch of inspec-
tion. A resolution was adopted inviting all visiting lumbermen during the World's
Fair to make the association rooms their headquarters, and the secretary was instructed
to make this invitation known throughout the land.
On April 10 Schultz Bros, were elected to, and W. B. Crane & Co. withdrew from,
membership. June I a price list meeting was held, but it was decided to let the
former list remain.
June IO was a day of sadness with the fraternity, non-members uniting with the
members in expressing the grief of each at parting with President Thomas H. Shep-
pard, in whose death all felt a personal bereavement. Mr. Sheppard was one of the
most highly respected of the entire fraternity of lumbermen, and his death after a
short illness caused no less sorrow than surprise, his sickness being known to com-
paratively few of his business associates.
On July 10 Mr. Charles F. Miller, whose respected father has heretofore been
mentioned as one of the pioneers of the hardwood business of the city, was elected a
director to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Sheppard. Vice-President Vinnedge was
declared president (the first member of the hardwood branch to reach that dis-
tinction), and Mr. Perley Lowe was elected vice-president. August 7 of this year a
communication was received from the " New York Board of Trade and Transporta-
tion," asking that the lumbermen would memorialize Congress, urging the repeal of
the " Silver Bill," to the deleterious effects of which the unprecedented business
depression of the nation was thought to be attributable. Messrs. A. C. Soper, W. W.
152 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Schultz, C. A. Paltzer, Jesse Spalding and W. Scott Keith were appointed a com-
mittee, and on August 17 reported a set of memorial resolutions, which were unani-
mously adopted and forwarded to the Chicago and Illinois representatives in the
national Legislature, urging prompt and immediate repeal of the so-called Sherman
Law, the effect of which, in the accumulation of several hundreds of millions in value
of silver bullion in the national vaults, was believed to be the cause of an abnormal
drainage of gold ffom the nation at large, giving rise to a feeling of insecurity in the
business world, followed by a run upon many banks, causing the suspension of about
250 of these financial institutions, with most disastrous consequences to all branches
of business in the nation. So great was the emergency that President Cleveland
called a special session of Congress to convene August I, presenting no other subject
for consideration except the repeal of the law which was believed to be the cause of
the universal depression. The effects of the panic were, of course, seriously felt by
the lumbermen of Chicago, in common with all other business interests. The New
York banks refused to pay out currency even upon the checks of depositors, and as a
result their western correspondents were unable to utilize eastern exchange, which
entered into a large proportion of the daily business of the country; consequently at
the meeting of August 17 the secretary of the association was instructed to notify the
trade at large that all remittances should be made in exchange upon Chicago banks,
and that New York exchange would be accepted only at its market value on the day
of its receipt.
The lumber business of 1893 was of a most unsatisfactory character and half a
dozen of what had been considered the more reliable and solid firms were driven to
the wall, a portion of them not to resume, while the rest were soon again upon their
feet. As a whole this panic proved the most severe with which the nation had ever been
afflicted, while at the same time the most causeless; there being no lack of an unde-
niably sound paper currency; nothing but a fear that the abnormal accumulation of sil-
ver in the national vaults, causing apprehension upon the part of foreign holders of
American securities, leading to a desire to realize while yet they could depend upon
receiving payment in gold; and a consequent drain upon the gold reserve of the
national treasury. This distrust soon spread to the American business public, but not
sooner than the public apprehension of danger which manifested itself in "runs"
upon the banks, with disastrous effects in so many instances. The receipts of
forest products at Chicago during this year were the smallest for many years, while
the sales were restricted in an equal degree.
The repeal of the silver bill did not prove the universal panacea for the correction
of existing evils and the complete restoration of confidence and prosperity in the
commercial world, and public attention was drawn more closely to the question of
tariff and its revision by the now dominant Democratic party. The nation had for the
past four years tested the virtues of a national tariff upon imports embracing the
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 153
highest schedule in its history, enacted by the Republican Congress of 1890, and
technically known as the McKinley Bill. The Democratic party had in the cam-
paign of 1892 adopted "tariff revision" as its Shibboleth, and had elected President
Cleveland and an overwhelming majority in the Lower House pledged to a radical
revision of the tariff upon lines which it was believed would ultimately lead to "fair"
if not free trade with the nations of the world. The discussion of this subject in Con-
gress was prolonged until August, 1894, in consequence of a dead lock between the
Senate and House of Representatives, the small Democratic majority in the Senate
containing just enough recalcitrant members to defeat the House (or Wilson) bill and
substitute the amended schedules of the^Senate which provided for a reduction upon
imported goods to a far less extent than was pleasant to the advocates of more liberal
trade relations.
The effect of the lengthened discussion and consequent uncertainty as to the
future policy of the country could but be deleterious to all business interests, and the
stagnation which prevailed, not alone in our own, but as well in other countries, was
severely felt by the lumber interests of all sections of the country. To add to the
evils of the situation, labor agitators who could not comprehend that in seasons of
general liquidation, labor must inevitably be called upon to bear a large share of the
shrinkage in values, inaugurated a series of senseless but general strikes, which,
although failures so far as securing to the laboring man the compensation which he
sought upon the basis of more prosperous times, proved the last straw to break all
hope of returning prosperity to the business and industrial world during the season
of 1894. As if to add to the miseries of the lumber trade at this time, the summer of
1894 proved to be an abnormally hot and dry one. Crops throughout many portions
of the West were burned by the sun to such extent as to become valueless, even for
feeding to stock. The forests in many sections of the lumber producing districts were
burned in vast areas; many mills and vast quantities of lumber were destroyed, con-
servative estimators placing the amount at an aggregate of 300,000,000 feet. On the
evening of August i afire broke out in the lumber yard of The S. K. Martin Company
on Lincoln and Blue Island Avenues, extending to the yard of Perley Lowe &Co. and
that of Shoemaker & Higbee, which destroyed 50,000,000 feet of lumber, 20,000,000
shingles and 2,000,000 lath. This was the most destructive fire which has ever occurred
among the lumber yards of this city, and in fact may be characterized as the second
fire originating in a lumber yard in this city during the past forty years, the previous
one being that of the Chicago Lumber Company in May, 1885, heretofore noted.
This was, however, but the beginning of what was no doubt the work of an incendiary,
for on the following night the yard of the John Spry Lumber Company was discovered
to be on fire, entailing a loss of 1,000,000 feet of lumber, and within a few days several
incipient fires were discovered in the yard of T. Wilce & Co., and also in the yard of
the City Lumber Company on the north side of the city near the North Avenue
154 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
bridge. It was at first believed that these fires were accidental, but the subsequent
discovery of a gang of anarphistic incendiaries who were making a business of
defrauding the insurance companies, while incidentally carrying out anarchistic prin-
ciples in the destruction of everything which conserves of law, leads to the conviction
that the lumber yard fires were of their kindling. The various elements enumerated
were combined to produce the severest stringency ever known to the commercial
world, in which it was inevitable that the lumber interest should suffer with all others.
The twenty-fifth annual meeting of the Lumbermen's Association occurred on
March 5, 1894, and was preceded by a banquet tendered by the retiring president,
A. R.Vinnedge, at the Grand Pacific Hotel, which was highly enjoyed by about seventy-
five members of the association and invited guests. In his annual address President
Vinnedge said:
"There has been no year in the history of our association which has been marked
by so long a period of general commercial depression. The lumber interest, like other
lines of business, has been called to shoulder its share of losses and disappointments,
but considering the record we have made during these trying times as compared with
other lines of business we feel that we have cause to congratulate our members for
the good showing we have made. With the opening of a new season we may hope
for a return of confidence, and we feel encouraged to expect that the ensuing year will
enable us to regain the ground we have lost.
"In matters of charity, our contributions during the year have maintained the lib-
erality which has ever characterized the lumbermen of this city, about 85,000 having
during the past winter been contributed by the lumbermen and the sash and door
interests to the Central Relief Society for the relief of the poor. The prime object of
the organization of this association was to formulate rules for the measurement and
inspection of lumber and to appoint committees to arbitrate matters of difference
between the buyer and seller of lumber in this market; the importance of such pro-
vision is apparent to all. The granting of so great a privilege by the State to the
founders of this association bespeaks the character and high standing of the men
who applied for it.
" It now applies more particularly to the hardwood trade, and since the change of
two years ago, has been wholly in the hands of the hardwood committee; but the
large increase in the amount of hardwood lumber annually handled in this market,
and the acquisition to it in late years of yellow pine and cypress lumber makes it a
question of equal interest to us all. The growth of hardwood timber extends over
such a vast territory and the varieties are so many and the qualities so different, that
proper classification becomesacomplexquestion. And to addfurtherto the difficulties
which we encounter, each lumberorganization throughout the country has adopted local
rules for the guidance of their inspectors without any apparent consideration of what
their neighbors have done or may do. Manufacturers and dealers are alike interested
in a fair and reasonable classification. If, as has been proposed, there could be a
meeting of delegates from the various lumber associations throughout the country to
consider the formulation of rules which would be uniform, I believe it would be
greatly to the good of trade in general. In point of membership we have about held
O'l=.i".i lirotlieis. FuJiHshers Ctucaij
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.
157
our own during the past year. At the present time it consists of forty-three white
pine and twelve hardwood dealers, and we anticipate a large addition to our member-
ship during the coming year. On May I we shall remove to commodious quarters in
the Old Colony building, corner of Dearborn and Van Buren Streets."
The secretary reported the deaths of President Thomas H. Sheppard, of the firm
of T. H. Sheppard & Co., and that of Horace VV. Chase, of the firm of C. A. Paltzer&
Co (for many years of the well-known house of Chase & Pate) reference to each of
whom has already been made. Six price-list meetings are mentioned as having been
held during the year. The total receipts of forest products for the year 1893, Secre-
tary Hooper states as follows:
Lumber, 1,621,627,000 feet; shingles, 317,400,000; each being receipts by lake and
rail; and by lake alone 21,859,500 pieces of lath, 4,628,761 cedar posts, 1,727,962 rail-
road ties, 43,900 telegraph poles; 25,098 cords of wood, and 7,732 cords of bark. Of
the figures given, 973,742,000 feet of timber and lumber was reported from the custom
house as lake receipts at Chicago and South Chicago, together with 230,740,000
shingles, leaving 647,885,000 feet of lumber and 86,660,000 shingles to represent
receipts by rail. In total volume the receipts show a decrease of 628,671,000 feet of
lumber and 95,866,000 shingles as compared with 1892. An analysis of the lumber
and shingle trade for the year, and comparison with 1892 the secretary states as
follows:
LUMBER.
SHINGLES.
1893.
1892.
1893.
1892.
Inventory at beginning of year. . ...
410,499,289
1,621,627,000
472,719,021
2,250,298,000
221,919,905
317,400,000
180,142,559
413,266,000
Receipts, 1893
Total
2,032,126,289
384,160,236
742,150,000
905,816,053
2,723,017,021
410,499,289
1,058,407,000
1,254,110,732
539,319,905
163,103,000
376,216,905
593,408,559
221,919,905
371,488,554
Inventory at close
Shipments, rail and lake
City consumption
Decrease of the year
664,551,679
Increase,
4,728,251
These figures show clearly the effects of the past year's depression in the volume
of business, while it must be borne in mind that a normal trade was enjoyed during
the first half of the year, the depression not making itself manifest until June, so that
the losses in volume of business were practically those of but seven months of the
season, yet the figures reveal the close sympathy of the lumber business with the gen-
eral prosperity or adversity of the people, and of other lines of business.
At this meeting the following named officers were elected: Directors W. P.
Ketcham, S. K. Martin, Edward Hines, E. S. Hartwell, D. S. Pate and James Soper,
in behalf of the pine yards; F. E. Bartelme, Clarence Boyle and F. L. Bryant, repre-
senting the hardwood interests. Committee of arbitration, pine yards C. A. Paltzer,
C. B. Flinn, Perley Lowe; hardwoods John Roehl, M. A. Vinnedge, H. S. Hayden.
158 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Committee of appeals, pine J. C. Spry, C. H. Mears, C. A. Street; hardwood G. T.
Houston, R. T. Witbeck, F. VV. Schwamb. Hardwood committee F. E. Bartelme,
A. R. Vinnedge, E. Harvey Wilce, L. B. Lesh and E. F. Dodge. Pleasant speeches
were made by several gentlemen, Ex-President James H. Swan and Ex-Secretaries
Hitchcock and Hotchkiss being called upon to speak of the past experiences of the
Exchange. At a subsequent meeting of the board of directors W. P. Ketcham was
elected president; F. E. Bartelme, vice-president; James P. Soper, treasurer, and E.
E. Hooper was re-elected secretary.
Up to this time no great amount of courtesy had been extended to the organiza-
tion heretofore mentioned as the Illinois Retail Dealers' Association, but on February
14 it was resolved to tender, in connection with the Lumberman's Insurance Com-
pany, a reception banquet to the retail dealers, at the time of the holding of their
annual meeting at the Tremont House a few weeks later, and this was carried out with
great eclat.
Thus is the history of the lumber trade of Chicago brought to the summer of 1894.
Dullness and depression is its present experience, but no class of business men in the
country are more optimistic than are the lumbermen of this great city which they
have taken no small part in building from the sale of a few thousand feet required by
the sparse population of 1833 to the more than 2,000,000,000 feet which comprises the
market demand of a population closely approximating 2,000,000 souls at the present
time. The table found upon another page tells the tale in a condensed form of the
yearly growth of this the greatest of all the industries which have been promotive of
the city's wonderful advancement. From this it will be seen that in the period
embraced between 1833 and 1893, allowing the figures to be approximately correct,
there has been received at the port of Chicago the immense quantity of 46,641,462,103
feet of lumber, which may safely be estimated at an average value of $25 per thou-
sand (including hardwoods), or a total value of $1,166,036,552.57 (or, if to be conserv-
ative, we place the value at $20 per thousand feet, $932,829,242), to which, adding the
value of 20,641,413,372 shingles at $2 per thousand, or $4 1,28 1, 826.74; and assuming the
value of the immense quantities of lath, pickets, posts, telegraph poles, railroad ties,
cord wood and tan bark, of which no reliable data is obtainable, to be double that of
the shingle receipts (and this will be accepted as a conservative estimate) we find
the value of forest products received at Chicago in the sixty years of her growth to be
of the value of $1,287,318, 379.31 (or on the conservative basis $1,056,674,722.28). A
careful analysis of the facts connected with the production of lumber throughout the
nation during the same period leads to the belief that the sum total is not overesti-
mated at 824,000,000,000 feet, which, at an average value of $20 per thousand, would
reach a total of $16,480,000,000 as the value of the lumber product, to which we must
add the value of the coarser products of the forests, which, assuming that value at 50
per cent that of lumber, we may safely assert that the forests of the nation have in
the past sixty years contributed no less a sum than $25,000,000,000 to the wealth of
the nation. And it must not be forgotten that this immense wealth has been of
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 159
nature's providing, and has been indebted to man and man's efforts only to the extent
of the labor required for its utilization for man's wants. But when again we contem-
plate the nation's history from the discovery of the continent by Columbus to the
present day, we can but revere the divine prescience which provided so bountifully for
the wants of the millions who were to occupy its fertile fields and populate its mighty
cities, causing the wilderness to blossom as the rose, and a nation to develop, which
should be an exemplar for all time of the higher civilization to which the entire world
is reaching forth. Not the coal nor the iron which are found in such abundance
and which so greatly contribute to man's happiness, nor yet the mountains of rock so
plentiful and so available for man's needs, not either of these could have contributed
a tithe of the blessings which have followed the products of the forest in their availa-
bility for contributing to the wants and necessities of a new country.
CHICAGO HARDWOOD TRADE.
We can find no reference in any old records, nor from the recollections of any of
the older citizens, of any attempt to establish a yard for the sale of hardwood lumber
prior to 1851, but in the directory for that year we find the name of Samuel F. Suther-
land, hardwood dealer, North Water, near Wells Street.
Mr. Sutherland was noted as in company with Mr. James F. Lord as early as
1847, a t which time the firm was engaged in a general lumber business, which per-
haps included some native hardwoods from their mill at St. Joseph, Mich., but we
cannot trace a trade of any great extent for several years subsequent. In the records
of 1845 we f^d noted the receipt of five hundred feet of black walnut, which no doubt
was brought from St. Joseph or Saugatuck, and finding no market here was shipped
East. Southern Michigan and Indiana were for many years noted for the extent and
excellence of their growth of cherry and black walnut timber, and indeed it is but
within a few years that the export of walnut ceased to be an important factor of the
commerce of the latter State, where it was at one time so plentiful as to be the
favorite timber for splitting into rails for farm fences. As an illustration of the slight
value if not contempt which was felt for black walnut, it is related that as late as in
the sixties a dealer at St. Joseph, Mich., having a contract for a large lot of three-inch
oak dock plank to be delivered to Holbrook & Co., Chicago, smuggled in a quantity
of black walnut plank, hoping to have them pass unchallenged. The oak was at that
time worth Si 5 per thousand, while the walnut would to-day sell for from $150 to $200
per thousand. The black walnut, cherry, oak, poplar and ash of southern Michigan,
Indiana and Ohio were the finest which the country has produced.
In Norris' Directory for 1846 we find a record under the head of "Cabinet and
Chair Manufactories" of twelve operators, viz.: Brown, Geo., 213 Randolph; Clark
(Elisha) & Hasey (Samuel D.), 109 Lake Street; Crow (Thomas) & Mills (Henry),
225 Lake; Crosby, Loren, Dearborn and South Water; Jacobus (David L. and
160 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Augustus L.), II Clark; Jones, Daniel Andrews, 18 Dearborn; Jones, Elisha Morris,
78 Madison; Kent, Laurens, north side of West Randolph, east of Desplaines; Mc-
Williams, James, 40 Franklin; Morgan, Caleb, 199 Lake; Roberts, James S., 53
Franklin; Weir, John B., 186 Lake; while but one undertaker is noted, viz. : Augustin
Seymour Bates, 88 La Salle. It is probable that the furniture workers required for
many years but little lumber beyond what was supplied by local mills, and that while
no doubt vessels from Michigan brought some walnut and cherry, there was not a
demand warranting a merchant to the investment of his time or capital, in an exclu-
sively hardwood business. Of the fifteen wagonmakers of 1846, the names of Schut-
tler and of Weber are not unfamiliar at the present day. Coming down to the year
1851, we find no distinctive hardwood dealers mentioned, but in the directory for
1853-54 we find the names of Green & Holden under the designation of Hardwood
dealers, Canal between Jackson and Adams, and while we still find the name and
address of S. F. Sutherland, it has no distinctive designation to show that he was, or
was not, still a hardwood dealer. John E. Sutherland and , as Sutherland &
Co., are named as having a wood yard near the lighthouse, and we trace the firm to as
late as 1862, when it becomes Sutherland & Granger.
The directory for 1855-56 makes no distinctive record of the hardwood branch,
except that under the head of "Mahogany dealers" we find the name of William H.
Slocum, whose advertisement on page 75 names him as successor to James E. Bishop
and a "dealer in mahogany, rosewood, black walnut, red and Spanish cedar, cherry,
whitewood, maple, ash and pine, with all kinds of cabinet lumber and veneers." We
find also the advertisement of J. F. Aldrich, who names hardwoods with pine; H. N.
Turner, who advertises "all kinds of lumber;" Sutherland & Co. appeal to cabinet and
wagon makers as "dealers in all kinds of hardwood lumber, spokes and staves;" Mor-
rison & Wallace call themselves "manufacturers and dealers in hard and soft lumber."
The directory of 1858 is silent as regards any division or distinction among the
dealers. About sixty furniture, cabinet and bedstead manufacturers are noted,
carrying the conviction that the demand for hardwood had become a large one, and
without question there were several hardwood yards in the city. Holden, Bishop & Co.
(Isaac H. Holden and James E. Bishop) were in business in 1856 (Mr. Bishop ante-
dating that year), and, from the best information attainable were in the hardwood
business, and when they retired in 1859 Henry N. Holden (deceased February, 1893)
succeeded and continued until 1885, when he retired, being at the time without doubt
the oldest hardwood dealer of the city in continuous business.
In the prominence given to the pine trade, hardwoods entering less universally
into the wants of the people, this branch might not inaptly be termed the " Cin-
derella " of the lumber trade, if the application of the term may be allowed to a
business department. Even the dealers in hardwood were looked upon as endeav-
oring to introduce into the market a disturbing element. To use a slang phrase, hard-
woods of all kinds were invited to take a back seat.
UNIVERSITY
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 163
The directory for 1862, which is the first to classify the hardwood dealers, names
Sutherland (J. E) & Granger (John), 83 Canal Street, also John Granger at the same
address, Green & Holden, Holbrook & Co., H. N. Holden, Miller & Leibenstein; and
that for 1863 includes all of the above and also Wallace & Holmes, Holbrook (Joseph,
son of William) & Co.; practically this meant James E. Stephens, a merchant of St.
Joseph, Mich., who, in addition to a large mercantile business, dabbled in lumber, and
finally sent Joseph Holbrook (an Englishman), his clerk, to take charge of his ship-
ments to Chicago; he also had a yard in Milwaukee. About 1864 Reuben Hatch, a
capitalist from Rock Island, 111., joined the firm, and in 1868 W. Scott Keith bought
out Stephens' interest, both at Chicago and Milwaukee, and the firm of Hatch, Hol-
brook & Co. continued until 1883, when Mr. Holbrook retired. Hatch & Keith con-
tinued until 1890, when the business was incorporated under the designation of the
"Keith Lumber Company," and so continues.
So late as 1881, when Secretary Hotchkiss, of the Lumberman's Exchange, com-
menced the collation of statistics showing the extent of the hardwood business of
Chicago, he was told by supposedly well-informed parties who handled it, that its
volume was insignificant and did not exceed 15,000,000 feet per year, of all kinds, or
less than one per cent of the current total of Chicago's lumber receipts. Great indeed
was the surprise and incredulity when it was demonstrated that the hardwood receipts
for 1 88 1 aggregated nearly 300,000,000 feet, or not far from seventeen per cent of the
gross total of lumber receipts for the year. In presenting his report to the
Exchange at the annual meeting, February i, 1882, the secretary says:
"Never in the history of the trade has any systematic attempt been made to col-
late the statistics of that most important branch known as the hardwood trade. While
one of the most important and valuable factors of the business of Chicago, involving
the manufacture of millions of dollars' worth annually of furniture, railroad cars,
agricultural implements and multifarious other manufactures of wood, including an
increasing consumption in house finish, giving employment to hundreds, not to say
thousands, of mechanics, it is hardly a far-fetched statement that not a half dozen per-
sons in the community have any adequate idea of the extent of the demand upon the
hardwood forests of the country, necessary to supply the artisans, not to speak of the
merchants of Chicago, whose exclusive attention is devoted to those interests wherein
hardwood lumber forms the basic factor. The resume which is now presented has
been compiled in the face of obstacles sufficient in themselves to discourage the
investigator, and the results obtained are not given with any assertion of absolute
correctness, a thing only to be attained when undue prejudices against giving statis-
tical information shall have melted away under the wise conviction of the value to be
placed on reliable statistics.
"On the 1st of January circular letters were addressed to 145 dealers in, and con-
sumers of, hardwood lumber in this city, with a view to ascertain the gross amount of
hardwood lumber entering into the trade of the city during the year 1881. From
these, replies were received from eighty-nine consumers and fourteen dealers, who
report having received during 1881, by lake 42,575,708 feet, and by rail 168,251,345 feet
164 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
of all kinds of hardwoods, a total of 210,827,053 feet. A careful computation of non-
reporting dealers and consumers would probably add 33, Vi per cent to these figures,
giving in round numbers the total hardwood trade of Chicago for the year 1881, as
280,000,000 feet. Of those reporting, details of stock received were given to the
extent of 92,012,812 feet, or about one-third of the total, the classification of which
will give an idea of the different varieties entering into the trade of this city:
Blackwalnut 20,244,644 Butternut 1,444,418 Poplar and whitewood. 8,155,284
Oak 28,177,320 Hickory 845,940 Basswood 5,564,169
Ash 14.473,700 Cherry 1,068,054 Mahogany 319,480
Maple 3,712,080 Southern pine 4,065,328 Miscellaneous 3,942,435"
The stock on hand January i, 1882, was reported to be 34,214,500 feet in the
hands of yard dealers and 17,892,394 feet in the factory stock of fifty-two consumers,
a total of 52,106,894 feet, or a little more than one-fifth of the estimated stock of the
season. The report of stock on hand on the first day of the month throughout the
earlier part of the year ranged at about 25,000,000 feet in the yards, until in August it
reached 35,809,832 feet and reached high-water mark November i, with 41,386,024
feet. The secretary of the Exchange in his annual report placed the hardwood
receipts of the season at 300,000,000 feet, believing it to be a low estimate. The
earlier months of 1883 showed a slight increase over the previous year, the monthly
inventory being the indication, until the August report of 34,518,459 feet in the yards,
gave evidence that stock was being accumulated for winter, but the year closed with
a stock but 3,500,000 feet in excess of the previous year's figures. In May, 1884, the
accumulations gave promise of a large increase, as shown by a May inventory of
32,000,000 feet, increasing by June to 37,693,015 feet, in July to 40,257,000 feet and by
August to 44,944,000 feet, hovering in that neighborhood until January I, when the
inventory showed 47,146,194 feet. In his annual report for 1884 the secretary says:
***** "Analyzing the receipts for 1884 I find that they embrace 28,530,-
ooo feet of hardwood reported by lake and 197,000,000 feet by rail, which is a very
conservative estimate. * * * From the foregoing it will be seen that the hardwood
trade of Chicago aggregated in the neighborhood of 225,000,000 feet for the year, or
about \2}/2 per cent, of the total lumber trade of the city, the estimate being below
rather than above the actual fact. The average monthly stock in yard, as reported
at the beginning of each month was 38,737,781 feet, the smallest stock being reported
April I at 31,716,678 feet and the January inventory showing 47,146,194 feet on hand.
These figures will at once impress the mind with the folly of losing sight of so
important a factor in the lumber trade of Chicago. In arrogating to itself the honor
of being the most extensive lumber market of the world, it may justly claim it as
regards hardwoods, as well as pine."
The yard dealers of 1885 included Richard B. Appleby, lOto 24 North Morgan;
L. V. Boyle & Co., 135 Halsted; T. D. Carter, 153 La Salle; VV. B. Crane & Co., John-
son and Canalport Avenue; B. F. Croft, Canal and Eighteenth; P. G. Dodge & Co., 426
Lumber Street; Hatch & Keith, Twenty-first and Canalport Avenue; Hayden Bros.,
400 Lumber; Holbrook Company, Eighteenth and Grove; G. T. Houston & Co.,
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 165
Seventeenth and Wentworth; Hungerford & Dean, Eighteenth and Canal; Johns,
Steele & Co., West Fourteenth near Lumber; Robert Larkins, Twenty-second and
Union Place; Josiah S. Leonard, South Chicago; M. & T. Lorden, Maxwell near
Stewart Avenue; Thomas McFarland, corner Kinzie and Morgan; Messinger &
Granger, Hawthorne Avenue and Reese; L. Miller & Co. .Twenty- second and Lumber;
Norwood & Butterfield (yellow pine), 385 Illinois; Rogers & Baldwin, 235 Cherry;
J. Raynor (T. Schindler, agent, mahogany, rosewood, etc.), 287 Twentieth Street;
Vinnedge Bros., Stewart Avenue and Maxwell; J. H. Wallace, Hawthorne near Reese;
E. Washburne & Son (black walnut and gum), 171 West Kinzie; R. A. Wells & Bro.,
Twenty-second and Clark; George E. White & Co., Lake and Elizabeth Streets.
As mentioned in the general history of the lumber trade, the hardwood dealers of the
city were induced ini882to takean interest in the work of the Lumberman's Exchange,
Hatch & Keith being the first firm, and for several years the only hardwood firm to
become members. In this year the statistics of the trade opened the eyes of the dealers in
this branch of the lumber business of the city to its importance, and a number of them
were induced to become members. W.Scott Keith was elected a director and H.N. Hoi-
den, Chauncey Keep and Philo G. Dodge were appointed a special committee to look after
the interests of this branch of the trade. The appointment of Messrs. Keith, L. L. Miller,
P. G. Dodge and R. A. Wells as an inspection committee led to the formulation of a
set of rules for the inspection of hardwood, the labor on which, after one or two vain
endeavors in committee of the whole, was left to W. Scott Keith and Secretary Hotch-
kiss, whose conclusions and formulated rules were later approved by the committee
and reported to the board of directors, by whom they were adopted as the formal and
authorized rules of the Exchange for the inspection of hardwood lumber. Subse-
quent modifications have taken place, but the rules then formulated met with the
general approval of the hardwood fraternity throughout the nation, and have
formed the basis of all rules upon the subject which have since been formulated. The
first revision took place about a year after the first compilation, and in this George
E. White took the place of Mr. Keith in active consideration of the changes which
were considered advisable. In the records of the Exchange, we find the following
memorandum by the secretary in opening a record book (1887) for the hardwood
branch of the Exchange:
" Up to 1881 little or no attention was paid to the hardwood interests of the city.
In 1882 a few dealers had been induced to join the Lumberman's Exchange, and were
given representation upon the directorate, and in the formation of a committee on
hardwood inspection, a code of inspection rules had been adopted defining the grades
of different varieties of lumber. These rules were amended in 1884 and again in
1886. During 1885 and 1886 five dealers in hardwood joined the Exchange. In
the month of December, 1886, an informal meeting of the hardwood dealers was held
at the Grand Pacific Hotel, to consider the advisability of forming a hardwood dealers'
association independent of the Exchange. The sentiment of the meeting developed
166 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
a preference for employing the machinery of the Exchange, the liberal charter of
which, embraced provisions of excellence and advantage not to be obtained under a
general act of incorporation. At a subsequent meeting a formal resolution was
adopted to this effect and formal application was made for membership in the
Exchange by L. V. Boyle & Co., Rogers & Baldwin, J. H.Wallace, Thomas McFarland,
Vinnedge Bros., Washburne & Son, Rodney, Granger & Co., L. L. Miller & Co. and
C. Messinger & Co., and on January 10, 1887, these firms were elected to membership.
Previous to this time the following named firms had become members: Hatch & Keith,
Holbrook & Co., R. A. Wells & Bro., Hayden Bros., Robert Larkins, George E. White
& Co. P. G. Dodge & Co. had for two years previous been in active membership, but
had at this time withdrawn. On January 15, 1887, a resolution was offered by George
E. White, and adopted, requesting the board of directors to take formal action as
follows: To authorize the members of the hardwood branch to take from time to
time such action as should be by them considered desirable, without the necessity of
calling a meeting of the board of directors, appointing the hardwood membership a
general ' committee on hardwood,' with full power to appoint sub-committees and
committees of inspection, arbitration and appeals; to make rules for its own govern-
ment not in conflict with the rules of the Exchange; to keep its own records, and to
take such action in reference to the hardwood business as shall seem to such committee
desirable, the executive officers of the Exchange to be anthorized to carry into effect
any action of such committee under its rules, and to declare that the action of said
committee on hardwoods under its rules shall have the same force and effect upon the
members of the Exchange as if taken by the board of directors direct. A representa-
tion of two members of the directorate, two of the five members composing the
boards of arbitration and appeal, was also requested. On March 5 the secretary
reported that the board of directors had acceded to the request of the dealers, and the
' Hardwood Dealers' Association' was organized by the recommendation of D. S.
Baldwin and R. A. Wells, as the representatives of the association in the directorate of
the Exchange, J. H. Wallace and C. L. Washburne as members of the committee of
appeals, and C. Boyle and R. Larkins upon the committee of arbitration. Rodney
Granger, George E. White, A. R. Vinnedge, R. Larkins and H. S. Hayden were
certified as the choice of the association as a committee on hardwood inspection. It
is needless to add that at the annual election of the Exchange a few days later these
selections were confirmed. About this time a suggestion was made for the holding
of a national convention of the hardwood lumber dealers of the United States, but
after considerable correspondence the matter was dropped."
It is not necessary to follow the vicissitudes of the hardwood association in
detail. No great amount of enthusiasm has at any time been evoked, while much good
in matters pertaining to the trade has been accomplished. From May, 1887, to Jan-
uary, 1888, no quorum was obtainable at the monthly meetings. At a meeting held
February i, 1888, a resolution was adopted favoring the admission of hardwood
lumber from other countries free of duty. W. Scott Keith was elected chairman for
the ensuing year, but, positively declining, Rodney Granger was given that honor.
George E. White and Clarence Boyle were nominated upon the directorate. The
minutes for 1888 show considerable business and a number of meetings. On the
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 169
of December, 1888, a meeting was held at Room 420 First National Bank building, at
which there were present: W. B. Crane, Charles L. Miller (son and successor of L. L.
Miller, 1857-58), Clarence Boyle, Edgar Washburne, Charles Hayden, M. Vinnedge,
A. R. Vinnedge, P. G. Dodge, Henry S. Hayden, Geo. E. White, W.. Scott Keith (of
Hatch & Keith), Rodney Granger, and S. E. Whitely (of The Holbrook Company),
for the purpose of taking steps to form a more vigorous association than the connec-
tion with the Exchange had developed. George E. White was called to the chair, and
E. E. Hooper, secretary of the " Lumber Dealers' Association," was named as secre-
tary. After some discussion it was resolved:
"That we hereby agree to organize an association to be called the 'Chicago
Hardwood Yard Dealers' Association,' and agree to pay each our portion of the
expenses of the association, not to exceed the sum of 75 per year to each individual
or firm."
A board of directors to serve one year from December I was elected, comprising
H. S. Hayden, A. R. Vinnedge, George E. White, Philo G. Dodge and Clarence Boyle;
and they were instructed to procure permanent quarters for the association. Messrs.
Boyle, Vinnedge and Keith were appointed a committee on by-laws, and Messrs.
Hayden, Granger and McFarland a committee on membership. After adjournment
the directors met and elected Philo G. Dodge, president; George E. White, vice-presi-
dent; C. Boyle, treasurer; and E. E. Hooper, secretary. Negotiations were ordered with
the " Chicago Pine Yard Dealers' Association " looking to the use of rooms and the
services of a clerical force in common, and those present obligated themselves to the
extent of S8oo per annum toward the expenses. It was on January 12, 1889, decided to
increase the directorate to seven, and Mr. DeKay, of Messinger & Co. with A. W. Frost,
were elected to complete the number. At the next annual meeting, however, the num-
ber was again decreased to five. The work of the association consisted of discussions
as to the best means of promoting the interests of the trade, price lists were adopted,
railroad rates and regulations discussed, and general action looking to the good of the
trade adopted. At the close of the fiscal year, December g, 1889, George E. White,
A. R. Vinnedge, C. Boyle, H. S. Hayden and Harvey Wilce were elected directors;
George E. White became president and A. R. Vinnedge vice-president. By this time
it had been discovered that the charter of the Lumberman's Exchange was of greater
value than it had been esteemed, and on January 31, 1890, a resolution was adopted
appointing a committee to confer with the Pine Yard Dealers' Association, and also the
Lumberman's Exchange, looking to a consolidation of the three bodies under one
management, but nothing came of this until December 16, 1890, when the following
resolution was adopted:
" Resolved, That we consider it for the best interests of the hardwood trade of
Chicago that there should be a consolidation of the three organizations, viz.: Lumber-
man's Exchange, Chicago Yard Dealers' Association and Chicago Hardwood Deal-
170 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
ers' Association, under one head or association, provided that all matters pertaining
to the hardwood lumber interests be placed in the hands of the hardwood members."
This was unanimously adopted and the suggested consolidation accomplished,
the Hardwood Association becoming a committee of the " Lumbermen's Association
of Chicago," electing officers and transacting business as though an independent
body. A. R. Vinnedge, C. Boyle and George E. White were chosen to represent
the hardwood interests upon the board of directors. George E. White was elected
chairman for the year. Meetings were held during the year and matters of interest
to the trade discussed.
For 1892 Messrs. C. Boyle, H. S. Hayden and R. A. Wells were selected as
directors, and Mr. Boyle was made chairman.
During this year good progress was made in systematizing the inspection depart-
ment, placing the inspectors under the control of the secretary, who should assign them
work according to priority of arrival at his office; rules for their guidance, forms of
tally sheet and certificates, etc., were adopted and other valuable work in the interest of
the hardwood trade consummated. For 1893 the hardwood branch elected as a com-
mittee, John Riehl (of the Keith Lumber Company), A. R. Vinnedge (of Vinnedge
Bros.), F. L. Bryant (of Ames & Frost Company), George T. Houston (of Houston
Bros.), and E. P. Dodge. Allan R. Vinnedge, who had been elected vice-president of
the Lumbermen's Association, was made chairman of this branch for the ensuing
year. An excellent reform in requiring candidates for inspection certificates to
undergo expert examination, was at this time reinaugurated (a former endeavor in
this direction having for several years been a dead letter), and on test, John Lorden,
Julius Walther and William P. Bolton were duly licensed as competent inspectors of
hardwoods. It will be inferred from all that has preceded that this branch of Chi-
cago's monstrous lumber trade had assumed vast proportions in its distinctive charac-
ter, but a resume of the receipts of 1892 will be necessary to fully comprehend its
extent, viz:
Feet.
Received by rail from all sections, miscellaneous hardwoods 390,987,900
Yellow pine (from the South) 97,464,700
Received by lake (mostly Michigan and Wisconsin) 144,376,900
Total hardwoods 632,819,500
White pine, Norway and hemlock 1,617,478,500
Total Chicago receipts 1892 2,250,298,000
Of the work of the hardwood branch in 1893 but little can be said. At the
annual meeting in March Allan R. Vinnedge was elected vice-president of the Lum-
bermen's Association, and but a few weeks later, upon the death of Thomas H. Shep-
pard, who had been elected president, Mr. Vinnedge, was at a special meeting called
to fill the vacancy, elected to this honorable position, being the first representative
of the hardwood interest to be thus honored. This was no less a tribute to the grow-
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 171
ing interest and importance of this branch of the lumber business of the city than a
deserved compliment to one of its most energetic and useful members.
It is scarcely to be denied that the hardwood branch is destined to become the
more prominent as the years roll by. The decadence of the pine lumber business is
inevitable with the rapid extinction of the forests, which are not reproductive. Hard-
woods, on the other hand, are not only naturally reproductive, but are capable of cul-
tivation, and the fact is coming to be more and more appreciated, that the planting
of a forest of many varieties of hardwood timber will provide an heritage for chil-
dren's children, of greater permanent value and utility than an entailment of lands or
money. The hardwood business of Chicago is destined to a growth the permanency
of which is measureable only by the stability and growth of the nation.
We have thus traced from its inception one of the largest branches of Chicago's
commerce, a trade which has looking to it for supplies not only the vast extent of
interior finish demanded in the many elegant buildings of the second city of this
continent, but which supplies no less than two hundred manufacturers of furniture,
giving employment to thousands of artizans, with perhaps nearly an equal number of
wagonmakers and repairers, besides a vast army of woodworkers in various branches
of trade, not only in the city, but in that great range of country which extends from
the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, forming a no insignificant factor in that mighty
trade in forest products which is now estimated to reach a total value of fully
$1,000,000,000 per year, in its distribution throughout the United States.
In striking contrast with the difficulty of disposing of so small a quantity of
black walnut, as the 500 feet which could find no purchaser in 1845, an ^ of the attempt
in 1860 to smuggle black walnut plank into a contract for oak at $15 per thousand feet,
we may note one sale in June, 1894, of a single black walnut tree yielding two four-
teen-foot and one six-foot log scaling 532 feet log measure, which yielded 15,968 feet
of veneers cut one-thirtieth of an inch in thickness, and was sold to a furniture manu-
facturer for the sum of 1,916.16, or $120 per thousand veneer measure, and may still
further point to the estimate of 632,819,500 feet as the volume of hardwood handled
by the hardwood dealers of Chicago in the year 1892.
THE COMMISSION LUMBER TRADE OF CHICAGO.
For several years after lumber began to arrive at Chicago it was sold direct from
the vessel, and when the small craft of that day had lain at the banks of the river or
at the docks (when these were built) until the skipper or owner (the two being com-
bined usually) became tired of waiting for his customers to come and take his cargo
by the wagon load from the river bank, the small docks of Newberry & Dole were
utilized for its storage. As a rule, time was of little object to the vessels which
inaugurated the lumber trade of this city, the commerce of the city being in propor-
172 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
tion to its sparse population, and the craft which plied its waters was usually one, the
owners of which had less thought of making money than of getting a bare living.
The lumber which was picked up at St. Joseph, and later at Muskegon, Grand River
and other points, was for many years small in quantity, coming from mills equally
small in capacity, and it was several years before extensive docking facilities were
demanded for its reception, or commission dealers for its disposition. In the earlier
history of the trade the carrying of lumber was confined to craft of from ten to thirty
thousand feet capacity, and in some cases at least, the owner and master was also the
lumber manufacturer, who sawed out enough at his mill to load his small craft, and
his single helper at the saw mill became his crew to load and transport it to market.
Hence for several years the captain of the vessel being the owner of the cargo, could
take his own time to sell or to unload, as the demand might dictate. The voyages of
these small crafts were necessarily confined to the near-by ports of western Michigan,
or perchance after 1840 to some points in Wisconsin, only a larger class of vessels
(now numbered among the smallest of the lake fleet) daring to brave the dangers of
a trip through the straits of Mackinaw or.Lakes Huron and Erie. The demand for a
larger class of vessel did not arise until the advent of the pushing driving Chicagoan
of a later day, who expected to live only about one season and endeavored to make his
fortune in that time. With the rush of emigration to the West, however, there was a
waking up to the realization that one must keep up with the procession or be swamped
by the incoming tide of settlement. Until that day there was no need for the com-
mission dealer as he has since come to be known and appreciated. As the trade
increased and manufacture more extended, owners came with their cargoes, and per-
chance called in the aid of a friendly yard dealer, who, not desiring to purchase for
himself was not averse to aiding the seller to look up a neighbor who might be in
need, and for this service receive such compensation (if any) as the obliged party was
disposed to pay him, it being a matter more of friendship than of business. The first
who appears to have seen an opportunity for making a business out of the needs of
the manufacturer, at least so far as we find record, appears to have been James P.
Allen, who is named in the city directory for 1853-54 as " Inspector and wholesale
commission lumber dealer, Lake and State, near the Fort; office at Lake, South Water
and Market; docks on South Branch, between Harrison and Polk."
About 1855 Samuel Johnson, a vessel owner, had cargoes consigned to him for
sale, and is rated for several years as a commission dealer. In the directory for
1855-56 we find the advertisements of several firms who designate themselves as whole-
sale and commission dealers, as Hilliard, Howard & Morton; John Garrick ("cargoes
sold on commission"); James P. Allen, " wholesale commission dealer;" James H.
Mills, " lumber, commission merchant and dealer, etc.;" John Volk & Co., "dealers
and commission merchants;" J. L. James & Co., "commission merchants and dealers
in lumber, coal and grain."
<"'*,.
O'S
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 175
In none of these cases do we find any promise of "liberal advances on consign-
ments " such as became the custom a few years later. It was probably the fact that
the commission dealers had not yet acquired the wealth nor the bank credit, nor yet
that measure of confidence in the manufacturers, which would enable them in the one
case, or warrant them in the other, to make such advances as the developments of
trade in the succeeding years made necessary to a successful prosecution of a commis-
sion business, Blanchard & Borland being among the earliest (1864) to inaugurate the
system of liberal advances of this nature. R. K. Bickford (of the present firm of
Bickford & Knox) began in 1855, as a clerk for C. Mears & Co., and in 1858 we find
him noted as a "yard dealer and inspector" (Bickford & Horton), and a year or two
later we find the firm of Bickford & Tildesly still in the yard trade, but also doing a
commission business. R. K. Bickford in 1855 engaged in the commission trade in con-
nection with the measuring and tallying of lumber, for which he gave employment to
four men and as many tally boys, occasionally hiring men from the lumber yards to
assist when the receipts were abnormally large. His commission trade in 1855 reached
15,000,000 feet, while his tallying and measuring ran up 50,000,000 feet. In 1856 Mr.
Bickford's commission trade ran up to 40,000,000 feet, and the yard dealers who had
hitherto been willing to assist the shipper in finding a customer, surrendered this
branch of the business to those who made a specialty of it. About this time a regular
commission of two and one-half per cent was established and has been the ruling rate
to the present time, varied from according to circumstances in individual cases. With
the establishment of regular commission houses, the custom of sellers accompanying
their cargoes did not immediately cease, the necessity for an immediate use of the pro-
ceeds, no less than a desire to superintend the sale in person, in many cases, with per-
haps, too slight knowledge of the consignee to place implicit confidence in him, caused
a continuance of the custom, which gradually ceased as the trade increased and con-
fidence was established in the new order of doing business. At this time (1855) John
Garrick and R. K. Bickford appear to have enjoyed a practical monopoly of the lumber
commission trade, and lumber was shipped to them from west Michigan and Green Bay
points, andas well from Port Huron (then one of the leading points of production), Lex-
ington and the Saginaw River, at which points the larger class of vessels carrying grain
to ports on the lower lakes were accustomed to call in search of return cargoes, the
navigation of Lake Michigan being considered too dangerous for unballasted craft, it
being a common custom with many of them to load sand at Buffalo rather than brave
the danger of returning light. The depressed times resulting from the panic of 1857
presented little inducement for an increase in the number of dealers in either branch
of the lumber trade of the city, but with returning prosperity Mr. Garrick conceived
an idea which in its carrying out, added one of the most important features to the
business of the city, and one which will remain as long as the trade exists. Mr. Gar-
rick obtained a lease from William B. Ogden of the dock frontage on the south side
176 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of the main river between the Wells Street and the Lake Street bridges and there
established what has ever since been known as the Cargo Market, the legitimate stop-
ping place for all vessels whose cargoes of lumber seek a purchaser. These docks
remained under the control of Mr. Garrick for several years, a small fee being charged
for their use, until the organization, which was formed by the lumbermen, took them
off Mr. Garrick's hands and has continued their use to the present time. The expense
attending this branch of the business is defrayed by a pro rata assessment upon all car-
goes stopping at the docks, as reported to a committee annually appointed to take
charge of it. From 300,000,000 to 350,000,000 feet of lumber, with from 100,000,000 to
150,000,000 shingles and a vast quantity of lath, ties, bark, telegraph poles and other
products of the forest, annually find market at these docks, in the immediate neigh-
borhood of which are located the offices of the commission dealers.
In 1861 E. M. Doubleday secured a large commission trade from the Grand
Haven mills, and about this time William Blanchard, who had previously operated a
yard near the present site of the Polk Street bridge for the sale of wood and lumber,
became the consignee of Dean & Borland, shingle manufacturers of Carleton, Wis.,
and this soon led to the formation of the firm of Blanchard & Borland, which con-
tinued until the death of Mr. Borland in 1881. This firm was among the first to inau-
gurate the custom, which soon became general among the dealers in this branch, of
advancing money to the manufacturer to enable him to lay in his winter's stock of
logs, the advances to be repaid from the sale of the lumber when brought to the
market. About this time (1859) S. A. Irish began a commission and yard business, in
which he was for many years a prominent and highly respected operator, being suc-
ceeded by Irish & Fuller (S. R.), and in 1868 by Irish & Sinclair (Geo. F.). Upon
the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion John Mason Loomis, of the firm of
Loomis & Ludington, with mills at Pere Marquette (now Ludington) and Manistee,
Mich., was active in raising the Twenty-sixth Regiment Illinois Volunteers and was
appointed colonel of the same, serving gallantly in the field for three years. Return-
ing in 1864, to find his former business in a demoralized condition, he entered the com-
mission trade in which he was, in 1870, joined by John McLaren who had been his
book-keeper since 1865, and the firm of John Mason Loomis & Co. became one of the
most prominent, prosperous and reliable of Chicago's many enterprising business
houses. On the retirement of Col. Loomis in 1885, Mr. McLaren continued the busi-
ness in connection with Thomas G. Morris, and McLaren & Morris for the succeeding
three years maintained the high reputation of their predecessors, until the with-
drawal of Mr. McLaren in 1888, when the present firm of T. G. Morris & Co. was
established.
Soon after the close of the war J. C. Maxwell, who had a mill at Grand Haven
and another at Pentwater, Mich., opened an office for the sale of his own mill prod-
ucts and in connection therewith included a general commission business. For a
THE MANUFACTURING fNTERESTS. 177
year or two James Farr, William B. Phillips and S. A. Brown are noted as operators
in this branch, and about 1866-67 ^X Brewster, William Meglade and James Eraser
are noted as operators. In 1868 Carter & Jones made a specialty of the commission
trade in shingles. In 1872-73 William Ruger and John Durgin entered the arena and
are still engaged in the business. In 1872 H. G. Billings opened an office and was
succeeded by the present firm of Frank Porter & Co. Peter Fish, who is mentioned
as receiving the appointment of chief inspector from the Lumberman's Association
in 1874, also carried on the business of a commission dealer until the rules of the
Exchange forbade inspectors being interested in cargo sale or purchase. William L.
Southworth, who was for many years the efficient but unpaid secretary of the Exchange,
in which his services were of great value, was also a commission dealer and for many
years a member of the firm of Fraser & Southworth. N. A. Haven, was the first secre-
tary of the Lumberman's Board of Trade under its primary organization (1859) under the
laws of 1849, was a ' so a commission dealer in connection with yard storage. Mr. Haven
is now doing a lumber business in New Orleans. As the years rolled by, the number of
those engaged in this branch of the lumber industry increased to an extent which
makes it undesirable to attempt to specify. The commission branch is in the hands
of able and intelligent men of capital, so far as the pine lumber business is concerned,
as, indeed, it is almost a prerequisite to its successful conduct that the dealer should
be able to make ample advances upon consignments, not alone during the season of
shipping, but as well during the winter, when his consignor may require advances to
enable him to prosecute his winter's lumbering. This condition however, does not
exist to the extent which prevailed in former days, as increased prosperity has ren-
dered the manufacturer more independent. The vast improvement in saw-mill
machinery, enabling not only the more perfect manufacture, but as well the more
economical, leading as it has to an increase of production keeping fully in pace with
the increase of population and wealth, while leading to greater saving in stock
through the use of finer saws and labor-saving machinery, all have combined to place
manufacturers on a more independent basis, as a rule, while there are many, still, who
demand the services of the commission man and his facilities for obtaining money.
During late years in the introduction of the products of the South numberless com-
mission firms, many of whom are of limited capital, have opened offices at various
points in the city and solicit consignments from Southern manufacturers. Many of
these are reputable and reliable, but, as must inevitably be the case, an occasional
sharper is found in their ranks, whose fraudulent practices have the effect to
throw discredit upon the more reputable; the number embraced in this class is, how-
ever limited, the dealers as a class comparing favorably with dealers in other branches
of trade.
PLANING, SASH, DOOR AND BLIND DEPARTMENT.
In Rudd's Business Directory for 1839 we find the first record of the manufac-
ture of sash, doors and blinds in the young city, in the paragraphs: " Colvin, Edward
178 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
B., door and sash maker, Dearborn and North Water Street;" " Miltimore, Ira, steam
sash and door factory, South Branch." In the Fergus reprint (1883) of the 1839
directory, it was assumed that Rudd had omitted many names which he should have
included, and the memory of old inhabitants was called in play to supply the
omission, and we find, in addition to the names of Colvin and Miltimore, those of
Jacob Beidler and Francis McFall, but as Mr. Beidler did not come to Chicago until
1844 we may reasonably assume that the record made by Mr. Rudd was the more
nearly correct.
The next available record is a reprint by Fergus of " Morris' Business Directory "
of 1846, which notes:
Beidler, Jacob & McKee (James), S. D. B, South Water Street; McFall, Francis,
Randolph Street, Second Ward; Rossiter, Newton, South Water, northwest corner of
Franklin; Foss Bros. (Robert H., John P., Samuel T. and William), Market, between
Washington and Madison, on river; Price, William H., Clinton, near southwest corner
of West Randolph.
A directory for 1851 (the property of A.T. Lay, Esq ) gives the following record,
under the head of sash, doors and blinds:
McFall, J., Franklin and Randolph; Salisbury & Steinhaus, 214 Randolph.
Under the head of planing mills:
Noble, George W., Clinton and Randolph; Foss Bros., Canal and Monroe; Hoi-
brook & Dickinson, Adams Street.
That there were no others at this date can hardly be credited, in view of the fact
that the 27,000,000 feet (estimated) receipts of lumber in 1846 had increased to
100,364,779 feet in 1850 and to 125,056,437 feet in 1851, while the City Directory for
1853-54 names the following list:
Brown, John, sash and doors (carpenter's shop), Randolph, between Union and
Halsted; Danner, Carl, sash and doors; Dederick, Frederick, sash, doors and blinds,
Canal and Washington; Foss Bros, (planing), Clinton, between Washington and
Randolph; Stewart, A. & Co. (J. F. Temple, agent,) (planing), between Adams and
Jackson.
Only four years later we find a large increase in the number of factories and of
planing mills, an increase commensurate with the stock of 459,639,198 feet, which
comprised the lumber receipts of 1857. The directory for 1856-57-58 gives the fol-
lowing names of operators in these departments, under sash, doors and blinds:
1856 Abbot & Kingman, 520 and 522 South Clark (also planing); Aldrich,
Warren, Indiana, near Payton; Brown, John, 178 West Randolph; Bruns, Bernard,
corner Halsted and Kinzie; Cleveland & Russell, 74-76 Fulton; Cobb, Nathan. (1858)
Cobb, Gage & Co., 144 South Canal (planing); Dederick, Frederick, corner Canal and
Washington; Ballard, Addison, Market, near Taylor (planing); Fillman, Louis, South
***
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 181
Canal, near Mitchel ( now Fourteenth); Goldie, William, 224 Monroe,(planing); Good-
vvillie, David, Ohio, corner North Franklin (planing); Goss & Phillips, Clark,
corner Twelfth, 42 South Franklin; Hall & Winch, South Wells, corner Charles
(planing); Hall, Richards & Clapp, Johnson's building, State (planing); Keil, John
1'., Sedgwick, near North Avenue; Loubmyre, John, Canal, between Lake and Fulton;
Marquett, William, alley, rear Wright, corner Canal; McFall, F. & Co., Market, corner
Tyler; Munger & Burrows, South Union, near West Madison; Pierce, Edwin, Madison,
near Carpenter; Roelle, Frank J., 351 South Canal; Roelle, Francis J., 63 South
Canal; Somer, Jacob, no Ontario; Van Vlack, Egbert B., 329-331 South Canal
(planing); Van Vlack, T. W. & Co., n North Wells; Walter, Martin, Randolph and
Clinton; Wilcke, J., Canal and Jackson.
In addition to the above there are named in connection, but under the caption
simply of planing mills:
Aldrich, Warren, 41 Indiana; Blackwell, Samuel B., State, near North; Brewer &
Co., North Jefferson, near Carroll; Chapman, George W. & Co., 155 South Canal;
Flagg, G. A. & Co., 399 South Wells; 1856 Foss & Bros., South Canal, corner West
Monroe; Gage, J. & Co., corner Adams and Carroll; Herbert G. & Co., Polk near
bridge; Hatfield, Moses C., North Jefferson, corner Hubbard; Hurlbut Planing
Machine Company, Clark near North; Jennings, G. W., Ohio and Franklin; Lamb &
Haughton, North Jefferson, corner Fulton; Mason & Lamb, Jefferson, corner Fulton;
McCammon & Plumsted, North Desplaines, near West Lake; Merrill & Poineer,
North Jefferson, near Fulton; Noble, George W., South Canal, near West Monroe;
Robinson & Marsh, Stewart Avenue, near Old; Sawyer, Cobb & Co., 158-160 South
Canal; Smith, S. & Co., Payton, near Ontario; Smith, James L., Payton, near Ontario;
Stewart, A. & Co., Canal, between Adams and Jackson; Tarr, John B., South Frank-
lin, corner Van Buren; Temple & Wright, West Polk, corner South Canal (pump
works ).
To Ira Miltimore in 1839 undoubtedly belongs the honor of establishing the first
manufactory, using steam power, for the manufacture of sash and doors, blinds being
in those days a useless if not unknown luxury. We may entertain as little doubt that
Foss Bros, in 1844 erected the first planing mill in the city. An original copy of
"Norris' Chicago Directory for 1844," the preface bearing date 1843, so that we may
reasonably conclude that it was intended as a directory of such as were residents dur-
ing 1843 ant ' '844, gives the names of "Peter Nelson, sash maker," "William Price,
sash factory, South Water Street west of Clark," and no others in this line of business.
This directory, by the way, was no doubt the first city directory with a detailed list of
citizens, with their line of business and location of residence, the Rudd Directory of
1839 being a business directory only. This view is confirmed by the publishers'
preface to the publication of 1844, in which he expresses doubt as to the readiness of
the public demand for such a director)-, a doubt the correctness of which is confirmed
by his publication of simply a "Norris Business Directory and Statistics of the city of
Chicago for 1846, third year of publication,'' in place of a detailed and alphabetically
I
182 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
arranged list of citizens. In June, 1859, in addition to the names heretofore recited,
we find the following named firms and individuals mentioned:
Baker & McKwen, 243 North Wells Street; Baldwin & Co., North pier,
foot of Michigan; Boggs, Charles T., Lumber, near Twelfth; Cobb, Nathan,
northwest corner Hubbard and North Jefferson; Gage & Soper, southwest corner
Van Buren' and Franklin; Goss & Phillips, Clark, corner Twelfth; Lamb, Peter
B., 329 South Canal; Lull & Holmes, Canal and West Monroe; Marsh & Robinson,
Stuart Avenue, near Old Street bridge; Mayo, Simeon, West Twelfth, corner Lumber;
Pettit, Hubert, South Clinton, near Randolph; Ridell. Archibald, 229 State; Robinson,
James, Stewart Avenue, near Old; Rucker, Edward A., Jefferson, corner Carroll;
Stewart Bros. & Co., 144-148 South Canal; Temple, J. F., South Canal, corner Polk;
Walker, Charles, Beach and Mather; and to the list of exclusively sash, doors and
blinds manufacturers: Brown, John, 178 West Randolph; Cole, Peter, east side Arnold
near Cass; Coombs, Merry & Co., State, near the bridge; Deddrick, H. & C., Mather
and Beach; Edwards, James & Co., 329 South Canal; Neidhardt, Herman, White, east
of Green Bay; Stahl & Burnett, 329-331 South Canal; Traughtwine, John, north side
of South, near Wentworth Avenue; Waldo, Martin, 195 Blue Island Avenue.
A still further addition is found in 1860, when the following firms are added to
the list of planing mills and sash, door and blind manufacturers:
Chapman, G. W. & Co., 155 South Canal; Clark & Rusco, Griswold near Taylor;
Foss & Bros., South Canal, corner West Monroe; Hatfield, H. Moses C., 162 North
Jefferson.
To follow the additions and changes which occurred year after year would
demand a larger volume than is necessary for recounting the more important general
history of the trade, but passing over the period of pioneership, to that of the new era
which arose after the great fire of 1871, we may pause to say that the mutations which
are else\vhere noted in connection with the lumber trade, applied equally to the plan-
ing mill and sash, door and blind departments. The panic of 1857 was felt in all its
force, and the manufacturing lumbermen were in no better condition than those of
the general trade. The dullness continued until 1863, when a general revival of the
lumber trade gave added impetus to the work of the manufactories. This met with
no check until the fire of 1871 and the panic of 1873, both of which bore heavily upon
the Chicago mill men. The fire destroyed the factories of Peterson, Springer &
Co., S. D. B., Bremer, corner of Elm; D. Goodwillie, S. D. B. and planing, with box
factory, Kingsbury and Ontario; J. Bartelme & Sons, S. D. B., 143-145 Larrabee; Jenck
& Meyer, S. D. B., 343 Sedgwick; P. C. Campbell, S. D. B., 404 North Wells; James Far-
son & Son, S. D. B., 8 and 10 Market; T. H. & A. L. Brown, S. D. B. with pine and hard-
wood lumber, 208 East Van Buren; Davis & Mason, 236 South Water; T. J. Roelle &
Son, S. D. B., 351 South Canal; Chapin & Foss, Canal and Van Buren; and the lumber
yards of the Peshtigo Company, North Pier; John Sheriffs & Son, 200 South Canal;
H. N. Holden, hardwood, corner Jackson and Market; Street & Chatfield, Roberts
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 183
Street, between Huron and Superior; Mears, Bates & Co., Polk, near Beach Street, and
at the Kinzie Street bridge; and Addison Ballard, Market and Monroe Streets. The
rebuilding of the city gave a much needed impetus to every branch of business con-
nected with the supply of building materials, and it is safe to say that those who con-
tinued, recouped their losses within a couple of years at most. To follow out the
details of the planing-mill industry from the great fire of 1871 to the present day
would fill a volume of itself. The number of machines now in operation in the city
reckons up into the thousands, and may be found not only in the planing mills, but
in innumerable box factories (whose product consumes not far from one hundred
million feet of lumber per year), furniture factories, wagon manufactories, toy factories,
and in fact in every branch of the woodworking industry of a city consuming from a
billion to a billion and quarter feet of lumber annually. The City Directory for 1894
contains the address of over one hundred persons and firms under the designation
" Sash, Doors and Blinds." These in some cases, indeed many, include those mills
which do custom work in planing, as well as the work of the factory itself. There are
vast numbers which are either connected directly with the lumber yard of which the
owner is a proprietor, or are employed exclusively on work for adjacent lumber
yards.
With the adoption of the policy of charging freight by weight rather than by
measure, came the necessity not only for" dry lumber, but as well its surfacing, .the
reduction in weight being a saving of more than the difference in freight if shipped in
the rough. It may be asserted with safety that at least eighty per cent of the lumber
now disposed of by the yards of Chicago passes through the planer either for sizing,
surfacing or dressing into flooring, so that the planing-mill industry has kept pace
with the increase in the lumber trade in general.
For several years an endeavor was made by the manufacturers of Chicago in
common with those of the Northwest to maintain a Sash, Door and Blind Association
for the purpose of restricting production and maintaining prices, but its operations
were largely desultory and its accomplishments slight. There was too large a num-
ber of small operators who declined to join and be bound by the action of the asso-
ciation, and these, encouraged by a large clientage of "jobbers" and retail dealers
were sufficiently powerful to nullify the action of the association, however beneficial
it may have been. The association has given no signs of vitality for several years
and even its records afford no intelligent data for the historian.
LUMBER JOURNALS.
It is doubtful if any one agency has had a greater or more beneficial influence
upon the destinies of the lumber trade of Chicago than that which has been exercised
through the medium of her lumber journals.
As a rule lumbermen, especially manufacturing lumbermen, throughout the land
184 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
were indisposed in the earlier days to advertise their business in the public press. As
with the medical fraternity, it was to some extent considered undignified and unpro-
fessional to make public announcement of the goods on sale. That this sentiment
did not, even in the earlier days, extend to the retail dealers of Chicago, is shown by
the liberal patronage given to the publishers of the City Directory for 1855-56, in which
we find the cards of thirty-seven lumber dealers, two planing-mill firms and two
manufacturers of sash, doors and blinds; but the effort was evidently spasmodic, as
but nine dealers, seven planing mills and three sash, door and blind manufacturers are
represented in the directory for 1857-58, and about the same proportion to the whole
number is preserved throughout succeeding volumes.
It should not be omitted in this connection to mention that in 1858 Nathaniel A.
Haven, then secretary of the unincorporated Lumberman's Board of Trade, of Chi-
cago, conceived the idea, and for some months published a weekly sheet which he
called, The Lumberman's Advertiser, a small paper devoted at first wholly to the city
lumber trade. Mr/. Haven was a lumber commission merchant with office in the Lind
block on Market Street, corner of Randolph, and conceived the idea that such a paper
would be an aid to his business and a benefit to the trade at large. So favorably was
the idea received that some sixty lumber firms gave him cards of their business, pay-
ing from $10 to $2O per year for the same, according to the space occupied. Mr.
Haven was a large buyer for St. Louis and other Southern merchants, and his Adver-
tiser found quite a circulation among them at a subscription price of $i per year.
The earlier issues of the paper were printed upon Mr. Haven's letter paper, but with
increasing support it took the form of a small newspaper and received general adver-
tisements. This publication continued until the breaking out of the war, when lumber
having dropped to about $5 per thousand, and corn to 10 cents a bushel in the West,
Mr. Haven discontinued his lumber business and with it his publication.
In 1871 Henry S. Dow established the Lumberman's Gazette at Bay City, Mich., and
enlisted the assistance of George W. Hotchkiss, who had for over twenty years been
engaged in various departments of the lumber trade and as an editorial writer, Mr.
Dow having no personal knowledge of the business. At about the same time, and in
imitation of Mr. Dow, J. Henry Simonds, of Boston, began the publication of a journal
called Lumber Trade, at that point. In February, 1873, William B. Judson and
Benjamin Waite commenced the publication of a monthly journal called The Michigan
Lumberman, at Grand Rapids, Mich., removing to Muskegon after the first issue of the
paper. Mr. Judson had at that time little or no knowledge of the lumber business,
but was proficient in speedily learning its secrets, while Mr. Waite was an old Penn-
sylvania lumberman, thoroughly indoctrinated in the mysteries of the trade. In this
connection we may say that Mr. Waite's career in life would prove an excellent foun-
dation for a sensational novel, from the time of his arrest in Canada (1837) as a rebel
who was tried, convicted, his sentence of death commuted to banishment; his escape
'A/
Of
'<//
8 >
Gcodspf.ed Broths rs. Pui.' i ;
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 187
from Van Dieman's Land in an open boat after several years in the penal colony, and
at a time when his faithful wife was on her way to him, the bearer of a pardon from
Queen Victoria, his rescue by a passing ship in mid-ocean, and his subsequent career
as a lumberman in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Canada to the present day, when, at a
ripe old age, he witnesses the wonderful development of a nation which he has so
greatly suffered to build up, his history would fill a volume of thrilling and interesting
chapters. After publishing eleven numbers of the Michigan Lumberman, Mr. Judson
purchased the interest of Mr. Waite and removed the office to Chicago, where, in
January, 1874, the name was changed to the Northwestern Lumberman, and at the end
of twenty years it is recognized as the leading journal of the fourteen, in various parts of
the land, which are devoted to the interests of the lumber trade, in forest, mill, lumber
yard or wood-working factory. The history of the Northwestern Lumberman has been
one of vicissitudes and a struggle for existence, eventuating as all such gallant strug-
gles, wisely directed, are sure to do, sooner or later, in the brilliant success which in the
later years has given it the reputation of the handsomest in appearance, the most
enterprising in new ventures in the journalistic line, and the most reliable of the
myriad of class journals to be found as the representatives of every branch of the mul-
tifarious industries of our country. It was not always in a position to vie with the pic-
torial journals of the day in the use of high-art illustrations, nor did it in its early years
secure that favor among lumbermen to which it was entitled. An examination of the
issues of its first ten years of publication reveals a sparsenessof advertising patronage
by lumbermen, which shows the slight estimation in which their representative
journal was held. But if the lumber dealers were slow to appreciate the benefits of
advertising and the value of a class journal devoted to their interests, the manufacturers
of machinery did not fail to recognize its value as a medium for introducing their
manufactures to the notice of mill owners, and manufacturers of lumber soon came to
realize that if they would keep advised regarding new and economical devices for
lessening expenses, adding to the capacity of their mills, or saving a larger proportion
of their timber resources, they could not afford to ignore the lumber journals. For
several years the Chicago dealers were averse to making public the statistics of their
monthly volume of trade, and in 1874 the Lumberman's Exchange, by formal resolu-
tion declined to supply any statistics for publication in the Northwestern Lumberman,
but a year or two later came to a realization that knowledge is power, and instead of
withholding, gladly supplied legitimate information.
The volumes of the various lumber journals now reveal the fact that the present
generation of lumbermen is awake to the value of printer's ink, and to its use in the
trade papers, not more in the extension of trade than in pointing out new channels of
forest supply and adaptability of hitherto considered, useless products. After the
retirement of Mr. Waite from the Northwestern Lumberman, Mr. Judson associated with
him Mr. K. C. Dicey, and his father-in-law Rufus King, and until the retirement of
188 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO.-
Mr. Dicey, in 1875, the paper was published by Judson, Dicey & Co., and later by Jud-
son & King, the latter firm continuing until 1877, when the " Lumberman's Publishing
Company" succeeded, continuing until 1880, when Mr. Judson became sole proprietor,
and so continues. From the inception of the journal in 1873 Mr. Judson has been the
responsible editor, and his assistants in that capacity have been Benjamin Waite, a
practical lumberman; Col. M. Mudge, a journalist; J. J. Fitzgerald, a \vidc-a\vake man
who had spent much time in saw mills; A. H. Hitchcock, who began his career as a
clerk in the office, and is now editor of Hardwood (of which hereafter); George W.
Hotchkiss, a practical lumberman; and finally by Met L. Saley, who has occupied the
editorial chair since 1881, and who, if not educated in the saw mill and lumber yard,
has proved so apt a scholar that the paper in his hands has become a recognized
power in the trade, as well as a most readable journal.
In 1882 S. D. Morgan began the publication of a semi-monthly known as The
Lumber Trade Journal, which in 1887. after many vicissitudes, passed into the hands of
a joint stock company, of which George VV. Hotchkiss became president and editor,
and Walter C. Wright, secretary and business manager. This journal ran a successful
course until the spring of 1894, when Mr. Hotchkiss disposed of his stock in it to
Boling Arthur Johnson, who had for several years been connected with the journal in
a reportorial capacity, and in view of the increasing importance of the Southern lumber
industry, the office of publication was removed to New Orleans, the first issue from
that point being dated July i, 1894.
In 1886 Allen H. Hitchcock and James E. Defebaugh commenced the publica-
tion of the Timberman, a weekly journal which has achieved a phenomenal success.
During the following year (1887) Mr. Hitchcock, withdrawing from the Timbertnan.
began the publication of a semi-monthly publication called Lumber, which did not
prove the success which he had hoped for, and in 1891, in connection with O. S.
Whitmore, a gentleman who has had long experience in the various branches of the
lumber business, began the publication of Hardwood (semi-monthly), devoted wholly
to the interests of the hardwood branch, which it is serving with intelligence and evi-
dent acceptability to the interest to which it is devoted.
It is not within the province of this local history to speak of the several publica-
tions in the lumber interest which have their habitation in other cities and are exercis-
ing an influence for good, which to a greater or less extent influences the business of
Chicago, as well as that of the localities where they are published. The influence of
these publications has, beyond dispute, been of the greatest advantage to the general
trade throughout the country. Before the inception of lumber journalism, but little,
comparatively, was known to the average lumber dealer of any section of the country
regarding the resources of any except the local mill or wholesaling center where he
obtained his stock, because, in many cases, his predecessor had been in the habit of
going there. In the East there had grown up an appreciation of the existence of
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 189
excellent forests in Michigan, but of their extent, or how the lumber was to be
obtained, except through the wholesale house which had found some mysterious
channel through which to obtain it, the actual or even general situation of the Western
forests or the Western mills was practically unknown and was likely to remain so. It
was, in fact, for a long period of time to the interest of many Western manufacturers
that this general ignorance should prevail. Until the breaking out of the war each'
manufacturer had, as a rule, a set of customers whom he regarded as in some measure,
at least, "his" especial right, and if they could be prevented from a knowledge of any
other available source of supply he would be able to retain them.
That this statement is not unwarranted was demonstrated in the early inception
of lumber journalism in the difficulty experienced in securing that advertising pat-
ronage which was a necessity to the success of the journalistic venture. "I have my
customers now, if I advertise some one else may get them," was a not infrequent
response to the solicitor who sought the patronage of a manufacturing dealer.
Lumber journalism, as we have said, had its inception in 1870, yet candor demands
that due credit be accorded to the late George Francis Lewis, of Saginaw, the intelli-
gent editor of the Saginaiviiiii, who as early as 1865 took a deep interest in the
rapidly increasing lumber industry of the Saginaw River, and collated annual statis-
tics of the local field. In this work he was warmly seconded by Edward Headley of
the Saginaw Daily Courier, and his successors in the editorial conduct of that estima-
ble and reliable paper whose present editor, Edward Cowles, has won for himself an
enviable reputation as a lumber statistician. The influence of lumber journalism in
disseminating valuable information regarding known, or but dimly appreciated sources
of supply, and in pointing out the usefulness and availability of varieties of timber
which had hitherto been regarded as valueless, cannot be overestimated in its effect,
whether it be in the enlargement of markets, the fostering of new enterprises, the
extension of railroad systems, or the stimulus imparted to enquiring and ingenious
minds in searching after improved machinery and more economical methods of man-
ufacture. To the manufacturer and wholesaler in the enlargement of markets, conse-
quent upon a dissemination of useful knowledge as to available sources of supply, or
of those sections of country which give promise of an increased demand, it has over-
come the narrow view which forbade a knowledge of the resources and extent of the
trade, opening up new channels of supply which but for the information disseminated
by the lumber journals would have remained dormant and unappreciated for many
years. They have demonstrated that "knowledge is power," as is shown in the devel-
opment of saw-mill machinery, the extension of the railroad system and the vast
expansion of the lumber consumption of the nation, in the building of villages, towns
and cities which must primarily be constructed of lumber, until that period of their
development when more permanent and incombustible material is demanded.
It is impossible to overrate the influence of the lumber journalism of the nation,
190
IND US TRfA L CHIC A G O :
and those published at Chicago have from the first occupied the leading position, and
are to be especially complimented upon the value of the influence exerted by them
in the dissemination of useful knowledge upon all topics connected with the manu-
facture and disposition of forest products, and their influence in the introduction to
public favor and use of those varieties, which but for this influence in their favor, must
long have remained unknown as valuable products worthy of a better fate than the
log heap or as cord wood.
In character the lumber press of Chicago has been thoroughly cosmopolitan,
dealing with every phase of the business in all parts of the world with intelligence
and impartiality, at no time becoming the organ of any clique or class, unless \ve
except the Lumber Trade Journal which originated as the organ of the retail dealers,
and so continued until it passed into the hands of its later proprietors, when its mission
was broadened to include all classes of the trade from the logger and manufacturer
to the wholesaler and retail dealer. It may also be said of Hardwood that, while
more exclusively confined to the interests of that branch which its name indicates, it
finds not infrequent occasion to treat intelligently upon topics of use and utility to the
general trade. An intelligent examination and comprehension of the history and
statistics of the Chicago lumber business as developed from year to year will reveal to
no slight extent the influence exerted by the journals devoted to its especial inter-
ests, in the vast increase which is noticeable from the time when the Northwestern
Lumberman first began to educate the trade to a comprehension of the vast resources
of supply, which they could make available from all sections of the land, no less than
in pointing out the ever-widening avenues of consumption and the needs of each.
The prosperous condition of these journals is the best evidence of the appreciation
of their efforts by the interests which they represent.
Regarding the personnel of the more prominent among the representatives of the
lumber press of Chicago the reader is referred to the personal sketches which will be
found in their appropriate places in this work.
APPENDIX OF STATISTICS.
TABLE SHOWING THE RECEIPT OF LATH, CEDAR POSTS, RAILROAD TIES, TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE POLES, COKDWOOI)
TANBARK AND HARDWOOD LUMBER AT CHICAGO FOB A SKIM I - OF YEARS.
YEAR.
Lath.
PoStB.
Railroad ties.
Telephone
poles.
Cord* of wood.
Cords of bark.
Hardwood,
(approximate.)
1880..
L ..:....
1881 .
104,499,000
59,737,000
65,477,000
73,077,000
64,650,000
116,871,000
52,239,000
48,831,000
43,666,000
72,773,000
57,139,000
52,986,000
21,859,500
2,846,340
2,462,866
2,416,155
3,087,376
3,187,501
3,271,145
3,914,550
4,577,173
3,580,004
3,693,432
4,233,720
4470.118
4,628,761
4,135,407
3,644,711
1,714,388
947,938
1,690,861
2,791,647
6,0*9,829
1,969,873
1,510,000
2,652,365
2,052.055
2,104,347
1,727,962
112,040
250,867
176,285
116,553
68,181
60,507
85,264
115,666
60,000
89,000
5S.876
25,597
43,900
55,603
91,347
129,150
108,407
62,139
64,236
29,720
22,160
26,065
20,385
21,006
25,883
275,000,000
275,000/X
360,000,000
325,000,000
325,000,000
325,000,000
254,074,000
312,259,00(1
.".29,365,000
322,000,01 H)
350,000,000
632.M1 9,500
400,000,000
1882
1883.
1884
1885..
1886
1887
1888
52,417
44,918
35,490
(ignored)
(ignored)
25,098
12,645
14,955
10.599
estimated
estimated
7,732
1889... .
1890
1891 .
1892 ...
1893
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.
193
TABL* SHOWING RECEIPTS AND SHIPMENTS OF Ll'MBEB AND SHINGLES. AND POPULATION OF QHICAGO, FROM 1831 TO 1898.
RECEIPTS.
SHIPMENTS.
YEAR.
Lumber.
Shingles.
Lumber.
Shingles.
Population.
1831
60
*600
350
11,800
3.265
4,000
4,170
4,000
4,200
4,470
5,500
6.590
7,580
8,000
12,088
14,169
16,869
20,023
23,047
28,269
34,000
38,734
60,662
65,872
80,023
86,000
93,000
90,000
95,000
112,172
120,000
138,135
160,000
169,35.5
178,900
200,413
220,000
252,064
280,000
298,700
334,270
367,396
380,000
395,409
407,000
420,000
439,976
450,000
480,000
503,185
1832
1833
30,000
500,000
1,500,000
2,250,000
3,000,000
3,500,000
4,200,000
4,479,000
5,752,000
6,248,000
7,561,742
19,226,885
22,593,992
27,000,000
32,118,225
60,009,250
73,259,553
100,364,779
125,056,437
147,816,232
202,101,078
228.436,783
306,547,401
456,673,169
459,639,198
278,943,000
302,845,207
262,494,626
249,308,705
305,674,045
413,301,818
501,592,406
647,145,734
730,057,168
882,661,770
1,028,494,789
997,736,942
1,018,993,635
1,039,328,375
,183,659,280
,123,368,671
,060,088,708
,157,194,432
,039,785,265
1,088,405,862
1,179,814,119
1,485,008,322
1,524,431,000
1,906,639,000
2,116,341,000
,897,815,000
,802,727,000
,744,699,000
,660,589,000
,846, 187/KK)
2,012,069,000
1,980,227,000
1,969,689,000
2,087,462,000
2,250,298,000
1,621,627,000
1834
1836
18136
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
(500 black wal
null
1846
1847
12,148,500
20,0.50,000
39,057,770
55,423,750
60,338,250
77,080,500
93,483,784
82,061,250
108,647,2-50
135,876,000
1848
14,425,357
26,882,000
38,687,528
56,510,051
70,740,271
88,909,348
133,131,872
215,585,354
243,387,732
311,608,793
242,793,268
226,120.389
225,372,340
189,379,445
189,277,079
221,709,330
269,496,579
385,353,678
422,314,266
518,903,354
551,989,806
581,5:33,480
583,490,634
.541,222,543
417,827,375
o61.544.379
580,673,674
628,485,014
576,124,287
586.442,000
626,746,676
683,574,899
650,922,591
953,285,000
964,549,000
1,185,108,000
895,528,000
770,727,000
775,725,000
612.990.UOO
629,685,000
687,377,000
524,440,000
310.168,000
413,266,000
317,400,000
17,899,000
.35,551,000
51,484,000
67,032,000
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
131,830,250
127,894,000
165,927,000
127,894,000
79,356,000
131,255,000
172,364,875
190,169,750
310,897,350
400,125,250
447,039,275
514,434,100
673,166,000
652,091,000
647,595,000
610,824,420
.517,923,000
619,278,630
685,708,000
566,978,000
.546,780,825
692,549,000
$1,442,500,123
' 1,475,872,386
,844,065,831
,974,543,655
,906,592,356
,789,031,939
,702,291,642
,722,246,629
,84^,961,282
,925,217,899
1,944,131,462
2,098,547,560
2,142,593,214
2,312,517,732
1,647,966,053
154,827,7.50
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865 .
1866
1867 .. . .
1868
537,497,074
638,317,840
666,247,775
558,385,350
436,827,375
407,505,650
370,196,659
299,427,000
214,389,750
179,214,500
123,221,025
694,267,500
652,257,500
793,890,506
909,758,144
1,024,227,854
1,007.458,;!85
662,240,000
678,562,:i40
665,714,900
643,513,50(1
637,376,59.5
603,565,531 1
463,351,811
1)71,588,6.54
376,216,905
1869
1870
1871 . .
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
Est. 560,693
1883
1884
Sch. 629,985
Est. 750,000
Est. 803,817
1885. ......
1886
1887
1888
; Est. 902,651
1889
1890
1891
1,099,850
1892 ...
Est. 1,320,000
Est. 1,500,000
1S93
Total
46,641,462,103
20,641,453,372
* I Deludes soldiers
Indians. $From 1879 includes city consumption omitted before that dat.
194
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THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.
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196 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
CHAPTER II.
M&MOIRS OF EflRLY LUMBERMEN
From 1830 to 1840.
eorge Washington Sno\v. So far as our researches have extended, .the honor
of establishing a lumber yard, the first in the young village which was destined
later to become the metropolis of the West, lies between Capt. David Carver and
George W. Snow. If the former, it was but for a short time, and not for a perma-
nency, the fact probably being that as the master of a vessel which was trading on
the slowly developing coast of Michigan, his so-called lumber yard was but the deposi-
tory of the unsold "whitewood" lumber which was purchased (at or near St. Joseph,
Mich.) fora freight, and was not readily saleable from the vessel's deck. The earliest
directories of the city named George W. Snow as a "lumber dealer," and from the best
authorities attainable we believe his business to have been established at or near the
dock of Newberry & Dole, corner of State and Water Streets in 1833 or 1834. We
may safely assert that he was the pioneer of the vast lumber yard business for which
Chicago has become distinguished. Mr. Snow was born at Kcene, N. H., in 1797. His
parents were of the old Puritan stock, as is evidenced in the name of "Azariah" and
"Thankful" ( Balch), both of which will be recognized as peculiar to the settlers of
Plymouth Colony.
Mr. Snow was born the year in which the immortal Washington died, and was
named after that illustrious patriot. His father was a farmer, but the young man was
given all advantages of education which were available, and became a civil engineer.
Of his earlier career but little is know n further than that he spent some years in New
York City in pursuit of his profession, and that portions of Chicago were surveyed and
platted by him. He came to Chicago |uly 18, 1832, via the Erie Canal through New
York State to Buffalo, where he took the small steamer "Enterprise" to Detroit, thence
to Niles, Mich., by wagon over the rough trail then in use, and by lighter or small
boat down the St. Joseph River, to the little settlement of St. Joseph on Lake Michi-
gan. Here he was joined by Philo Carpenter, and Indians were obtained to pole and
tow with a bark rope, a canoe, following the shore line of the lake to a landing place
near where is now located the Douglas monument, the Indians refusing to come further
from fear of the cholera which was supposed to be decimating the settlement, and
which had prevented Mr. Snow from leaving St. Joe by vessel as he had intended.
They finally reached the fort July 18, 1832. Mrs. Snow ( Elizabeth a sister of the late Judge
ME
OF ILLINOIS.
joodspeed 3ros Chicago
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 199
Manierre), whom he had married in New York, accompanied him on this long and
perilous journey to Detroit, subsequently making the journey to Chicago, rejoining
her husband in the month of September following. Of Mr. Snow's occupation during
the following months we find no record, but it is unlikely he took up the lumber busi-
ness previous to 1833, and more probable that he did not engage in it until some time
in 1834.
How long Mr. Snow continued in the lumber business we have no means of ascer-
taining, beyond the fact that we find him recorded in the directories of various years
until 1847, after which no record is made of him as a lumberman, and about this time
he retired from active business. As a New Englander, Mr. Snow was thoroughly
imbued with Puritan ideas of morality and uprightness, and as the town became
more thickly settled, with, in many respects, a class of inhabitants whose morals he
did not desire that his children should imbibe, he decided to remove to the country,
and took up his residence on the corner of what is now State and Jackson Streets,
where he took honest pride in his handsome lawns and commodious greenhouses,
which were the admiration of his friends who ventured so far from the business center
to visit him. Here he reared his children in comparative freedom from contact with
the roughness of the " down town" section, until, with the increase of population, he
found himself surrounded by neighbors, mainly of the better sort. Mr. Snow never
sought for wealth beyond the extent of enabling him to indulge in his taste for books
and extend his knowledge, particularly in the line of horticulture. He died 'July
29, 1869, respected by all who knew him. His wife survived him for many years,
passing away April I, 1891, at the ripe age of eighty years.
The three children of Mr. Snow were all native born to Chicago, the eldest
(Catherine) being the wife of Dr. Ralph M. Isham, one of the most prominent
among the leading physicians of Chicago; Harriet, wife of J. M. W. Jones, Esq.,
a well-known merchant, and Helen, who also resides in Chicago, but remains single.
Reference to the tabulated statistics of the history of the lumber trade reveals
the fact that from the small beginning (30,000 feet, probably all " whitewood " ),
the trade of the city, of which he was a leading pioneer, had increased at the last date
in which we find him recorded as a dealer ( 1847), to 32,000,000 feet, which at the time
of his death had reached one billion feet ( 1,000,000,000), and occupied the attention
of more than one hundred yard dealers, while his good wife survived to see the busi-
ness reach the vast amount of over two billion (2,000,000,000) feet annually.
Nathaniel J. Brown. Among the noted pioneers of the Northwest, and emphat-
ically a pioneer in the inception of its vast lumber business, must be named Nathaniel
j. Brown, who, at the advanced age of eighty-two, is still an honored resident of
Lemont, a few miles removed from the city of Chicago, to which city he brought
lumber in the spring of 1835, being one of the earliest to appreciate the advantages
200 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of the young city as a supply point for the rapidly developing prairies of the North-
west.
Mr. Brown was born at Windsor, Vt., in 1812, but at the age of three years was
taken by his parents to their new home near Lockport, N. Y. Here he received such
education as was afforded by the common schools of that section, closely modeled as
they were after the school systems prevailing in the New England States. In 1826,
when Nathaniel was fourteen years of age, his parents removed to the new settlement
at Ann Arbor, Mich., and here his life as a pioneer began. While still a mere lad he
began to engage in industrial and mercantile pursuits, and with his brother Anson, who
was considerable of a politician, engaged in various enterprises of importance, one of
which was the running of a stage line from Detroit to the mouth of the St. Joseph
River, on Lake Michigan, and which for many years constituted the only means of
public transit across the State of Michigan. While engaged in this business Nathaniel
took advantage of his excellent opportunities for acquiring a knowledge of the
resources and advantages presented by the new country, and made investments in
Kent, Ionia and Clinton Counties which brought rich returns. In Kent County he
acquired title to a large tract of the excellent pine lands which were there to be found,
and was sagacious enough to see that the time would soon come when the rapidly-
increasing immigration would create a demand for the building material with which
they abounded. Building a mill on the land during the fall and winter of 1834, at a
point favorable for floating logs to and lumber from it, he, in the spring of 1835, built
his first raft and floated it from what is n.ow the city of Grandville, on Grand River, to
the mouth of the river at what is now the city of Grand Haven. This raft contained
enough lumber to load six cargoes forthesmall craft of the day. and Mr. Brown chartered
the schooner " White Pigeon " of Detroit, to freight it from Grand Haven to Chicago.
The raft was started as early in the spring as the ice in the river would permit, and
was the first venture of the kind upon the waters of the State. Mr. Brown, accom-
panied by a big .fellow who had lumbered in the State of Maine, took personal charge
of the raft, living on board in a roughly constructed shanty, and after a somewhat
perilous voyage reached his destination without accident of a serious nature. He
reached Chicago April 4, 1835, and found the market was not open to all comers, and
that he, as a citizen of another State, was not recognized as having a right to sell his
lumber in competition with resident local dealers, who, although few in number, were
jealous of what they esteemed their right to a monopoly of the sale of the limited
amount of lumber which could be disposed of. Insisting on his rights, he was arrested
at the instigation of the local dealers and brought before the authorities, from whom
he appealed to the Court of County Commissioners. At this time Col. Richard J.
Hamilton who was not only clerk of the board, but held nearly all the offices which
had been created in Cook County, decided in his favor, and gave him an official per-
mit to do business in Chicago for one year, on payment of a license fee of $6, in which
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 201
connection it is interesting to note that we find no record of the exaction of any sub-
sequent license fee for the lumbermen of the city until 1883, when it was deemed by
the City Council that a fee of $100 should be paid by all yard dealers in the city. The
license granted to Mr. Brown is of interest in connection with the early history of the
city, and was as follows:
"STATE OF ILLINOIS, |
Cook County. j
"Authority and permission is hereby given to N. J. Brown to vend, sell and retail
goods, wares and merchandise in Cook County, 111., for and during the term of one
year, if approved by the County Commissioners Court of Cook County, upon paying
into the county treasury the sum of $6, his tax and the cost of this permission.
"Given under my hand and private seal at Chicago, 2ist day of April, A. U. 1835.
"RICHARD J. HAMILTON,
" Clerk of County Commissioners Court, Cook County''
Armed with this license permit, there being no difficulty in obtaining the approval
of the county commissioners, Mr. Brown proceeded without further opposition to
dispose of his cargo to William B. Ogden at $28 per thousand feet, at which figure he
realized a handsome and satisfactory profit. This, so far as we can learn, was the first
pine lumber received at this port, previous receipts being of whitewood only. He
received payment in silver coin ( largely Mexican dollars), which he packed in ax boxes
and deposited in the warehouse of Newberry & Dole, from whom he received drafts on
Oliver Newberry, at Detroit. Purchasing a horse he set out for that city, and, rafter
settling with the merchants who had supplied him with goods during the previous
winter, returned to Kent County and continued the manufacture and shipment of
lumber to Chicago. During his first visit to Chicago he had formed the acquaint-
ance of Augustus Garrett, whose name has since become indissolubly con-
nected with the noted Biblical institute at Evanston, and a limited partnership
was formed for dealing in real estate in Michigan and Chicago. As a result,
Mr. Brown laid out the town of Ionia, in Ionia County, Mich., realizing a
handsome profit from the sale of lots, largely by auction, from Mr. . Gar-
rett's office in Chicago, while Mr. Garrett acquired several valuable locations in the
young city of Chicago, besides about 3,000 acres of valuable land in the neighborhood
of the city, and forming a general partnership, the auction house of Garrett & Brown
became one of the noted institutions of the city, while their storehouses overflowed
with consignments of goods sent to them for disposition at the block. Realty sales
were, however, the most prominent feature of their business and were attended by
vast crowds of residents and speculators from Milwaukee and Eastern cities until the
panic of 1837 effectually squelched the speculative spirit of the day. The firm at one
time owned 9,000 acres of land in and about Chicago and had no rival in the land
business of the day. With such a record it is unnecessary to assert that Mr. Brown
had an eye to the location of capitols and county seats, in the new country, and, by
202 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
dint of energy in obtaining information earlier than his competitors, succeeded, in the
case of the location of the Wisconsin State Capitol at Madison, in obtaining informa-
tion of the legislative vote eighteen hours earlier than any one else in Milwaukee,
where at the government land office he at once located fifty-six tracts of eighty
acres each in the vicinity of the new capitol at a cost of 81.25 per acre and made
sales of other lands, which gave him returns in cash of more than one-half of the
money which the Madison investment called for. All in all, few men have exer-
cised a greater influence over the finances, politics or permanent development of
Chicago and the Northwest than the young lumberman, Nathaniel J. Brown, the
first man to bring pine lumber to the city of Chicago, and the first to take out license
for the sale of lumber in this market.
On the letting of contracts in 1837 for the digging of the Illinois and Michigan
Canal Mr. Brown was awarded a contract for one mile of rock cutting near what is
now the city of Lemont. This was an undertaking which in those days of primitive
machinery was far more adventurous than under the improved methods of the present
time and illustrates the spirit of enterprise for which Mr. Brown has since become
noted. On the completion of this work he was not slow to perceive the value of the
rock formation of Lemont, and, acquiring a large amount of land, he laid out a town
which has now grown to the dignity of a city, of which Mr. Brown has been and is
now at his advanced age the ruling spirit. Here he has developed one of the finest
limestone quarries in the State, from which he derives a handsome revenue. Mis
canal work is yet in good condition, a silent witness to the faithful performance of his
contract with the State, and the many pretty houses of the city and the air of bustle
and business, no less, bear witness of a wise and enlightened policy on the part of the
"father of the town." To such men as Nathaniel J. Brown is the pushing West
indebted for its abnormal development and its spirit of enterprise.
James Fuller Lord. The death of Maj. James F. Lord, May i, 1893, was an event
of more than ordinary interest to the lumbermen of Chicago and the Northwest, sever-
ing as it did, one of the very few remaining links connecting the inception of the
lumber trade with its phenomenal extent of the present. Mr. Lord was born of Revo-
lutionary stock in Hallowell, Me., July 15, 1804, and was consequently eighty-nine
years old. It is a significant fact that this old citizen, who was present at the birth of
Chicago and witnessed its wonderful development, was permitted to live until the
opening of the great World's Fair, which, while showing the progress of the world
more markedly than anything else could do, proclaims Chicago's greatness to the
world. It was in 1832 that Mr. Lord made his first visit here. Though yet young he
was at that time engaged in business for himself. A frame warehouse (the first) then
in process of erection was beginning to tower above the surrounding shanties, most
of which were built of logs. It is not strange that the public should feel a peculiar
interest in a pioneer so recently deceased, who belonged to the limited class, whose
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 205
experience connected with the civilization of a great and populous city, that of a
sparsely settled frontier trading post.
Maj. Lord's parents were Ephraim and Sally (Dennis) Lord, both natives of Ips-
wich, Mass. Ephraim Lord was a descendant of one of the early settlers of that State,
and belonged to the family from which descended Otis Philips Lord, the distinguished
Massachusetts jurist and statesman. After receiving a common-school education, Mr.
Lord took up the trade of his father, who was a carpenter, and worked with him until
1824. In that year he left his native place for Boston, where he worked for one year,
then went to New York City in the prosecution of his trade. In 1828, in company
with another enterprising mechanic, he turned his face toward the far-away Territory
of Michigan. After stopping for a short time in the then infant city of Detroit, they
followed the famous old trail of the Sacs and Foxes as far into the country as Beards-
ley's Prairie, a new settlement which then promised to attain some importance. To
reach this point they had to buy a yoke of oxen and a wagon, by which means they
carried their tool chests and other belongings. The distance was 180 miles, and they
were twenty-one days on the journey, camping out by the way, for settlers' cabins were
few and far between. They remained there during the winter, and after a time Mr. Lord
decided to file a claim on a quarter-section of land. He was obliged to go on horse-
back to Monroe, Mich., 'for this purpose. On his return journey his horse got away
and galloped off into the Indian country. He secured another animal, not without
difficulty, and pursuing his way, fell in with the Indians, who, while offering no moles'-
tation, compelled him to travel ahead of, rather than behind them, so far as they went
his way. Other things occurred well calculated to be troublesome to a young man
fresh from the East and not accustomed to the peculiarities and vicissitudes of the
Indian country, but he reached Beardsley's Prairie in safety and the following spring
was fortunate enough to recover his lost horse, with its saddle and bridle, which some
" honest Indian " brought tb the settlement and turned over to him.
Leaving Beardsley's Prairie that spring, Mr. Lord went to Niles, Mich., where he
helped to build the first flouring mill ever erected on the Dowagiac Creek. Two years
later he went out to St. Joseph, Mich., a town which had been laid out on the opposite
side of Lake Michigan as a rival of Chicago, and at that time actually was of more
consequence than the future World's Fair City. He still worked at his trade when
there was work to be had in a country where the dwellings were mostly of logs, and
was the architect and builder of the first frame housj in that town. A few months
after his arrival there, he made the first visit to Chicago already referred to. The
scare prevailing at that period, consequent upon the Black Hawk Indian War, had
driven most of the earlier settlers of northern Illinois into Fort Dearborn for safety
and protection. In consequence of the unfavorable impression which Chicago made
on him at that time, Mr. Lord returned to St. Joseph and several years passed before
he became permanently identified with this city as a resident and business man.
10
206 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
In 1832 a steam saw mill had been built at St. Joseph by McKillop & Deacon, a
Cleveland company, the first erected in western Michigan. It was not a financial suc-
cess, however, being operated only to a slight extent in supplying the sparse popula-
tion of that region, whose demand for lumber was small indeed. Up to 1837 what lit-
tle work the concern had done was in connection with the cottonwood and hardwoods
in the immediate vicinity of St. Joseph. About that time Mr. Lord organized a joint
stock company and purchased this mill and a small tract of pine timber on the Paw-
paw River, and while it lasted cut and shipped pine to the Chicago market. As early
as 1836 he brought to this city lumber for the completion of the Lake House, then the
most pretentious hotel in the town, which was cut from the school section of the Paw
Paw River. In 1847, in connection with others, he entered into an extensive contract
to furnish for the Michigan Central Railroad, then being built, lumber for its bridges, ,
depots, etc. After the contract had been filled a considerable amount of surplus lum-
ber remained on hand, which Mr. Lord and his associates shipped to Chicago, and
Mr. Lord was sent here to take charge and dispose of it. In connection with S. F.
Sutherland, and under the style of S. F. Sutherland & Co., he opened a yard and began
to sell the lumber as fast as he could place it in large and small orders. With the
coming of winter and at the close of navigation, the balance of lumber on hand was
sold to A. G. Throop & Bros., and Messrs. Sutherland and Lord returned to St. Joe,
and in connection with their lumber operations built a schooner called the "St. Joseph,"
which was at that time one of the largest craft on the lakes and which was well known
in the Chicago trade for many years. The mill being constructed on the "upright"
or " sash " plan, it was late in the following season before a sufficient quantity of lum-
ber had been manufactured to warrant the opening of another yard in Chicago, which
was done in the late summer of 1848, again under the name of S. F. Sutherland & Co.
(S. F. Sutherland and James F. Lord), on the north bank of the river at La Salle
Street. From that time on until his retirement from business Mr. Lord was one of
the most prominent of those engaged in the lumber trade in this city. His partner-
ship was dissolved with Mr. Sutherland in 1858, and Mr. Lord then became the head
of a firm which furnished its share of the material out of which the city was built in
the period before the fire. At one time his son, William J. Lord, who died in 18/2,
was connected with the enterprise. His business, which expanded in proportion to
the growth of the city, proved exceedingly remunerative, and he retired with a com-
fortable fortune prior to 1871, the trade which he had built up being transferred to
other parties, by whom it is still carried on. Subsequent investments in real estate,
added largely to what he had accumulated during the active period of his life, and
made him one of the wealthy men of Chicago.
Maj. Lord was married in 1832 to Miss Marcia Pepper, of Winslow, Mass., who
died in 1858 at what had become the family homestead, in one of the choice residence
portions of the city, where Mr. Lord also died in 1893, and where his daughter Helen
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 207
A. passed away a few months later. Of his family of six children but four grew to
manhood and womanhood, and of these only Edgar A. Lord is living. The latter, who
is one of the leading representatives of the trade with which his father was so long
identified, was born at St. Joseph, Mich., in 1843, an< 3 nas been a resident of Chicago
since 1848. After receiving his education in the schools of this city he formed his
first connection with the lumber business by becoming an assistant to some extent to
his father. In 1872 he became a member of the firm of A. T. King & Co., who estab-
lished a yard at Lumber and Canal Streets and entered upon a strictly yard business.
Upon the death of Mr. King, two years later, his interest was acquired by Abbott L.
Adams, and the business was continued by Adams & Lord, with yards at 400 Lumber
Street, until 1882, when Adams & Lord was succeeded by the Lord & Bushnell Com-
pany, and the yards were located at the Illinois Central Pier. Although Winslow Bush-
nell died in 1890 the style of the firm is unchanged. The yards were in June, 1891,
removed to Fisk and Twenty-second Street, and there, under Mr. Lord's management,
is carried on one of the most extensive yard businesses in the city. Mrs. Edgar Lord,
who was formerly Miss May B. Hoyt, of St. Joseph, Mich., died January I, 1885. Mr.
Lord married in 1868, and has a son and daughter, James F. and Mary D. Lord. He
is popular socially as well as in business circles, and is a member of the Calumet and
Washington Park Clubs.
Maj. Lord was a resident of the West from the period when the Indians roamed
free and hunted the game, which was then plenty, the days when the white man was in
the minority and Chicage was but a hamlet of a handful of citizens, and was spared to
see and appreciate the transformation of the wilderness to a well-settled country and
Chicago a World's Fair city of 1, 500, OOO inhabitants. His business experience covered
the period from the time when Chicago demanded but 20,000 feet of lumber per year
to the present consumption, evidenced by a receipt of 2,250,750,000 feet in 1892. He
is remembered as a progressive, enterprising man, and as one to whom the city is
greatly indebted for the reputation which has made it famous throughout the world.
Charles Mears. When one endeavors to probe the records of the lumber busi-
ness of Chicago to its inception, he is sure through all the history, from its earliest to
its latest date to find the name of Charles Mears. Beyond the time when he began to
ship lumber to the young city (1838) our information is largely speculative, but from
that time to the present we are able with approximate correctness to trace the
growth of the lumber trade of Chicago, no less in the rapid increase of population in
the great Northwest than by the figures which to so goodly an extent are available.
Charles Mears was born at Billerica, Mass., March 16, 1814. He was the son of
Nathan Mears, who was a leading citizen of that town and for many years was hon-
ored with the position of selectman of the town, which was fully equivalent in those
days to the honorable position of mayor of a city in later times. He had come from
old colonial stock, the name of his father, Robert Mears, appearing upon the public
208 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
records of Billerica so early as 1/26, in honorable connection. Charles Mears was
the second son in a family of four sons and one daughter, and soon after the death of
his father, which occurred in 1828, his mother having died two years previous, Charles,
on leaving school, entered mercantile employ at Lowell, Mass., until in the fall of 1836
he was induced to leave a good business into which he had entered and come West.
In his journeyings young Mears stopped at Paw Paw, Mich., where he decided to
remain and a few months later he was joined by his two brothers, Edwin and Nathan,
and the firm of C. H. Mears & Co. was established, consisting of Edwin, Charles and
Nathan Mears, in the general business of buying and selling anything and everything
that the few settlers or many Indians, who still remained in the neighborhood, might
desire to purchase or dispose of. A large business was to be done in the purchase of
furs, the country at that time abounding in fur-bearing animals, which were hunted
alike by white men and Indians. From Mr. Mears we gather much of early
history as connected with the lumber business of a saw mill at Allegan, Mich., in
1836, the lumber from which was floated down the Kalamazoo River to its mouth; of
the Hathaway (afterward Throop) mill at what soon after became Grand Haven,
and of the operations of the Michigan Lumber Company at Grandville on the Grand
River in 1836, and later on the Flat River. Of the difficulties experienced by the
young merchants it is not easy for us of the present day adequately to conceive.
Located 160 miles from Detroit; obtaining goods from Boston; with but an occa-
sional schooner at best, once or twice a month, to land goods by small boats at the
mouth of the Grand or St. Joseph Rivers, or as Indian traders over roads cut
through the forest and which were often well nigh impassable, it required just such
enterprise and pluck as animated the Mears Brothers to make a successful business
stand in the semi-wilderness. Their first stock of goods was sent from Boston, the
lake schooner being broken into at Mackinaw and many of their goods stolen. There
was but one dock upon the entire coast at which a steamboat could make a landing,
and when the goods were unloaded by small boat upon the beach, there was the long
and difficult wagoning over a forty or fifty-mile wagon trail to the place of business.
In 1838 Mr. Mears brought his first cargo of about 20,000 feet of lumber to Chicago,
landing it upon a half dock which he found near the present Clark Street bridge,
the only apology for a dock which then existed north of Rush street and which did
not appear to belong to anyone in particular, as he unloaded several small cargoes
upon it without let or hindrance.
In 1839 the brothers dissolved partnership in the business at Paw Paw, which was
retained by Nathan and Edwin, Charles having a year previous commenced operation
in the lumber business by building a mill on the Michigan shore at White Lake.
This was a water mill with an automatic clapboard and shingle mill, the former being
operated by a rotary saw of size sufficient to cut an eight-foot log. In passing, it may
be remarked that this machine, which was a decided favorite in those days, has been
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 211
unknown to the saw-mill world for many years. A short time subsequently, Mr. Mears
added a gate saw to the automatic outfit, and added the manufacture of lumber to the
hitherto exclusive manufacture of beveled clapboards from round logs, which were
sawed from sap to heart, in order to obtain the bevel. It may here be said that
Edwin Mears enlisted in 1862 and died in the army, and Albert, the younger
brother, is now a resident of White Hall, Mich. In 1839 Mr. Mears decided upon set-
tling at Milwaukee for the sale of his lumber, and continued there until 1847, taking
into his employ Mr. Kli Bates, previously keeper of the lighthouse at Milwaukee, who
subsequently became one of the most prominent characters in the lumber circles of
Chicago. In 1847 M f - Mears decided that Chicago presented greater advantages than
Milwaukee for an enterprising young man, and that with the opening of the Illinois and
Michigan Canal, the vast prairie country of the West to the Mississippi, south to St.
Louis, Mo., was now available territory to the lumber trade of Chicago, and summoned
his brother, Nathan, from Paw Paw to join him in the lumber business at Chicago.
The firm of C. Mears & Co. commenced business ( 1850 ) on the river between Kinzie and
Indiana Streets, with subsequently a yard at Lumber Street, until 1859, when the part-
nership was dissolved and the subject of our sketch devoted his time to the manufact-
ure of lumber at several points along the Michigan shore from Duck Lake to the Au
Sables, having built in all fifteen mills, and established villages which have become of
greater or less importance in the counties of Muskegon, Oceana and Mason. For a
portion of the time he was associated with Giles P. Slocum and operated mills at
White Lake; at Middlesex (now Pentwater); at Lincoln, north of Ludington; and at
Mears, south of Pentwater. In the course of his many years of saw milling Mr. Mears
has opened six harbors on the lakes, by building piers and causing the current to
wash out a channel, and a slab pier built by him at Oak Street, was the means of sav-
ing the Lake Shore Drive at Chicago from destruction. He also, with his brother
Nathan, built a slab pier in the north branch north of Kinzie Street. It was now fifty-
five years since Charles Mears, in 1838, brought his first cargo of about 20,000 feet of
lumber to the youthful city, and in that year it is a liberal estimate to place the
receipts of lumber at 3,500,000 feet; they probably did not much exceed one-half that
quantity. Mr. Mears has lived to see this small beginning grow to 2,250,297,290 feet, the
sum of the receipts of 1892, and the cargoes of 10,000 to 40,000 feet each, increased to
cargoes ranging from 200,000 feet to as high as 500,000, and even to 800,000 feet. During
his career at, and in the vicinity of Chicago, indeed since he brought his first cargo to
' this city, he has witnessed the growth of the lumber production of the Northwest
probably not to exceed 100,000,000 feet in 1842 to 8,000,000,000 feet, the present yearly
production; and Chicago from a population of 3,820 souls located in a swamp, grow-
ing year by year until with a population of a million and a half, it has become second
only to New York in population and commercial importance, among the prosperous
cities of the nation. He represented the 3ist district in the Michigan State Senate
212 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
in 1863. Mr. Mears remained a bachelor until 18/4, when he was united to Miss Carrie
A. Middleton, and the union has been blessed with two daughters: Carrie E., and
Lucy L. Mrs. Mears died June 21, 1894.
At the ripe age of eighty-one, in full possession of his faculties, and in the enjoy-
ment of a comfortable fortune, Mr. Mears is spending the closing years of a busy and
useful life in the bosom of a loving family, occupying an elegant mansion at 345 Ohio
Street, and finds pleasure in reciting the experiences of the days when Chicago was
but a small hamlet, and when the pine woods of Michigan were as yet unexplored and
unsurveyed, and in the marvelous changes which have been wrought, he points to his
own participation and enterprise with a just feeling of honest pride.
Laurin P. Milliard was a prominent actor in the early history of Chicago, having
come to the settlement in May, 1836, at which time he estimates that the population
numbered between 3,000 and 4,000 souls. Mr. Milliard was born at Unadilla Forks,
Otsego County, N. Y., October n, 1814. On reaching the village, which he has lived
to see develop into the second city of the continent, he met a friend, H. B. Clark,
who kept a hardware store on Water Street between Dearborn and Clark Streets, who
was just dispatching a gang of men by schooner to clear a town site at what is now
ManitoW'OC, VVis. Fond of adventure and anxious to see the country, Mr. Milliard
took passage on the schooner "Wisconsin," belonging to George W. Snow, and which
that gentleman was dispatching to a small mill which had been built at Green Bay,
for a cargo of lumber. After kedging out into the lake the schooner lay at anchor
for two days in a gale of wind before being able to proceed on her way, during which
time the gang of men, Mr. Milliard included, suffered severely from seasickness. On
the way north the schooner ran into Milwaukee, which at that time consisted of one
tavern, the Juneau warehouse and a number of cloth tents, witnesses to the heavy
tide of emigration which was then setting toward the West. Arriving at Manitowoc
Mr. Milliard assisted the cook to land a barrel of flour and some other provisions for
the dinner of the thirty or forty men who were to clear up the town site, and remain
to assist in unloading the schooner, which then proceeded to Green Bay. The next
day Mr. Milliard started on foot, intending to see the country and to rejoin the
schooner by the time she had secured her cargo of lumber. About three miles up the
river he found a small saw mill of a single mulay saw, belonging to a man named
Conroe, and here he remained over night, sleeping on the floor. During the evening
four horsemen arrived, having ridden from Chicago, bound for Green Bay. Mr. Mil-
liard engaged the cook to call him early, and as there was no house on the forty-mile
trail, to provide him with abundant lunch, and he started at 4 in the morning,
expecting the horsemen to come up with him at 9 or 10 o'clock. The cook
instructed him to go about three miles up the river to the Indian trail, which he would
follow until 'he struck a road then being cut out by the Government, and running
south from Green Bay. About 1 1 o'clock in the morning he came abruptly upon
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 213
a mounted Indian, and it was difficult to tell which was the most startled, white man,
Indian or pony. "How, how," was the extent of information either could impart.
Noon approached but the horsemen had not yet overtaken him, and he began to fear
that he had taken the wrong trail. Sitting down to eat his lunch he was nearly
devoured by mosquitoes, and to add to his discomfort some wild animal, which he
could not see, rushed through the thicket with a growl. Pushing on, however, he late
in the afternoon took shelter from a heavy thunder storm under a big pine, and was
soon after joined, to his great satisfaction, by the four horsemen of the previous
night's companionship, one of whom kindly gave him a ride for some distance and
until they reached the road which Government soldiers were clearing and which had
reached a point five miles from Green Bay, now known as DePere, where another
small saw mill was found. Here the party rested over night, proceeding down the
river next morning, finding an almost continuous settlement of Frenchmen. At
Green Bay were found several stores and warehouses with a fort and garrison. A day
or two later the steamer "Illinois" arrived and Mr. Hilliard took passage on her for Chi-
cago, arriving in time for the sale of canal lands which occurred in June of that year.
Immigration was very heavy in this year and the steamer was crowded, many of the
passengers sleeping on the decks. The lands of the canal commissioners comprised a
grant of the alternate odd sections for ten miles each side of the canal survey. But
little was sold at that time outside of Chicago, which was chartered a city in the
following spring of 1837. About this time George W. Snow had a lumber yard on
the bank of the river near what is now Clark Street, and Capt. David Carver a small
yard on the river bank near the present corner of State and Water Streets, Adoniran J.
Woodbury being his clerk and general assistant.
Mr. Woodbury was a brother of Mrs. C. N. Holden, whose husband was an old
merchant. Mr. Hilliard was a participant in the celebration of July 4, 1836, made
doubly memorable as the occasion of throwing out the first spadeful of earth on the
Illinois and Michigan Canal, which was to, and did, do so much toward the early devel-
opment of the vast country west of Chicago, as well as the development of the city
itself. It was a day of great rejoicing and feasting, ending up with what came very
near being a serious riot, in which stones were thrown, limbs broken and several
arrests made. In 1837 Mr. Hilliard brought a carpenter from the East and erected
two two-story buildings, comprising stores and dwellings on Water Street, just east of
State. There was at this time a number of buildings on the north bank of the river,
while South Water Street was quite solidly built from State Street to Clark Street. A
considerable strife existed as to which side should be the soonest built up and become
the most prominent. Mr. Hilliard started a small store soon after his arrival and
did quite a business in the purchase of hides and furs; this he turned over soon
after to Eri B. Hulbcrt. In the fall of 1839 he entered into partnership with Charles
Walker and the firm of C. Walker & Co. continued until 1844 or 1845, dealing in
214 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
everything the country wanted and buying whatever it had to sell. Making money
rapidly, the firm drifted into the vessel business, buying several schooners and build-
ing the propeller "Independence," which was one of the first propellers on the lakes
and the first on Lake Michigan. In 1843 Mr. Milliard bought the schooner, "R. Wins-
low," then on the beach near Evanston, rebuilt and named her the "C. Walker." Later
Mr. Hilliard built two schooners, the "Maria E. Milliard" and the "L. P. Milliard,"
of about 10,000 and 8,000 bushels wheat capacity each, respectively. In trying to
keep the vessels employed it was often necessary to purchase a cargo of lumber at a
Michigan or Wisconsin point. This not always finding ready sale at prices which
paid a fair profit was shoved on the river bank between Wells Street and Franklin.
At the corner of La Salle Street was a dock and warehouse, and to obtain free dock
age for lumber, it was necessary to go above the established head of navigation. In
1849 Mr. Hilliard started a lumber yard at what is now the corner of Adams and
Market Streets, the present site of James H. Walker & Co.'s wholesale dry goods
house. This was Mr. Milliard's first permanent lumber business, although he had
dabbled with odd cargoes for the sake of the freight. The canal was now completed
and a good trade was opened with St. Louis and the interior. In 1851, the firm
became Hilliard & Howard, and in 1856 Hilliard, Howard & Morton. Contemporary
with Mr. Hilliard were George M. Higginson, J. M. Underwood, Sylvester Lind, Butler
& Norton and about this time A. G. Throop, Foss Bros., McCaig, Dunlap, Barber &
Mason, Holt & Balcom, John Mason Loomis, H. Ludington and others. He was
elected county clerk in 1861 and held the office four years, during the Civil War. In
1866, in company with Jones & Hough, owning some lots on the river near Main
Street, a lumber dockage and storage business was established in connection with the
Chicago & Alton Railroad, which, after a couple of years, was made a regular sale
yard under the name of Hilliard, Pierce & Co. Pierce retiring in 1871, VV. T. Churchill
came in and the firm of Hilliard, Churchill & Co. (L. P. Hilliard, S. A. Hilliard and
Worthy T. Churchill) took the premises. The firm had a saw mill at Alpena, Mich.,
for many years, when through some heavy losses on contracts and short supply of
logs the firm failed and Mr. Hilliard bid adieu to the lumber trade. In 1874 Mr. Hil-
liard received the appointment and was for some years in the employ of the Northern
Pacific Railroad Company as general agent at Chicago, from which he retired to care
for his very valuable property at Washington Heights, where, at the ripe age of eighty,
he enjoys the esteem of all who know him.
Mr. Hilliard was one of the incorporators of the now thriving suburb of Washing-
ton Heights, the land having been purchased by him in 1868, and including within its
boundaries the then towns of Englewood Heights, Beverly Hills and Longwood. In
this enterprise he was associated with Isaac R. Hitt & Bro., and together they labored
for the development of that portion known as Washington Heights, being the first to
turn public attention to that desirable section of the city now comprising one of its
most thriving suburbs.
IP.',
't I
*f
Goodspesd liro fneriPjlishers. CJdcajo .
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 217
Mr. Milliard was one of the first members of the Board of Trade under its organ-
ization in 1849, an d was at one time secretary and treasurer of that body, and was
subsequently a member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce.
Since the great fire of 1871 he has resided at Washington Heights. A Republican
politically, and an Episcopalian in religious convictions, he is a member of the
Masonic fraternity to the thirty-third degree. He was married in 1843 to Mrs. Maria
K. Beaubien (nee Boyer), who came with her parents to Chicago in 1833, and who died
July 19, 1894. Two sons, Edward P. and William P., are in business in this city.
Benjamin W. Thomas. The subject of this sketch is one of the surviving
veterans of the early Chicago lumber trade. He was born in Genesee County, N. Y.,
August 13, 1822, and came West in August, 1841, settling at Chicago. For a year
after his arrival he was a partner of the late Ex- Mayor Alexander Loyd, at 101 Lake
Street, in general merchandise. In 1843 ' le took a clerkship with Sylvester Lind,
whose yard was located on what is now Market Square, between Lake and Washington
Streets. The yard was on a flat-iron piece, which the city subsequently acquired by
vacating the street which ran on the river bank, and giving the owners of the flat-iron
piece, river frontage, in place of the land required for a market place. About 1843
Mr. Lind removed to the south half of Block 43, between Randolph and Washington
Streets, on the river front, where, in the spring of 1844, Mr. Thomas bought him out,
Mr. Lind purchasing the Underwood yard, which was located on the west side of the
river between Lake and Randolph Streets. Before the opening of the canal, in 1848, Mr.
Thomas sold a bill of lumber for the " Hardy House" at La Salle, then being erected
by Isaac Hardy, Esq., of that place, which he rafted from his yard to the uncompleted
locks at Bridgeport, carted it around the locks, and loaded it on flatboats for La Salle.
Probably this was the first shipment of lumber on the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The
receipts at Chicago had at this time reached 60,000,000 feet, and the lumbermen were
quite inclined to boast of its extent. Mr. Thomas was, in common with nearly all the
lumbermen of that day, a member of the Board of Trade, which had its headquarters
in Steele's block, northeast corner of South Water and Wells Streets, upon the site now-
occupied by George B. Carpenter & Co., being afterward removed to the opposite or
southeast corner, where it remained for some years, before the advance of business
demanded its removal to the corner of Washington and La Salle Streets. At this
time the preponderance of membership was with the lumbermen, they outnumbering
the other trades and professions, and being given a special committee to control all
matters connected with their line of business. It is related, that it was no uncommon
thing, when an important meeting was to be held, to hold out the inducement
of " crackers and cheese, with beer," to secure attendance. Mr. Thomas continued
in the lumber business of the city until 1871, with the exception of a few years in the
army, and in that year sold his lumber interests in Chicago and at Muskegon, Mich.,
to A. B. and T. B. Wilcox. During 1845, while the firm of B. W. Thomas & Co.
218 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
(Theodore Newell being the company) was located on the corner of Washington
and Market Streets, Sextus N. Wilcox (who in 1882 was drowned at Lake Superior,
leaving a large estate), in addition to representing the interests of his uncle Newell
(of Kenosha) in the firm, made shaved shingles in a shanty connected with the
yard, from rough bolts, which were then to quite an extent brought from Michigan
and Wisconsin. About 1846 Thomas & Newell separated, Mr. Newell forming a part-
nership with a man named Loomis, of Kenosha, Wis., and Sextus N. Wilcox, opening
a yard on the southwest corner of Monroe and Market Streets, where Barber & Mason
had previously been located, and Mr. Thomas formed a copartnership with Selah
Reeves, with a yard on the block south of Polk Street, where the firm did a large
business for several years. In 1866 the firm of Thomas & Reeves was dissolved,
and Mr. Thomas formed a copartnership with Edward P. and Albert B. Wilcox, and
located on Twelfth Street, west of the bridge, on what is known as the Empire slip
(the old location of Holt & Calkins), and for many years carried on a large business.
Mr. Thomas went out of the business in 1871, and has since devoted his time to the
care and management of real estate and the care of public buildings, and is at this
time to be numbered among the young men of the community for activity, enterprise,
and energy. He was married October 6, 1848, to Augusta A. Wilcox, of Chicago
(daughter of the late Rev. Jirus Wilcox), who still survives.
Mr. Thomas has always been of a scientific turn of mind and holds an enviable
position among leading microscopists, having called the attention of scientists to
important facts which had not previously been discovered, but which are now accepted
as adding much to the sum of the world's knowledge, ranking him among those to
whom honor is due, an honor which has been manifested by the concurrent opin-
ion of scientists, not only in the United States, but in Great Britain and Germany.
Mr. Thomas, early in the history of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Illinois
State Microscopical Society and the American Society of Microscopists, became iden-
tified with those societies, and has been among the most active members of each, serv-
ing several years as vice-president of the Academy of Sciences and for one or more
terms as president of the State Microscopical Society. He is also a member of the
Royal Microscopical Society of England, and is widely recognized in American micro-
scopical circles as an expert in that branch of science.
Mr. Thomas was one of the founders of the first Odd Fellows lodge in Chicago,
having become a member of the order at Buffalo in 1841, and on deciding to make
Chicago his home, taking active steps to gather together the few Odd Fellows whom
he found here, and applying to the Grand Lodge for a dispensation, Union Lodge
No. 9 was instituted in 1844. Mr. Thomas is the only surviving member of this lodge.
Mr. Thomas became also one of the organizers of the I. O. O. F. encampment in this
city, and of the Sons of Temperance, of which he was the first and for man)' years
the only Deputy Most Worthy Patriarch of the Northwest.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 219
Mr. Thomas was one of the organizers of the First Westminster Presbyterian
Church in 1855, and of Christ Chapel Sunday-school the first Union Sunday-school
in Chicago or the Northwest in 1843. I" l8 54 Mr. Thomas represented the (old)
Eighth Ward as its alderman in the Common Council. On the breaking out of
the war in 1861 he was among the most active in arming, equipping and forwarding
troops from Chicago, and was designated by the Union Defense Committee to give
special attention to the equipment of recruits, gathering of munitions of war,
and in every way facilitating prompt movements of regiments organized in north-
ern Illinois. When the Seventy-second or " First Board of Trade" regiment of Illi-
nois Volunteer Infantry was organized he was commissioned as quartermaster of
the regiment, and went into the field with it in July, 1862, remaining until compelled
by sickness to resign in 1863. Thus it will be seen that Mr. Thomas has been in no
slight degree associated with the growth, development and prosperity of the city of
Chicago, and is one of the few remaining pioneers of its early days, of few of whom
can it be said that the city owes a greater debt of gratitude than is due to Benjamin
W. Thomas.
Foss Brothers. The first record of planing mills in Chicago of which we have
knowledge is found in Fergus reprint of Norris Directory of Chicago for 1846, in
the entry under the head of planing mills, "Foss & Brothers." True, that in Rudd's
Directory of 1839 we find under the head of lumbermen "Miltimore, Ira, steam
sash and door factory, South Branch," but we cannot learn that there was a planing
mill for dressing lumber until the advent of Foss Brothers in 1843. The Foss Brothers
were members of a family of four sons and four daughters, from the town of Strafford,
in Strafford County, N. H. The sons were: William, born 1808; Samuel, born 1812;
Robert H., born May 7, 1814; and John P., born July 28, 1816. The boys were brought
up to work in a cotton factory, but having much native ability and ready perceptions
in the line of mechanics, all became more or less proficient in mechanical arts, and
from 1837 to 1840 spent three years in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in a locomotive shop.
In the spring of 1840, Samuel, Robert and John came to Chicago for a season, John
remaining to set up an engine for the old hydraulic works, the first waterworks of the
city (in which wooden logs bored by hand were used for mains, and lead pipe for
laterals), located at the foot of Lake Street, on the site of the later depot of the Illinois
Central Railroad. Samuel and Robert returned East to Poughkeepsie and hired a
small machine shop, in which, being ingenious, they made the patterns and constructed
a planing machine, which in 1843 they brought to Chicago; and erecting a two-story
building of about 30x30 feet on Market Street, between Washington and Madison, they
put in a Woodworth planer and the machine of their own manufacture, and began the
business of surfacing, dressing, matching and planing lumber. They had rip saws and
a lathe for repair work, and did a prosperous business, until in 1847 they had the mis-
fortune to be burned out, when they rebuilt on a larger scale, erecting a two-story
220 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
brick building of 30x50 feet, containing four planing machines and a complement of
rip saws, etc., located on the corner of Canal and Monroe Streets. Here they con-
tinued to do business until 1858, when the property being wanted by the Pittsburg &
Fort Wayne Railroad, they were forced to part with it. At this time it was decided
to go into the lumber business at the corner of Canal and Van Buren Streets, and the
firm of Chapin, Marsh & Foss was organized, which continued in business until 1874,
being heavy losers in the big fire of 1871, but soon recouped in the abnormal prosperity
following that historic event. This firm was for many years extensively known as
one of the largest in the lumber trade of the city. In 1874-75 the firm closed up its
affairs and the brothers at that time practically retired from business, possessed of a
comfortable competency, enabling them to take life easy. William died in 1858, and
Samuel at Chicago in 1870. Robert removed East, settling at Dover, N. H., John P.
remaining in this city and now residing at 447 West Monroe Street. All the brothers
were married. William's widow resides in New Hampshire; Samuel T. was married
in 1849 to Miss Eliza Haywood, of Chicago, who bore to him one daughter, who died,
and two sons, who survive. Robert H. married Harriet Speers in 1846; she died in the
spring of 1871. John P., who married Hannah L. Frary in 1851, has one son, residing
with his parents in Chicago.
Amos Gager Throop. Among the earlier and more noted of the lumbermen of
Chicago was Amos G. Throop, who left his impress upon the city as an enterprising
and public-spirited man to such extent as to lead his fellow-citizens to perpetuate his
name in the Throop School, located on Throop Street. Mr. Throop was born in
Madison County, N. Y., in 1811; his educational advantages were very limited,
work upon the farm absorbing most of his time until of age. In 1832 the spirit of
enterprise led him to Michigan, where he found employment, in the woods of what
was then the prominent lumber-producing section of the West, Black River, which
empties into the St. Clair at Port Huron. Here in log cutting and hauling, and in the
saw mill, the young man practiced economy, and wisely invested his savings in the
pine lands of Black River, the quality of timber on which, was equaled only by the
far-famed " cork " pine, for which in later years the Cass River became so famous. In
1845 he made preparations to market the lumber from his lands, and about this time
was joined by his brother John Eaton Throop, whom he inducted into the mysteries of
a lumberman's life on the, even then, " frontier," and to whom he gave 120 acres of the
lands which he had acquired, which being lumbered and sawed, was loaded upon pass-
ing vessels bound for Chicago, the brothers expecting to sell the cargoes and invest
the proceeds in prairie land, settling down as farmers. A. G. took a passing steamer
to Chicago, and soon decided that there was a good prospect for success in a retail
lumber yard. Leasing a little yard on Wells Street, corner of South Water, he con-
structed a temporary dock of plank running from the vessel to the bank of the river,
thus discharging cargo, and here was where the Throop brothers began their career as
(S
xo
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 223
merchants. The small (as compared with the size in later years) vessels were warped
up the crooked channel of the river by the sailors, and lay alongside the bank, the
runways being the only way of discharging. For one year the yard occupied the
street as well as the lots on the side of it, as no bridge attracted travel, and no one
thought of charging any rent for city property not needed for public purposes. Here
the Throop brothers began business and soon became the leading lumber merchants
of the young city. John remained at Port Huron to manufacture and ship, and it was no
uncommon thing to obtain a passing vessel desiring ballast and willing to carry lum-
ber to Chicago at from 50 to 75 cents per thousand feet. In 1846 the yard was moved
to the corner of Washington and Market Streets; and a brother-in-law, Solomon Wait,
becoming a member of the firm, Throop & Bro. became Throop, Wait & Co., continu-
ing until 1849, when A. G. Throop purchased Wait's interest, paying $14,000 for
it, the entire amount being practically the accrued profits of Wait for the three
years. Then the firm became Throop Bros, again, A. G. Throop holding a two-thirds
interest. About this time the firm purchased from W. B. Ogden 100 feet front on Market
Street, south of Madison Street, and in 1850 moved upon it, remaining until 1854, when
Samuel J. Learned purchased A. G. Throop's interest and became associated with
John E., under the designation of Throop & Learned. Mr. Learned was a graduate of
Amherst and a ripe scholar. A. G. Throop having dropped out of lumber for a
term, now turned his attention to the city's best interests, and was for a number of
years the representative of his ward upon the aldermanic board, and for the y.ears
1860-61 was city treasurer, and in the winter of that year was elected to the
State Legislature, where he materially assisted Gov. " Fighting Dick " Yates in his
determination to prevent the southern part of the State from joining, or at least
giving aid and comfort to, the seceding States. About this time Mr. Throop pur-
chased 160 acres of land with other parties at the south end of Center Avenue and
Throop Street, and formulated plans for a system of slips for the use of lumber-
men in the rapidly increasing volume of their business. Purchasing a dredge,
he dug the slips, using the excavated clay to make brick, which were burned on
the spot, and docking as fast as the slip was excavated. When the slips were
finished he held 2,800 feet of dockage on the gas house slip, river frontage, and
Allan slips, of which he in 1890 sold 1,200 feet to Thomas Wilce & Co., and long
retained the balance. Mr. Throop knew how to make money and knew how to use it
to obtain the best results. Like wheat, grain, or corn, money must be planted if a
crop of wealth would be secured. Mr. Throop planted $20,000 in 1890 in the Lumbard
University at Galesburg, 111., and fully an equal amount in churches at Passadena and
other localities in California; and in addition has established the Throop University at
Passadena, Cal.. together with its extended facilities of a manual training school,
dealing with a liberal hand to insure its full and complete success in the work for which
his liberal heart has devised, his donations amounting at this time to from $250,000 to
224 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
$300,000. The University is well under way, with a full corps of teachers and pro-
fessors, while the 140 students are being added to with rapidity. Mr. Throop went to
Passadena to find a milder climate in which to spend his declining years, and at the
age of eighty-two was active and alert, giving personal attention to the concerns of his
cherished University. Mr. Throop married Miss Eliza Wait, of Chenango County, N.
Y., in 1838, and the well-mated couple having walked hand-and-hand amid life's cares
and vicissitudes for more than half a century, were long spared to the love of the sur-
viving one of the four children with which the union was blessed, and an innumerable
host of loving friends. One daughter died in early youth; another, Mrs. J.C. Vaughn
the surviving daughter, resides in Chicago; a son, George, who was first lieutenant of
the Mercantile Battery of Chicago, was killed on the Red River expedition under Gen.
Banks, after passing safely through the siege of Vicksburg and numerous other
battles with Gen. Grant, finding his grave in a trench, where Rebel and Union dead
sleep peacefully and without animosity toward each other. A younger son, after
graduating from Chicago High School, and having made preparations to enter Harvard
College, was attacked with fever, as the result of a camping expedition on the
Aux Plaines River, and died after a short illness. Mr. Throop was one of the
originators of the Chicago Board of Trade, soon after his arrival in Chicago,
and took as well an active part in the organization of the Lumberman's Board of
Trade, and afterward of the Lumberman's Exchange. He was noted as a hardwork-
ing, industrious and useful citizen, and his name is held in high honor by all his com-
patriots of the past. He died at Passadena in March, 1894.
John Eaton Throop. Among those who shared in the experiences of the early
days of the lumber trade of Chicago was John Eaton Throop, now of Los Angeles.
Cal., who was for twenty-eight years connected with the business in one department
or another. Mr. Throop was a native of Courtland County, N. Y., where he was born in
1818. His father worked in the clearing of farms, the benefits of which accrued more
fully to others than himself, and as he gradually worked his way westward, the sons'
advantages of education were quite limited. At the age of nineteen, his brother,
Amos G., who had for a few years been at Port Huron, Mich., where he had acquired
a knowledge of lumbering, and had secured a considerable tract of the excellent Cork
pine adjacent to Black River, induced him to come West, and presented him with 120
acres of the land which he had acquired from the Government, and which was well
timbered. Here John was thoroughly indoctrinated into the mysteries of log chop-
ping and hauling, river driving, and, in fact, every stage of camp life, including
experience in the saw mill and making shingles by hand, or "shingle weaving,"
"breasted" shingles being the only kind known to the trade of that day. It was easy
to graduate into the departments of shipping and dealing, after the practical depart-
ments of the camp and mill were conquered. In 1845 tne brothers shipped their lum-
ber to Chicago, with expectation of selling it by vessel load and transferring their busi-
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 225
ness from lumbering to farming, but on reaching Chicago they found prospects bright
for success in the retail lumber business and decided to open a yard. Their first
location (1845) was at Wells Street, corner of South Water, the firm being Throop &
Hro. In 1846, a brother-in-law, Solomon Wait, was admitted, and the firm became
Throop, Wait & Co. In 1849, Wait retiring, the firm was again Throop & Bio., and
the yard was in 1850 removed to a point south of Madison, on Market Street. In 1853
Samuel Julius Learned purchased the interest of A. G. Throop, and the firm became
Throop (J. E.) & Learned. In 1855 the firm formed a connection with Thomas and
S. B. Gilbert, of Grand Haven, Mich., who had saw mills and a goodly stock of logs
and lumber to be depended upon, and from whom their yard for that year was stocked.
(Mr. D. Cutler, subsequently of the firm of Cutler & Savage, of Grand Haven, was
then clerk for the Gilberts at a moderate salary.) Throop & Learned did a very suc-
cessful business during this year. Business continued to favor and fortune to smile,
and in 1858 David F. Chase, who had been a book-keeper for the firm in 1856-57, was
admitted to partnership, and the firm of Throop, Learned & Chase was organized.
The celebrated lawyer, Wirt Dexter, had built a mill at Traverse Bay, and the firm
took his entire mill product, Mr. Dexter making his headquarters at their office. The
year 1858 proved a very tough business year, and the firm dissolving, each partner
took a separate course. Mr. Throop purchased the schooner "Persia," and combined
vessel interests with outside business for a year or two, and then became agent for
Cutler & Savidge, who had just commenced saw-milling at Grand Haven, with yard
on the corner of Fifth Avenue, and Harrison Street. Not long after this A. G. Throop
and others having purchased a portion of the territory on Twenty-second Street, since
known as the " lumber district," Mr. John K. Throop leased a tract on the Gas House
slip for his principals, and established one of the most extensive yards of those days,
later in the sixties opening an office at the Exchange docks, on South Water Street
for selling by the cargo as well as at the yards, doing the entire banking business for
the Cutler & Savidge Company at Chicago, being their general manager at this point.
Mr. John A. Seymour, a son-in-law of Mr. Throop, was book-keeper for the firm, and
in 1872-73, both Mr. Throop and Mr. Seymour became members of the firm, as
the company of Cutler, Savidge & Co, and in 1875 bought the interest of Cutler &
Savidge and rented the yard, the firm now becoming Throop & Seymour, which con-
tinued for two years, when the high rents and extent of competition induced them to
sell out and seek other occupations. In 1881 Mr. Throop removed to California,
where, in the midst of his orange groves, literally under his own vine and fig tree, he
is spending the closing days of a long and useful life in the salubrious climate of Los
Angeles. That Mr. Throop did not gather an enormous fortune from his long and
arduous endeavors as a lumberman was due to no lack of energy or application on
his part, and while success in life is not to be measured by the extent of a man's
bank account, Mr. Throop, while accredited with a considerable fortune, can but
226 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
esteem himself rich in the friendships which remember him with respect and affection
as an honorable competitor in business, and an upright and useful citizen. Mr. Throop
recalls many pleasant and practical reminiscences of the early days, showing the more
arduous and exacting side of the early lumber trade. Perry Hannah, of the later firm
of Hannah, Lay & Co., was a fellow laborer with Mr. Throop in the forests of the
Black River in the early forties, and like himself had come West, and in the fall of
1847 obtained from Michigan a cargo of shingle bolts, which he had worked up for
him, "breasted" at the yard of Throop Bros., on Washington Street, he packing them
in the evening after his duty through the day as bookkeeper for Jacob Beidler and
others, was accomplished. Louis Hutt, who is now numbered among Chicago's
wealthy and influential citizens and lumber merchants, hauled lumber with a horse and
wagon for Mr. Throop at $2.00 per day, as did Mr. Brannock, who later became noted
as a wealthy packer. Those were the days when honest labor and earnest application
were looked upon as the stepping stones to wealth, and as bringing honor and increas-
ing intelligence to the man who could combine patience with devotion to the duties
and lights of the present hour.
Jacob Beidler. In the year 1842, when Jacob Beidler first left the great Keystone
State for the prairies of the West, he little dreamed that in his lifetime he was des-
tined to become closely identified in that wild region, with the growth and prosperity
of one of the largest and most wonderful cities of the world. At that time Chicago
had a few thousand of rough Western people, the wisdom of whose continued resi-
dence in the mud at the mouth of the Chicago River was a difficult problem to solve.
How home-seekers could stop here permanently, was a mystery. Out farther west,
toward the sunset, were beautiful panoramas of green grass covering a soil of unsur-
passed fertility and rising over a rolling country at once healthful and beautiful. Mr.
Beidler did not then stop here, but journeyed on to Springfield, 111., which was then
a rapidly growing and prosperous town. He was a carpenter, having learned that
trade in Pennsylvania, where, in Bucks County, he was born in December, 1815. He
had learned cabinet-making in youth, and had followed that trade wirti carpentering,
afterward as long as he lived in that State. He was a skillful and experienced work-
man, and a man of unusual foresight and probity, as will be seen hereafter.
After working in Springfield one year as a carpenter, he embarked in the grocery
business with Daniel Barnes, under the firm name of Beidler & Barnes, but a year later
Mr. Beidler sold his interest in the firm to his brother and returned to Pennsylvania.
The reason for this step was explained when in May, 1844, he returned to Springfield
with his bride, formerly Miss Mary Ann Funk. He was now prepared to make his
home permanently in the West. By this time, with his usual good judgment and
sagacity, he saw that the location alone of Chicago was destined to make it a large
distributing center. Therefore in August, 1844, he came here for permanent resi-
dence, staging across the country and arriving after a two weeks' journey, and at
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. '229
once secured a position as a carpenter with Van Osdel Bros. & Thorp. A year later
he established a shop of his own in partnership with James McGee, under the firm
name of Beidler & McGee, but the following year ( 1846) bought his partner's interest
and in 1847 established a lumber yard at West Water Street, between Randolph
and Lake Streets, which was the commencement of the present firm of The Beidler
Lumber Company. At that time, though the business would not compare with that
of the present, it was nevertheless profitable, active and increasing, and it was during
the early history of the company that Mr. Beidler established his reputation as an
able and honorable business man. All his enterprises were conducted with the strict-
est integrity, which fact increased his trade. He retained the carpenter shop until
1850, when he sold it to James Lyon.
In 1854 A. F. Hathaway was admitted as a partner, whereupon the firm became
J. Beidler, Bro. & Co., and a little later Aaron and Henry Beidler, brothers of Jacob,
were admitted, and so the company remained until 1856, when Aaron Beidler and Mr.
Hathaway retired and M. J. Brown and R. P. Easton were admitted. The latter two
retired in 1860, whereupon the firm became J. Beidler & Bro., and thus continued to
do business until 1871, when articles of incorporation were filed and the following
officers elected: Jacob Beidler, president; A. F. Beidler, secretary, and M. F. Ritten-
house, treasurer. From this time forward they did a large business until 1882, when
Henry Beidler retired, and the following year Mr. Rittenhouse also retired, W. H.
Beidler assuming their duties of secretary and treasurer. In 1870 they handled
18,000,000 feet of lumber and twelve years later 30,000,000 feet, besides 15,000,000
shingles and 10,000,000 lath. But Mr. Beidler was not contented unless he was doing
his best, and although the principal member of this company and its general manager
and president, he nevertheless, in 1873, organized the South Branch Lumber Com-
pany, with himself as president, B. F. Ferguson treasurer, and Francis Beidler
secretary. Ten years later this firm handled 50,000,000 feet of lumber and 25,000,000
shingles per annum.
During all this time it was the push, pluck, intelligence and capital of Jacob
Beidler which made the two companies among the most successful in the city. Mr.
Beidler himself had active charge of all these complicated interests, which were con-
ducted with rare skill and judgment and have given him a comfortable fortune. It
was no easy matter in this active city, where competition often reduced the profits to
a minimum, to carry on so large and successful a business. Many of the mills in
Michigan and Wisconsin undertook to do a wholesale business, which resulted in a
keen cut in prices and in the retirement from the business of many of the smaller and
weaker dealers. But Mr. Beidler seems to have been equal to any and every emergency,
and not only kept his companies from sinking, but made money rapidly and extended
their trade over all the West and Northwest. Unquestionably, Mr. Beidler has been
one of the most able, upright and successful business men of Chicago, and now, at a
11
230 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
ripe age, but with many years yet before him, he can take a genuine and pardonable
pride in his honorable business career.
His private life has been as pure and free from stain as his public life. All who
have the honor of his acquaintance and friendship have the most implicit faith in his
manhood and high character. He has a family of six living children, one having
died: Augustus F., William H., Francis, Emma, David, George, and John (deceased).
He is a stanch Republican, as are his sons, and is now a member of the Jefferson Park
Presbyterian Church. He has been an earnest and consistent member of the Presbyterian
Church since a child. Formerly he was a prominent member of the Third Presbyterian
Church, to which he made liberal contributions in its hours of depression, and served for
a number of years as its treasurer. He has resided on the South and North sides,
and is now a resident of the West Side, and since 1873 has lived on Jackson Boulevard,
between Sangamon and Morgan Streets. His well-known integrity and public-spirit
led to his election in 1876 to the City Council from the Ninth Ward, and to his reelec-
tion two years later. His career as an alderman, like that of his business life, was
characterized by unswerving honor and devotion to the city's interests. The city has
no more substantial, honorable, or worthy citizen than Jacob Beidler.
Sextus Newell Wilcox. Among the men who were fortunate enough to come to
Chicago at an early period of its history, and wise enough to remain here after having
come, was Sextus Newell Wilcox, now deceased. He was born at Enfield, N. Y.,
February 11, 1826, the son of Erastus and Jane (Newell) Wilcox, who came West in
1837, and located permanently in Chicago in 1839. His early life in New York was
passed without noteworthy event, and after coming to Chicago he went out and for a
short time worked upon a farm. Not suited with that occupation he returned to Chi-
cago and under Botsford & Beers learned the tinner's trade, and was later employed
by William Blair, under whom he became a journeyman tinner. He was industrious
and earnest and soon began to accumulate property, and by the time he had followed
this occupation eight years he had saved enough to warrant going into business on
his own responsibility. The growing importance of Chicago as a lumber center and
the rapidly increasing demand from the western prairies for lumber to be used in
fences, barns and dwellings, convinced him that much money could be made in hand-
ling lumber, and accordingly he embarked in the shingle business, at first in a small
way, but as his profits grew and his trade increased, he began in 1850 a general lumber
business with Judge Newell as a partner, and was thus associated until 1854, when he
withdrew and organized the firm of Wilcox & Lyon. At this time the possibilities of
the lumber trade here were practically unlimited. It was during the decade of the
fifties that the first really important " boom " to Chicago occurred, notwithstanding
the fact that in 1857 a severe financial panic resulted, owing mainly to the uncertain
value of an almost unlimited issue of private bank bills, which had so depreciated, that
not even the regular and frequent issues of the " detector " could accurately gauge their
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 231
decline. But notwithstanding the instability of paper money as early as the decade
of the forties, the industrial possibilities so widened and improved that Mr. Wilcox
realized as early as 1850 that a fortune could be made here in the lumber business by
the exercise of care, energy and study, and accordingly he redoubled his efforts and
enterprises. A good business was done from 1850 to 1854 and was vastly increased
after the latter date, so much so in fact that in 1857 the company was, like thousands
of others, swept into the pool of disaster and forced to make an assignment. The
firm at this time was known as Wilcox, Lyon & Co. Without losing heart or
head, Mr. Wilcox promptly took up the broken affairs of the firm and resumed busi-
ness. He was firmly convinced of the future growth of Chicago and of the money
to be made here in the lumber business, and time soon proved the wisdom of his judg-
ment. His business expanded wonderfully under his thoughtful observation and
upright business methods. He became the owner of vast tracts of timber land in
Michigan, and at Muskegon erected large saw mills, which manufactured immense
quantities of lumber for that day. From 1864 to 1867 he owned one of the largest
saw mills on Muskegon Lake. In 1873 he founded the town of White Cloud, Mich.,
in Newaygo County, and built there a large saw and planing mill, and at this time
organized the S. N. Wilcox Lumber Company, which was duly incorporated and
entered upon an extremely prosperous business under his able and experienced man-
agement. Other valuable tracts of land were purchased and extensive mills were
secured and operated at Whitehall, Mich., on White Lake. Wealth and property
rapidly accumulated. The long experience and thoughtful study of Mr. Wilcox made
him an oracle on matters relating to the lumber trade. He had passed through the
trying era of 1857 and of the war, when a knowledge, or even a correct estimate of
values, was doubtful. These perilous times had made him a successful business man
even under an unstable currency and the fever of a gigantic war. He could think and
plan successfully amid great political excitements and financial panics. He was thus
trained by the experience of his surroundings to a course of prosperity in spite of
unusual and unseasonable obstacles. The result was to make him a thorough student
of his trade. He examined and anticipated supply and demand, and thereby was
enabled to purchase immense tracts of the best pine land for a song. If such a man
could be successful when the value of money was uncertain, and the maintenance of
the union of the States doubtful, how much easier it must have been for him to pros-
per and expand when the value of money was backed by a redeemed Government and
peace had spread her wings over a smiling land. His fortune was rapidly made in
spite of a depreciated currency, the great fire of 1871 and the financial panic of 1873.
This fact alone proves the powerful impression made upon him by his varied experi-
ences and is the key to an explanation of his success. His excellent judgment was
shown in the early purchase of extensive areas of the richest pine lands of the Michi-
gan peninsula. He died in 1881 at the age of fifty-five years, leaving a fortune of
232 INDUSTRTAL CHICAGO:
about $1,000,000, consisting of pine lands in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota with
real estate in Chicago. He had started at the lowest stage of business life and owed
his success to his pluck, enterprise, study, intelligence and honesty. During his life
here he was recognized as one of the most substantial citizens of the city. He served
as Commissioner of the West Park Board in 1879-81, of which body he was president
during 1880-81, when Washington Street was turned over to the board as a boulevard.
He was a prominent and influential member of the Union League and the Illinois
Clubs, and in 1881 was president of the last-named organization. He was not so nar-
row as to become wholly engrossed by his business, but was a close observer and
critical student of political and social ethics, and was strong and brave enough to
become one of the most active in organizing and incorporating the Illinois Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
On June 17, 1881, he was accidentally drowned on the north shore of Lake Superior,
at the mouth of Manitou River, as is supposed, while on atrip for pleasure and recrea-
tion.
In September, 1855, at Kenosha, Wis., he was united in marriage to Miss Arabella
G. Ewer, to which union three children were born, only one now living Charles S.
Wilcox, of this city. After her death he chose for his second wife Miss Sarah A.
Adams, to whom he was married in 1862, and by her has two children living: Walter D.
and Anna A.
Ephraim C. Stowell was one of the few men who sawed lumber in Chicago, errone-
ously claimed by some to have been the first to erect a mill in this city, but reference
to the general history of the lumber trade of the city, discloses at least two mills at
dates prior to that erected and operated by Mr. Stowell. Mr. Stowell was born at
Stirbridge, Mass., in 1792, and died in 1855 at the age of sixty-three years. Of his
early history we are unable to learn, further than that he came to Chicago in 1837 anc >
for several years acted as agent for Frink & Walker's well-known line of stages, running
to various points in the Northwest. In or about 1840 he sold his home on the corner
of Washington Street and Wabash Avenue, then the principal residence district of
the city, and purchased a plat of ground on the river at what is now Twelfth Street.
This he leased for several years to Frank Sherman (who afterward built the famous
Sherman House) for a brick yard, and at this spot were manufactured a large pro-
portion of the brick which were for some years used in the building of Chicago.
About 1846 Mr. Stowell extended the excavation which Mr. Sherman had made and
dug a slip which existed until a comparatively late date and was always known as
Stowell's slip. Upon this slip he erected a saw mill, which he operated until about
1854, obtaining his supply of logs from the cottonwood and oak which were found
along the shores of the lake north and from the "Sag" by canal, extending his oper-
ations to the oak forests as far north as what is now Lake Forest, towing the logs along
the shore of the lake, often a dangerous operation and one which in the loss of his
-*
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS 235
logs more than once threatened him with serious embarrassment. We can learn but
vaguely of any pine timber brought across the lake, and incline to the belief that
except for the native timber his operations were confined to the resawing of square
timber, brought by vessel. His day-book, which by accident comes into the posses-
sion of the historian, does not reveal any different conditions. Mr. Stowell seems to
have accumulated a considerable amount of real estate, which has remained in his
family until a recent date. Mr. Stowell was married in 1827 to Miss Mary Abbott, of
Brookfield, Mass., a daughter of Capt. Lewis Abbott of the War of 1812, who was a
son of Jesse Abbott, a lieutenant in the Revolutionary Army. Mr. Stowell went East
in 1854 and was taken sick, dying in 1855 in the same room in which his marriage was
celebrated twenty-eight years previously.
John Sheriffs. Foreign countries have contributed to Chicago many of its most
intelligent, successful and enterprising business men. It is an important item of his-
tory that Scotland and England have furnished many of the largest property holders
connected with the lumber and building contracting interests of the city. The Scotch
seem to possess the qualities which in this country insure success perseverance,
industry, economy and methodical business habits. Perhaps no better example of
the purely Scotch qualities can be found than in the life of John Sheriffs. He was
born at Banff, Scotland, April 21, 1820, and was a son of William and Elizabeth ( Henry)
Sheriffs, both of whom were also natives of the " land o' cakes," where they lived
lives of honor and usefulness and passed away well advanced in years. John grew to
manhood at Banff, but after the age of fourteen years was unable to attend school,
though his time previous to that had been well improved. When fourteen years old he
became a clerk in the law office of Young & Rose. He did not expect to follow the
profession of law, so after having served the law firm for one year, he accepted a posi-
tion as clerk and assistant book-keeper in the Commercial Bank at Banff, where he
remained for three years. Succeeding this he secured the position of general book-
keeper for the Commercial Bank at Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland, where he remained
until 1841, at which time he became twenty-one years of age.
In June, 1841, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Carmichael, and on the
2Oth of July following they boarded the sailing vessel "Genessee " and after a voyage of
seven weeks landed at New York, where they remained until late in October. Then
they, in company with William Leighton, a Scotchman, came West to Chicago with
the expectation of continuing on to Galesburg, 111., but were persuaded to remain in
Chicago by George Mess, a fellow countryman of theirs, who had great faith in the
future of this city. Mr. Sheriffs secured a position as book-keeper for James P. Allen,
who then had a large lumber yard at Fulton and Canal Streets and was paid at the
rate of $30 per month for his services, out of which he had to support himself and
wife. But this did not dash the spirits of these sturdy Scotch people, who were
determined to push to the front. During the two years he was thus engaged for Mr.
236 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
Allen he also (1844) kept books at night for Lind & Dunlap, lumber dealers, and thus
managed to increase his revenue. Chicago was a small place then, standing in the
swamps of the Chicago River, while the lumber interest was in its infancy and gave
no indications of its future marvelous development.
Mr. Allen went out of business and Lind & Dunlap dissolved. Mr. Sheriffs
became paying teller in the bank of George Smith & Co., C. B. Farwell being the
receiving teller, in which position he continued for two years, after which he was
joined by Robert Sheppard in the lumber business as Sheppard & Sheriff, James
Smith subsequently joining them, when Mr. Sheriffs took the important position of
general manager for the lumber firm of Sheppard, Sheriffs & Smith, which was then
organized. Mr. Sheppard soon after retired ( 1859), whereupon the firm became Sheriffs
& Smith, and so continued until 1866 (notwithstanding the absence of Mr. Smith, who
was in the army for three years) when it became John Sheriffs & Son, John Sheriffs, Jr.,
having meantime acquired an interest, and so remained until his death, (18/8) being
succeeded by his brother Walter.
It was in 1853 that Mr. Sheriffs first entered the lumber business on his own
account, but his knowledge of the industry here extends back to 1841, and is not
antedated by that of any other citizen now living in the city. The wonderful growth
of the city in all commercial and industrial branches has taken place under his eye,
and he has been deeply interested in the material welfare of the people and the expan-
sion of the city's trade. At first the business of the firm was comparatively small and
was almost wholly retail, the lumber going out on farmers' wagons too miles westward,
but when the canal and railways were built, wholesaling began. The growth of the
business of the firm kept pace with the deveJopment of the city. Their first yard was
located on West Market Street, south of Randolph, but was subsequently removed to
Canal Street, north of Van Buren. Here it was that their yards were destroyed by fire
on the Saturday night before the great fire of October 9, 1871. About 5,000,000 feet
of lumber belonging to the firm went up in smoke, on which they received 825,000
insurance. After the great fire this insurance money put them on their feet again, for
they promptly renewed business on the same ground. A year later they removed to
Beach and Taylor Streets, and later to Lumber and Twenty-second Streets, where they
continued until 1886 doing a very large and lucrative business. At the latter date Mr.
Sheriffs retired practically from the business, but he still has an office at the old stand
on Lumber and Twenty-second Streets, where his son Walter conducts the affairs of
the firm.
Mr. Sheriffs is now enjoying the fruits of his labor. He goes to the office every
day, for the force of habit in a business man can not be resisted, and is still exacting
in its requirements. He belongs to no secret orders or social clubs, but is a man of
genial, kindly nature, full of good impulses and charitable deeds. He served as
alderman in 1847, during the mayoralty of James Curtiss, representing the old
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 237
Fifth Ward when it embraced all the city west of the river and south of Randolph
Street. At that time W. B. Ogden was alderman from the North Side, and Dr. L. D.
Borne from the South Side. Mr. Sheriffs is the longest continuous resident of the
West Side now living there. It has been his home since 1841. He now lives at 186
South Sangamon Street. He is a Republican. Of the family of four sons born to
himself and wife, John, William, Andrew and Walter, only one, the last named, is now
living. He has been his father's partner since the death of his brother John, in 1878,
thus perpetuating the firm name of John Sheriffs & Son. He was born in 1863, in this
city, and was here reared and educated, finishing by graduation at Bryant & Strat-
ton's Commercial College. He is now the active manager of the firm. His mother
died in 1890. During her life she was a devoted wife and mother, an ornament
to her home and a helpful companion to her husband. Mr. Sheriffs is a member of
the St. Andrews Society, of Chicago, and was its second secretary, holding that posi-
tion for many years after its organization in 1845, anc ^ ' s st ^ interested, while leaving
its active management to younger men. He was a member of the First Presbyterian
Church, F. Bascom, pastor, then situated at the southwest corner of Washington and
Clark Streets. Later he was a member on the West Side. He was an original member
of the Third Presbyterian Church, and the first clerk upon the organization of the
First Congregational Church.
James McMullen. There is scarcely a visible evidence of Chicago's greatness
that does not, internally or externally, bear mute but eloquent witness to the" enter-
prise of her lumbermen that hardy, sturdy class of business men who, from first to
last, have brought to the gates of the city the materials of which it is constructed, and
whose numerous establishments have been so many agencies for its distribution. The
old lumbermen are always interesting. There is something in the simple story of their
homely achievements that appeals to the admiration of those to whom character is an
edifying study, and the old lumbermen were mostly men of high character and of the
most praiseworthy ambition and efforts. Certainly there is no other class of deceased
business men of Chicago, whose memory is greener than that of those pioneer lumber-
men; none other who are better remembered for having been the associates, socially
and commercially, of the founders of the World's Fair City, or whose monument is to
be found in every structure rising on every hand.
Among the many enterprising lumbermen of Chicago, the name and face of
James McMullen were for many years most conspicuous. Mr. McMullen was a native
of Ireland, where he was born in 1828. When James was but five years of age his
parents emigrated to America, settling at Halifax, Nova Scotia, but removing shortly
after to Prescott, Ontario, where they engaged in farming. In 1843 they removed to
Chicago, where the father engaged in the grocery business. The boy was now about
fifteen years of age, and after a brief time in school obtained employment in packing
shingles, the manufacture of which from blocks brought from the forests of Michigan
238 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
and Wisconsin was quite extensively carried on, not only at this time, but for several
years later, the directory of 1851 giving the names of several " Shingle Weavers."
The day of sawed shingles did not develop for a number of years subsequently, and
the business of shingle " breasting " became quite an industry in connection with the
growing trade in lumber. With the advent of Alexander Officer as a lumber dealer
in 1849, M f - McMullen secured a clerkship, and in this position we find him noted in
the records of 1855 and until 1862, when Mr. Officer sold out his business. About this
time, however, the young man became associated with John Funk and Jacob Beidler
in the lumber business, and the firm of McMullen, Funk & Co. continued until the
close of the war, when the firm was dissolved. In 1866 Mr. McMullen became asso-
ciated with his former employer, now, however, as the senior member of the firm of
McMullen & Officer, which for many years was a prominent and highly respected
member of the lumber fraternity of Chicago. In 1884 Mr. McMullen purchased the
interest of Mr. Officer, who had reached an age which warranted retirement from
active business, and until 1888 conducted the business alone. At this time he retired
from active business to enjoy the fruits of a life of industry and uprightness, through-
out which he had maintained the friendship of all who had been connected with him
from the early day of his business experience. Mr. McMullen, as a member of the
various firms with which he was connected, was a member of the Lumberman's Board
of Trade (1874), and of the Lumberman's Exchange, upon the amalgamation in 1875,
continuing the connection until his retirement from business. He was a man of liberal
instincts, and devoted to the interests of his church. He died February 21, 1893, leav-
ing a wife and six children to mourn his departure. He was twice married, first to
Margaret Curran, daughter of Phillip Curran, of Ireland. She died in 1855, leaving
one daughter, Elizabeth, who became the wife of Eugene Keogh, of Chicago. His
second marriage was to Mary A. Young, of Canada, who died in 1894, and who bore
him the following children: John H., Walter J., William T., Agnes E., Alice M. and
Mary A. Mr. McMullen, though not in the ordinary sense a politician, was during all
his active career interested in political matters, and particularly so in those pertaining
to the city of Chicago. In 1871 he was nominated for alderman from the Ninth Ward,
on the " Fire-proof" or Republican ticket.
Among the lumbermen of the city Mr. McMullen was regarded as one of the
most thoroughly posted in all branches of the lumber trade, of the many expert lum-
bermen of Chicago. His judgment was often sought upon matters of the first impor-
tance in connection with the lumber trade, and when his opinion was obtained, it inva-
riably formed the basis of action upon the questions under consideration.
Read Amariah Williams. A name very frequently encountered by the student
of lumber history in connection with Chicago is that of Read A. Williams, who was
identified with the business at a date early enough to admit of an entrance into the
"pioneer" class. Mr. Williams was a Yankee from the Nutmeg State, having been
Soodspeed Brothers. Wjiislttrs. Chicago.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 241
born at Mansfield, Conn., in 1808. In his early youth, however, his parents removed
to Morrisville, Madison County, N. Y., where he obtained such, education as was
afforded by the district school and local academy, combined with extensive reading,
for his disposition prompted a research into all the available literature of the day,
with a view to a truthful knowledge of men and things, and their proper relations to
society and the world in general. His first business venture was in general merchan-
dise in connection with his younger brother, Dwight T. Williams, at Morrisville, N. Y.,
continuing in mercantile pursuits until 1843, when he came West and engaged in the
buying of produce and furs in the country, and finding market for them in the young
but thriving city of Chicago, until in 1846 he entered into partnership with James
Leonard, and the firm of Leonard & Williams established a lumber yard on Randolph
Street, near the corner of Clinton Street, the depot then being located on the west
side of the Kinzie Street bridge. In 1851 Mr. T. M. Avery purchased the Leonard
interest, and the firm became Williams & Avery, and so continued for about ten years,
the business proving very profitable. Upon the dissolution of this partnership in i8=;6,
he for a year or more engaged with his brother John M. in the purchase of real estate
and building. Mr. Williams was for a time associated with Mr. W. D. Houghteling
in a general grain and commission business, until about 1860, when he became con-
nected with the late Martin Ryerson as business manager of the extensive yards
of that gentleman, and so resumed his connection with the lumber business of tlris
city. Mr. Williams had the reputation of being the best salesman on the Chicago
market, and it was claimed for him that he could secure better prices for the same
grade of product than any other man. So well was his reputation established that
during his employ by Mr. Ryerson, he commanded a $6,OOO salary, which in those
days was abnormally large. His ability to present a subject with clearness, his facility
as a correspondent, and his polite address, won for him a host of friends, and his
success in building up a Western and Southwestern trade was phenomenal. His trade
with St. Louis merchants was the envy of competitors. He was an exceptionally
broad-minded, active and progressive business man of intelligent perceptions. About
this time his health failed, and in 1867 he removed to Red Wing, Minn., where he
engaged in money-loaning and real estate until his death, in 1872. Mr. Williams was
married at Morrisville, N. Y., to Miss Celista Haughton, of that place, by whom he
had four children, the only son dying at an early age. Of the three daughters the
eldest is the wife of J. Newton Ninde, editor of the Mississippi Valley Lumberman,
of Minneapolis, Minn.; the second daughter is the wife of Lyman J. Boynton, of Red
Wing, Minn., and the third daughter is the wife of Hugh M. Wilson, business manager
of the Railway Age, of Chicago. The widow of Mr. Williams is at this time residing
at Red Wing. Mr. Williams was in 1848 elected an alderman of the Fifth Ward,
an office which he held for the term of two years. He was an ardent Republican, and
an active anti-slavery advocate, and became connected with the Republican party
242 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
at its inception, having previously voted for James Birney, the abolition candidate
for the presidency.
Alexander Officer was born at the town of New Cumberland, in Cumberland
County, Penn.,on the I5th of September, 1817, his parents being Alexander and Sarah
(Shoch) Officer, worthy and respected people, who followed the tanning business
for a livelihood. They had seven children.
Alexander, the subject of this sketch, was the third of their family, and is at
present one of only three now living. He received in youth a limited education,
and early learned the trade of a tanner in his father's shop, in which he continued
to work without notable change until he was twenty-one years old. After that date,
and until he was twenty-eight years old, his father paid him $10 per month for his
services and permitted him to invest his surplus earnings in hides, which were to
be tanned at the shop, and were then his own property. In this manner, by the
time he was twenty-eight years old, he was the owner of about 450 worth of hides
the total savings of about seven years of hard work during the most active period
of his life. When it is reflected that his savings represented only about $5.35 per
month, the extraordinary disparity between the wages of a man then, and now, cannot
fail to strike the thoughtful person with astonishment; but there are many old men
now living who passed through the same experiences, who now, like Mr. Officer,
give away in charity more at one offering than they formerly saved in a year's time.
And it shows the broad, noble character of the man who can thus rise above circum-
stances and live honorably and successfully, first where he could command but $5.35
per month, and, second, where now he can command many thousands of dollars.
Such men are broad-gauged and are capable of any great achievement where honest
effort and expanding intelligence are required.
At the age of twenty-eight years, with his little stock of leather valued at about
5450, he came out west and settled at Mount Carroll, Carroll County, 111. His inten-
tion was to buy in St. Louis the material necessary to finish his stock of leather; but,
finding that the demand for leather was weak and uninviting, he gave up the plan and
engaged to teach a nine-months school in Mt. Carroll, at the conclusion of which he
secured employment as clerk in the general store of Haldeman & Co. They operated
in connection with their store a large flouring mill and did an extensive business. He
was fortunate in obtaining from this company the privilege of placing his stock of
leather in their store and retailing it out to meet the local demand. After two years
spent with this firm he came, in 1847, to Chicago to attend the common-school con-
vention which was held here that year, and while thus engaged was fortunate enough
to meet and become acquainted with John Young Scammon, who seemed to take
quite an interest in him and expressed a wish that he would come to Chicago to live
permanently. Upon reflection Mr. Officer determined to do so, and accordingly in
April, 1848, he returned and secured employment as book-keeper for Sylvester Lind,
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 243
then in the lumber business at the corner of Water and Lake Streets. Six months
kter Mr. Lind sold his lumber yard, whereupon Mr. Officer went to his friend Mr.
Scammon to describe his situation and ask his advice. Mr. Scammon at once placed
him in charge of a hardware store which had fallen into his hands by reason of the
failure of Vandercook & Co., but a few months later, when the firm found a purchaser
for the stock, Mr. Officer was again thrown out of employment. He went to Mt. Car-
roll, where he passed the winter, and in the spring of 1849 returned to Chicago, and on
May 12 started a lumber yard at the corner of Randolph and Market Streets, leasing
the yard from his staunch friend Mr. Scammon. He continued successfully in this
business until 1862, moving his yard in 1850 to Market and Monroe Streets and in
1856 to Canal and Monroe Streets, but in 1862 sold out and quit the lumber business.
Then, in company with his brother, Robert W., now deceased, he engaged in the hide
and wool business on Kinzie Street near Clark, the war making these articles very
valuable and their handling very profitable, if ably done. In the spring of 1866 his
old clerk, James McMullen, who had been with him from 1849 until he sold out in
1862, came to him and wanted to form a partnership with him in the lumber business,
which he agreed to, and the firm of McMullen & Officer opened their yard at Canal
and Randolph Streets. In 1869 they removed to Throop and Lumber Streets, in 1876
to Main and Cologne Streets, and in 1884 Mr. Officer sold his interest in the firm to
Mr. McMullen, since which time he has lived retired from active business pursuits.
By honorable conduct, strict and industrious business methods and by a constant
study of the laws regulating and governing the trade and market he had amassed a
competent fortune and at the age of sixty-seven years was entitled to rest from his
labors. Old age had come swiftly upon him, his hair and beard had become snowy,
but he had gained with his fortune a name against which no word of reproach was
ever uttered.
On the i6th of October, 1850, he was united in marriage to Miss Fannie M. Dick-
inson, an adopted daughter of Dr. Dickinson, of Peoria, 111., and by her four children
were born to him, only one of whom is now living: Kate, wife of Rollin A. Keyes, a
member of the firm of Franklin McVeagh & Co., and one of the leading business men
of this great city. Mr. Officer's wife died in 1860, having lived a consistent Christian
life as a devoted member of the Swedenborgian Church. Four years later, or in
October, 1864, he took for his second wife Miss Emma M. Hemple, daughter of Sam-
uel Hemple, of Philadelphia. Himself and present wife are members of the Sweden-
borgian Church, located since the fire of 1871 at 17 Van Buren Street, in which he has
long been chairman of the executive committee and has taken a deep and active inter-
est. He is also a member of the Union League Club and resides at Kenilworth, three
miles north of Kvanston, on the Northwestern Railway, where he has a beautiful and
happy home. He is one of Chicago's most respected, purely self-made' men, and has
the high respect of all who are honored by his acquaintance and friendship.
244 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
George Randall Roberts. From the year 1848 until his death in 1875 George R.
Roberts was a prominent member of the lumber fraternity of Chicago. Mr. Roberts
was born at Mohawk, Herkimer County, N. Y., Marc4i 27, 1818. His father, Col.
Amos Roberts, was born at Litchfield, Conn., in 1786, and served with distinction in
the War of 1812, where he won a colonelcy. He was a merchant by occupation and
came west to Grand Rapids, Mich, in 1837, where he for many years kept a general
store, combining with it the manufacture of lumber on the Rogue River, a branch of
Grand River, and these occupations were continued until his death in 1873, aged
eighty years. He was married in 1809 to Sally, daughter of Jacob Hurd, of Middle
Haddam, Conn., who survived him and lived to the ripe old age of one hundred years
and seven months, passing away February 7, 1891.
George R. received his education in the common schools of the day, and in 1838,
with his brother Amos, began farming near Ionia, Mich., but his inclinations tending
more to merchandise, he abandoned the farm in 1847 an d settled at Chicago, in a lum-
ber business, at Harrison Street and the river, his father and younger brother William
supplying stock from their mill on Rogue River, and being the silent partners of the
firm of George R. Roberts & Co. During the same season the business was sold to
D. R. Holt, who from that time has figured in the trade of this city. Losing trace of
his record fora period subsequent to the panic times of 1847 we ^ n ^ h' 111 recorded in
the directory of 1851 as located at a yard on West Water Street, and in 1853-54 he is
described as being on the river between Madison and Monroe Streets, and about this
time we find his name in connection with that of T. Sylvester Parker. The family still
continued to operate a mill on the Rogue River, upon which Mr. Roberts mainly
depended for supplies, which during the earlier years, from 1838 reached Grand Haven
by raft, and were there loaded upon vessels for Chicago. The partnership with T.
Sylvester Parker terminated in 1861, and during 1862 Mr. Roberts operated his yards
alone, but in 1863 took as a silent partner William H. Waite, then cashier of the West-
ern Marine and Fire Insurance Bank, Morton B. Hull representing the Waite interest
and acting as book-keeper for the firm until the spring of 1866, when Mr. Hull and
James B. Calkins purchasing the Waite interest, the firm became Roberts, Calkins &
Hull, and continued in business until late in 1868, when Mr. Hull, purchasing the Cal-
kins interest, the firm on January I, 1869, became Roberts & Hull, and so continued
for three years after the death of Mr. Roberts in 1875, according to a request in his
will, in which Mr. Hull was named as executor.
Mr. Roberts was married in 1852 to Miss Ann Augusta Buckley, of Hartford,
Conn., three children resulting from the union, of whom one son and one daughter,
together with the widow, are living.
James Leonard. The lumber trade of Chicago has from its inception attracted
to it men of great ability and the highest integrity, who have stamped it with the
impress of their own sterling worth, and made it in many respects the most important
Goodspeed Brothers. Publishers. Chicago.
VS-.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 247
of its kind anywhere in the country. The pioneers in this trade were men of brains and
of brawn. Many of them had had long experience in all the branches of lumbering.
Some of them had manufactured in a small way and had gained a knowledge of the
Chicago trade through selling their products in its markets. They were not only
merchants but workers, superintending every detail of their business and putting
forth every effort to build up their patronage and extend it. Some were recruited
from the ranks of other trades than that of the lumberman. Most of them did their
part in developing Chicago and making it the great center of commercial operations
it has become. Such men did honor to Chicago and Chicago has delighted in doing
honor to them. They have been the friends and associates of the best men that Chi-
cago has developed and their Lumberman's Exchange has made them known in the
commercial circles of the world. Among the earliest, and long one of the most promi-
nent, always one of the most worthy of these merchants in lumber, was the late James
Leonard, who was in the trade continuously from 1846 to 1870, almost a qnarter of a
century.
Mr. Leonard's name first appears among those of Chicago lumbermen as a mem-
ber of the firm of Williams & Leonard in 1846. His partner was Read A. Williams.
In 1851 Mr. Leonard sold his interest to T. M. Avery and the firm became Avery
& Williams. In 1854 he formed a partnership with Claude J. Adams, which, under
the style of Leonard & Co., was doing business at the corner of Madison and Canal
Streets as late as 1857. The firm of James Leonard & Co. succeeded this one, and
the directory for 1858 locates their enterprise at "South Market and Jackson Streets
and Madison Street bridge." Mr. Leonard's subsequent operations are too well
remembered to require detailed treatment in this connection.
When Mr. Leonard retired from the lumber trade in 1870 it was to give his atten-
tion more particularly to real estate, in which he had already made some profitable
investments and to care for his own acquisitions. His principal operations were on
the West Side, where, in his various transactions he added materially to his worldly
store. His ability to care for large interests was often called into requisition in the
settlement of estates.
Mr. Leonard was born at Cazenovia, N. Y., in 1809, and in early life was a sad-
dler, following his trade at Cazenovia, Eaton, Syracuse and other points in New York
State, before coming West. He was married October 6, 1850, to Miss Helen Amelia
Adams, of Syracuse, N. Y. His death occurred at his residence 3668 Michigan
Avenue, January 29, 1893. His widow survives him. A warm friend and admirer of
Prof. Swing, Mr. Leonard was a member of the Independent Church established by
him, from its organization. He was singularly free from ostentation. His manner
was simple, direct and hearty, and his hand was ever open to supply the wants of the
needy, whose assistance he deemed a part of his appointed work. Though but little
known to a later generation of lumbermen, Mr. Leonard was highly esteemed by his
248 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O .
associates of former years and passed away in the fullness of a ripe age, the crowning
glory of a useful life, leaving a handsome competency.
John Marshall Williams. Among the living pioneers of the Chicago lumber trade
must be named John M. Williams, now residing at Evanston, twelve miles from the
court house, and who was a member of the firm of Lull & Williams, who in 1848
opened a lumber yard on the corner of Randolph and Jefferson Streets. The com-
pletion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in this year had given a great impetus to
all branches of Chicago trade, and to none with greater effect than was experienced
by the lumber business.
John Marshall Williams was born at Morrisville, Madison County, N. Y., in 1821,
his parents being Amariah Williams, who had emigrated from Mansfield, Conn., and
his wife, Olive Read, of Ashford, Windham County, Conn., and who gave to John M.
the advantages to be obtained from the common schools and academy at Morrisville,
supplemented by a course of study at the Oneida Conference Seminary at Cazenovia,
N. Y. His early business experience was in a general country store at Morrisville
until in the spring of 1848 he came to Chicago and formed the firm of Lull & Williams
with a yard on the corner of Randolph and Jefferson Streets.
Randolph Street was at this time the main road to the country, Union Park being
the outside limit of settlement in that direction, and it was no unusual thing to see a
string of ox teams, sometimes two and three deep, extending half a mile to a mile
back from the river, each loaded with grain or produce, which each owner expected to
sell, and in a majority of cases, to load up with lumber and other supplies for the
return journey to the Fox and Rock Rivers and the further West. At this time the
principal lumber dealers in the city were Sylvester Lind, Underwood & Co., Ferry &
Co., Butler & Norton, N. & C. H. Mears and Leonard & ( R. A.) Williams, this latter
firm having been established in 1846. Mr. Williams' health failing, the firm of Lull
& Williams was dissolved in the fall of 1848, and news of the discovery of gold in
California reaching theEast, he, in 1849, determined to risk an increase of ill health
and to overcome all obstacles, in pursuit of recuperation in the Golden State.
Although fairly successful in his efforts, one year sufficed, and in 1850 Mr. Williams
returned, settling for a year at Elgin, then the terminus of the Chicago, Galena &
Union Railroad, where he remained until the spring of 1851, when coming to Chicago
he joined with Martin Ryerson and ( ) Morris in forming the firm of Williams,
Ryerson & Co., with a yard on the river at the corner of Fulton and Canal Streets,
this firm continuing for five years, and until 1856, when it dissolved by limitation.
The Board of Trade was in 1858 located on the northeast corner of South Water
and Wells Streets. At this time the lumbermen were in a majority of the member-
ship, and were accorded committees, and inspection regulations of their own choos-
ing, and with this bod)- Mr. Williams was thus early connected.
From 1861 to 1863 J. M. Williams was associated with W. D. Houghteling (later
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 249
a prominent lumberman) in the grain and commission business. One of the most
noticeable effects of the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848 was
demonstrated in the immediate advance of the lumber interest, as well as in other
branches of trade, including a constantly increasing amount of grain and the receipts,
which in 1847 had been 32,000,000 feet, increased in 1848 to the 60,000,000 mark, and
henceforth the trade experienced a yearly increase, proportioned to the now rapid
settlement of the western prairies.
It is said by Mr. Williams to have been a legend of the day that mosquitoes first
made their appearance with the opening of the canal, the locality having been free
from that pest previous to that time. Be that as it may, it is certain that if it brought
some discomforts of a minor nature, the canal gave an impetus to the trade and growth
of the city which cannot be overestimated in its favorable results.
Mr. Williams continued in connection with the lumber trade of Chicago until
1860, after which he established a wholesale grocery business, but relinquished it in
the course of a few months. In 1861, in connection with W. D. Houghteling, he was
for a couple of years engaged in the grain-buying and commission trade, and having in
the course of years acquired considerable city real estate, engaged in its improvement,
wisely believing that with the growth of the city it was a good thing to hold. Through
this he was led in 1869 to establish a wholesale hardware business, and was thus
engaged when the great fire of 1871 swept away all the improvements of his centrally
located property, and as well his store. Being largely insured in English companies
his loss was minimized in comparison to a vast number of the sufferers of that memor-
able event, and Mr. Williams was among the first to rebuild his fine block on the cor-
ner of Monroe and Fifth Avenue, being ready for occupancy early in the following
spring, and it is still a prominent building of that locality.
Mr. Williams has for many years resided at Evanston, and having attained a ripe
old age is enjoying the rewards of a well-spent and temperate life, with that vigor of
constitution which marks the experience of so many lumbermen of the days when
broadcloth, fine linens and steam-heated offices and dwellings, were comparatively
unknown, but when plain and plenteous fare, pure air and honest labor conduced to
health, as well as wealth.
Mr. Williams was married in 1856 to Miss Elizabeth C. Smith, of Nelson, N. Y.,
and of the fruits of this union two sons and four daughters are living. His son Walter
S. was for some years a member of the firm of J. H. Pearson & Co., and for two years,
in connection with his brother Lucian M., operated yards at Riverdale and at Ham-
mond, suburbs of Chicago. Walter died in 1889 of typhoid fever contracted at Ash-
land, Wis., where he was attending to the manufacture of the firm's lumber. Lucian
M. and his younger brother Nathan W. are now assisting their father in the care of
his city real estate, and his quite large interests in pine and iron lands on the north
shore of Lake Superior. Mr. Williams soon after his arrival in Chicago became con-
250 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
nected with the First Congregational Church, of Chicago, and continued as an officer
in that church until his removal to Kvanston, where he became one of the original
members of the Congregational Church of that (then) village. He has always been
ready to assist in every good cause and Christian work, which came to his notice, by
his earnest efforts and benefactions.
Albert Tracy Lay. In a consideration of the development of the great North-
west, sight must not be lost of those pioneers who in settling and developing the
timbered sections have thereby made possible the wonderful growth and progress
of the prairie States. No firm or individual is perhaps better entitled to credit in this
respect than is the house and individual membership of Hannah, Lay & Co., to whom
the peninsula of Michigan is so greatly indebted, and who as pioneers of 1850 have
been a potent influence in the settlement of that vast region bordering on Lake
Michigan.
Albert Tracy Lay, of this firm, was born at Batavia, N. Y., June 18, 1825. His father
was a lawyer, and represented his district in Congress from 1832 to 1836. Albert was
educated at a private school, and at the age of sixteen took a clerkship in a country
dry goods and general store, which business he followed for eight years. At the age
of twenty- four he, in October, 1849, came to Chicago, and made preparation to go
into the lumber trade, by associating himself with Perry Hannah, a clerk of Jacob
Beidler, and James Morgan, an English capitalist who had settled at Blue Island in
1842, and the firm of Hannah, Lay & Co. was established, and in 1850 opened a yard
on the northeast corner of Canal and Jackson Streets, where they remained for ten
years, being the farthest yard south with the exception of Ferry's storage yard. In
1860 the firm removed to Lumber Street, south of Twelfth Street, where it remained
in the wholesale lumber business until its final withdrawal in 1889.
In 1851 the firm bought a small water saw-mill at Grand Traverse, Mich., which
had been built in 1848 by Capt. Harry Boardman, of Napierville, 111., and which had
a capacity for cutting from two to three thousand feet in a day of twelve hours. The
mill was engaged in cutting the timber in the immediate vicinity but, before purchas-
ing, the firm assured themselves that there were ample timber resources up the river,
and that the river was available for floating logs. They at once proceeded to the
erection of a steam saw mill, which contained two mulay saws and an old-fashioned
siding mill, which gave them a capacity of about 15,000 feet per day of twelve hours.
In 1857 the firm built a second mill containing two circulars, and a few years later
remodeled it by removing one circular and substituting a pony gang. About 1868
they built another mill at Long Lake, seven miles from Traverse City, in which they
placed a circular and gang. The lumber from this mill was teamed in winter to Trav-
erse City to be shipped the following season. About 1875-76 a planing mill, shingle
mill and dry kiln were added to the Traverse City plant. In their early history the
firm purchased the Erie Canal boat "Beals," and brought her to Chicago, and after
*t*
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 26
enlarging her by lengthening, called her the "Albert," and painting the name of the
firm the whole length of both sides, placed her on the Michigan and Illinois Canal, to
ply between Chicago and Naples. Owning many water craft during their career,
this was the only one which was given the name of either member of the firm. From
the purchase of the water mill in 1851 the firm began the accumulation of timber
lands, and their holdings from the first to last aggregated between 50,0x20 and 60,000
acres, with a supply of timber which enabled them after operating for forty years,
with a yearly cut averaging probably 25,000,000 feet, or an aggregate of 1,000,000,000
feet in the forty years, to dispose of an amount estimated at 250,000,000 feet to John
Torrent, of Muskegon, as a final wind-up in 1889. For many years after the firm
began operations in 1851 the country south of Traverse Bay was almost wholly unset-
tled. Between the mouth of the Muskegon River and Traverse Bay there were three
small mills, one at Pere Marquette, one at Hamlin and one at Manistee. In summer
the communication was by vessel; in winter by Indian trail and on snowshoes. In
1853 Mr. Hannah, having occasion to go to Chicago, took the latter method, camp-
ing at night in bough houses improvised for the occasion.
The same year Mr. Lay went to Washington and secured the establishment of a
post route to Croton, in Newaygo County, and another to Manistee and Traverse City,
his bid of $400 per year for four years for carrying the weekly mail on the latter route,
being accepted. The mail was carried on the back of an Indian for several years.
This was the first mail route north of Manistee, in fact there was no settlement north of"
Traverse, except the Ojibway Mission at "Old Mission," on the west shore of East
Traverse Bay and the Mormon settlement on Beaver Island, although an occasional
settler was to be encountered in the forest. Immediately on arrival at Traverse City
the firm established a small supply store in a log building, but in 1852 erected a frame
store which answered all purposes until 1859, when it was enlarged and placed under
the control of Smith Barnes, who, when it was reorganized as the " Hannah Lay Mer-
cantile Company," continued in charge and has built up probably the largest mercan-
tile business in northern Michigan. In 1853 Mr. Lay was a candidate for the State
Legislature from a district including everything north of Manistee, but was defeated
by "King Strang," who was at the head of the Mormon colony on Beaver Island, and
controlled too many votes to be overbalanced by the few inhabitants of the main land.
In the same year the county of Grand Traverse was organized by Judge Martin (after-
ward chief justice of the Supreme Court of the State), who, coming from Manistee to try a
man who was arrested for the murder of his own child, recognized an escaped crim-
inal among the employes of .the firm, and at once took steps to establish a county
government, of which Mr. Lay was made deputy sheriff, deputy county clerk, deputy
county treasurer, deputy school inspector and deputy for all the rest of the county
offices, until a formal organization of the county was perfected and regular officers
elected. At the trial of the murderer before mentioned it became necessary to shut
12
254 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
clown the saw mills and call in the men from the woods in order to secure a jury. The
law's delays were not invoked as at the present; no special pleadings were interposed;
the criminal was arrested and brought down from the North; there was no jail in which
to confine him, and he was chained to the posts of the mill until Judge Martin could
come and try him; he was promptly found guilty and sentenced to State's prison for
life, and there was no writ of error or other delay to hinder his reaching his future
home as quickly as he could be taken there. The Hannah, Lay& Co. Company was
practically for years the whole of the north shore. From 1852 to 1857 Mr. Lay made
Traverse his home, Mr. Hannah attending to the Chicago business in summer, and join-
ing Mr. Lay at Traverse in the winter. After 1857 Mr. Hannah took charge at Traverse
and Mr. Lay remained at Chicago. What changes have since that day come over the
face of the whole country! Chicago, from a few thousand population, is a city of
1,500,000. Traverse, from a few saw mill operators, is a city of 6,OOO people, with two
banks, five or six good hotels, a foundry, electric lights, a water-supply system, a large
flour mill to grind the grain raised on the farms of a fertile and well-cultivated sur-
rounding country, a daily newspaper; free delivery of letters and three railroads, one
of which, seventy miles in length north from Manistee, is a novelty in that it has
neither stock nor stockholders, bonds nor bondholders, but was built, equipped and
run by a Manistee lumberman as an individual enterprise, and has proved a paying
investment from the start. The depot grounds for all the railroads were donated by
the company. As before remarked, Hannah, Lay & Co. commenced business in
1850 and continued until 1889. Its original capital was S6.OOO; during its career it
had manufactured fully 1,000,000,000 feet of lumber, besides shingles and lath, it had
built, bought and owned several vessels both sail and steam, including the schooner
"Telegraph," brig "J. Young Scammon," and steamers "Clara Belle," "Grand Rapids,"
"H. S. Faxton" and "Allegheny," running from Traverse City and way ports to Mack-
inaw. The latter ran from 1859 until 1870, in which year they commenced the con-
struction of the steamer "City of Traverse," which began her career in 1871, and was
practically the pioneer in the establishment of the summer resort traffic which has
now reached such enormous proportions on the north shore.
After forty years of active business life, the mills and remaining timber were sold
to John Torrent, the steamer "City of Traverse " to the Austrian Lake Superior Steam-
boat line, and the yard in Chicago was closed out. But the members of the firm were
by no means superannuated, neither were they ready to cease activities or retire from
business. The Chamber of Commerce, a large stone structure on the corner of Wash-
ington and La Salle Streets, was for sale, and they purchased it and became the
pioneers in the construction of one of the mammoth and lofty buildings for which
Chicago has become noted. Placing jack screws under the immense structure of
stone, which was the equivalent of a five-story building, the foundation was recon-
structed with grout and railroad iron; an internal construction of iron was carried to 1
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 255
the height of 20O feet, including fourteen stories and attic, the outside walls being
constructed of terra cotta, and a noble fire-proof pile of 600 office rooms, valued at
3,000,000, stands as a monument to the enterprise of one of Chicago's most saga-
cious and successful firms of lumbermen. The history of Albert Tracy Lay is the
history of the firm of which he is an active member.
Mr. Lay is one of the most active and youthful of the older generation of Chicago
merchants. His activities have not been wholly confined to the prosecution of his
business ventures. He was for many years warden and vestryman in Grace Episcopal
Church, and has exercised a beneficial influence upon all who have come within the
compass of his associations. He was married in 1855 to Catharine R. Smith, and
three daughters are the fruit of the union.
Perry Hannah. Few names have been more conspicuous among the lumbermen
of Chicago than that of Perry Hannah, of the pioneer firm of Hannah, Lay & Co., a
gentleman whose active connection with the Chicago trade dates from 1846. Mr.
Hannah was born in Erie County, Penn., September 22, 1824. He was the son of Elihu
L. Hannah, a native of Connecticut who married Miss Anna McCann (the mother of
Perry), who was a native of Erie County, both being of Scotch descent, though early
colonial settlers. Being a farmer and having the misfortune to lose his beloved wife
by death in 1827, Mr. Hannah in 1832 removed to Port Huron, Mich., where he con-
tinued to reside for over twenty years, after which he removed to St. Clair, Mich., where
he died in 1862.
The region was in those days rich with the finest white pine timber ever known
in the country and Mr. Hannah was among the first to enter upon the business of
lumbering, which but a few years later became the principal commercial industry of
the State, the Black River emptying into the St. Clair at Port Huron, affording a grade
of timber of that character which in later years made the name of "Cass River"
synonymous with all that was most desirable in lumber.
Mr. Hannah's first venture was in the rafting of logs from the wilderness about
Port Huron to the center of then existing civilization, Detroit, where some saw mills
were in operation. Perry, who was the second son born to the first wife of his father,
remained in Erie County until he was thirteen years of age, enjoying the advantages
of a common-school education; he then went to Michigan and assisted his father in
rafting logs during the summer, which had been cut during the previous winter for
the firm of White & Coffin, of Detroit, one of the earliest manufacturing firms of
Michigan. The logs were made into rafts of about 1,000,000 feet and, floating with
the current, were frequently as much as four weeks in their passage down the river
and across Lake St. Clair to Detroit. Tow boats were practically unknown in those
days, and the drifting current, with a few boards stood on end for a sail when the wind
was favorable, was the supplement to the long sweeps or poles with which the course
was kept, the shore avoided, and the few sailing vessels passed on the right hand or
266 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
starboard side. Night was the most feasible time for starting with a raft, as the
winds were usually more favorable to aid the drifting down the river with the current.
Perry followed rafting until he was eighteen years of age, when he entered the mer-
cantile employ of John Wells of Port Huron, and for about three years was engaged
in the dry goods business. In 1846 he came to Chicago and entered the employ of
N. S. Mead & Co., lumbermen, whose yards were located on the corner of South
Water and Franklin Streets. After two years' service with this firm he entered the
employ of Jacob Beidler, remaining for two .years, or until May, 1850, when, through
the aid of Mr. Beidler, he commenced business on his own account in connection with
A. Tracy Lay, now of Chicago, and James Morgan, of Hyde Park, 111., forming the
firm of Hannah, Lay & Co., of which at a later day William Morgan, now of Los
Angeles, Cal., became a silent partner. The first yard of the firm was located on the
corner of Jackson and Canal Streets, where they continued business until 1860, when
they removed to the corner of Maxwell and Lumber Streets, where they continued
until their retirement from the yard business in 1887. In 1851, soon after the forma-
tion of the firm, pine lands were purchased in the neighborhood of Grand Traverse
Bay, Michigan, and mills started on the west arm of the bay, which location has since
become known as Traverse City.
There were probably not a half dozen white men within 100 miles of the spot, when
the hardy lumbermen with their axes, saws and teams began the work of cutting down
the noble pines, and of building a saw mill with which to manufacture them into lum-
ber. The mill was, like all others of that day, but a small concern as compared with
even the small mills of to-day, but the firm manufactured 3,000,000 feet, adding
improvements from time to time until the yearly cut reached as high as 20,000,000
feet. In 1887 the mills and timber lands of the concern, which had increased to
hundreds of thousands of dollars since the first small venture, were sold to John
Torrent of Muskegon, the firm retaining their interest in the town site of Traverse
City, now numbering 6,000 inhabitants, and as well in their large mercantile establish-
ment, now employing sixty men and with sales reaching #500,000 annually, in a gen-
eral line of goods. This establishment occupies a floor space of over two acres,
in a* three-story building of 112x222 feet, besides several smaller buildings for storage
purposes.
The first store of the young firm was in a building 16x20 feet, which for many
years afforded ample facilities for their trade, which is now conducted on the depart-
ment principle.
During the period in which the firm was engaged in manufacturing at Traverse
City, it handled its own product entire, at its yards in Chicago, Mr. Hannah and Mr.
Lay exchanging positions every six months, the one superintending the manufacture
at the mills, the other the sale at the yards, until in 1855, in consequence of Mr.
Hannah's superior knowledge of manufacturing, he took up his residence at the mills.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 259
At the inception of their Maxwell Street yard in 1858 they were laughed at for going
so far beyond the limits of settlement. When they disposed of their business in 1887
the trade had gone so far beyond that point that their yard was not in line with current
business. They had the advantage in October, 1871, of being south of the devastation
caused by Mrs. O'Leary's cow, and- their large yard full of choice lumber aided
materially in the rebuilding of the city.
The firm has been instrumental in building up the beautiful Traverse City, one of
the most thriving of the many prosperous cities of Michigan, owning the original site,
and retaining so much as has not been disposed of in its development. Its three lines
of railroad present a strong contrast to the days when an occasional steamboat or
vessel, or in winter, snowshoes or sled, were the only methods of communication with
the world. Often has Mr. Hannah spent several days on the journey from his mills at
Traverse City to the forks of the Muskegon River, a distance now to be traversed in
fewer hours than it then demanded days. Mr. Hannah is president of the Traverse
City State Bank, organized during 1892 by his firm, with a capital of $100,000.
Previous to this organization, the mercantile firm of Hannah, Lay & Co. had done
the banking business of the surrounding country for the forty years of its business
career. The firm has been instrumental in forwarding all the improvements and
developments of the town, its water works, electric lights, etc. It has a large flouring
mill, with capacity of 150 barrels per day, grinding the wheat of a fertile surrounding
country. The operations of the firm were for many years confined to the manufacture
of white pine lumber, but of late the valuable hardwood timber of this Grand Traverse
region has received much attention and the firm is interested in its manufacture, the
principal varieties being maple, ash, elm and beech, with- considerable hemlock. This
firm was the first to introduce maple flooring to the Chicago market, finding 200,000
feet an ample supply for many years, but with such favor was it received that one
Chicago yard now handles 40,000,000 feet annually.
The firm of Hannah, Lay & Co. still consists of the same members as in the years
gone by, and owns the entire capital stock of the elegant Chamber of Commerce
building, valued at $3,000,000 and located on the corner of La Salle and Washington
Streets, Chicago.
Mr. Hannah was married January I, 1852,10 Miss Annie Flinn, of New York City;
they have three children: Hattie A., wife of J. F. Keeney, of Chicago; Julius T.,
cashier of the bank at Traverse City and manager of his father's affairs in his absence,
and Claribel.
In politics a Republican Mr. Hannah was a member of the Michigan Legislature
of 1856 and has held the office of president of the council of Traverse City since its
organization, and has been for twenty-seven years a member of its school board.
No man is more highly respected and none possess a greater influence for good
in the circles with which he is called to mingle. o
260 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Freeland B. Gardner. The principal distinction between the successful business
man and the unsuccessful one is that the former has had the mental penetration to see
his opportunity, and the nerve and skill to grasp and handle it, while the latter has
not. It is not paying the man of pluck and brain proper credit to say that luck or
fate, exclusive of his own industry and ability, has given him his success in life. This
is particularly true of the business men of Chicago to whose efforts and enterprise the
prosperity and prominence of the city are in a large degree due. While it is true that
the natural advantages of Chicago have been great, it is also true that the adventurous
spirit of its commercial men has contributed more to its extraordinary growth than
any other factor. The methods adopted by the brainiest and most adroit operators,
have been reduced to a perfect system and afford an instructive lesson to the student
of commercial science.
In 1839, when Freeland B. Gardner first came out West from his native State of
New York, he visited both Milwaukee and Chicago, then small, straggling Western
towns, with great possibilities, but very small apparent probabilities. They were full
of men just from across the Alleghany Mountains home and fortune seekers, all
like himself, with an eye for any honorable opening to get on in life. All was so
unsettled and restless that Mr. Gardner, after looking over the country, returned to
New York and for five years thereafter conducted a successful dry goods business at
Fort Ann. But the Western fever could not be resisted by this enterprising man, and,
accordingly, at the end of five years, he again came West, and, until 1849, was engaged
in the dry goods business at Kenosha, Wis., then called Southport. Like other busi-
ness men of that day, he did not confine his attention to the dry goods trade alone,
but was engaged in various other enterprises with the expectation of increasing his
profits and bettering his condition. It thus occurred that in 1849 nc built, at Pensau-
kee, Wis., the second saw mill erected on Green Bay, hauling part of the machinery
from Kenosha by team. The country then was a wilderness, and it is difficult to
picture the hardships of these early enterprises. About this time he opened a lumber
yard at Kenosha which he conducted until 1852.
Chicago at this time began to attract attention as a distributing center for all
supplies intended for the Western prairies. Rude cabins began to dot the broad
plains, and the demand for lumber to be used in fences and houses, immensely
increased. This demand and the possibility of turning it to advantage at Chicago,
were not lost to as observant and thoughtful a business man as Mr. Gardner, and he
determined to come to this city, which he did in the spring of 1852. He immediately
formed a partnership with H. B. Hinsdale, under the firm name of F. B. Gardner &
Co., for the handling of lumber, and opened a yard on the west side, at the foot of
Washington Street. Their business increased enormously, and so continued until
1857, when the panic and hard times of that period squeezed them, with thousands of
others, although they came through the ordeal with name and credit unimpaired.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 261
After a time they removed their yard to Wells Street, near Polk, and later still to West
Taylor Street, where they were doing business in 1866, when John Spry became
'associated with him having for some time been in his employ. From 1852 to 1866
was an eventful period for Mr. Gardner. It saw him lay the foundation of his fortune
and become one of the most widely and favorably known of the city's business men.
Through the panic of 1857 and the floods of " wild cat " and " red dog " private bank-
issues, he had conducted a constantly expanding business when others as wise and
prudent went down in disaster. Through the panic and shifting financial basis of
war times his sagacity, foresight and adjustability were equal to every emergency; so
that the year 1866 found him self-reliant and prosperous, wise in varied and hazardous
experience, and with a large business firmly grounded upon honorable and profitable
commercial principles.
In 1866 important changes were made in the partnership. Mr. Hindsdale with-
drew and John Spry and H. H. Gardner, son of Freeland B., were admitted, the firm
name remaining unchanged. A new era of prosperity was entered upon under the
combined experience, energy and ability of the reorganized firm. Mills were multi-
plied and yards expanded, and to all the principal points of the West and Northwest
the products of the firm were sent. Soon after this the yards were removed to Twelfth
Street, and were there located when the great fire of 1871 struck consternation to the
commercial circles of the West.
In 1873 Freeland B. Gardner severed his connection with the firm of which he had
been the moving spirit for so many years. The business was continued by his son and
John Spry under the firm name of Gardner & Spry, and later the Gardner & Spry
Company, and the yards were removed to Ashland Avenue. Here an enormous busi-
ness was transacted until 1886, when the concern was divided into two branches, H.
H. Gardner & Co. and John Spry Lumber Company.
After Freeland B. Gardner severed his connection with the firm in 1873 he turned
his attention to his large manufacturing interests at Pensaukee, Wis., and was thus
engaged at the time of his death on December 24, 1883. He had passed through the
stormiest periods of the city's history, the panic of the fifties, the troublous times of
war, the close financial trials of the reconstruction era, the havoc wrought in trade by
the great fire and the steady depreciation preceding the resumption of specie pay-
ments in 1879, and had proved one of the city's most courageous, honorable and patri-
otic citizens, alive to all humanizing influences and movements and the maintenance
of public order. He was essentially a business man, but was broad enough to take a
comprehensive view of American institutions and civilization, and brave enough to
stoutly maintain the governing or ruling social laws.
His ancestors and parents were people of high aims and accomplishments. His
birth occurred at Elbridge, Onondaga County, N. Y., July 30, 1817. He was therefore
past sixty-six years of age at the time of his death. At the age of nine years he went
262 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO;
to live with his brother-in-law, Col. John Hillibut, of Fort Ann, N. Y., with whom he
served as clerk in his store, until he had attained his majority. He then began mer-
chandising on his own responsibility at Patten's Mills, N. Y., and so continued until he
first came to Chicago in 1839. He was united in marriage in 1841 to Miss Fannie
Copeland, of New York, who presented him with three children, a son and two daugh-
ters. The son, H. H. Gardner, has become one of the most prominent business men
of this city. The family stands high in the estimation of the public.
George Farnsworth. One of the earliest among Chicago lumbermen, and one
possessing in the highest degree the respect and confidence of his contemporaries for
a full half century, is George Farnsworth, president for many years, and until 1886, of
the Oconto and Bay de Noquet Lumber Company, and a gentleman whose life's his-
tory is not only interesting, but instructive, in its lessons of honesty and integrity,
combined with pluck and perseverance. Mr. Farnsworth is descended from an Eng-
lish branch of the sturdy and aggressive Anglo-Saxon race, which has been predomi-
nant in spreading the influence of civilization over the face of the earth, his grand-
father having been a native of England and a commodore in the English navy about
the time of the revolt of the colonies, while at a later day his son, the father of the
subject of this sketch, showed conspicuous talent in the art of war and the genius to
command.
The father, James Farnsworth, was born in New Hampshire in 1775, and was mar-
ried January 2, 1812, to Miss Joanna Keith a native of St. Albans, Vt, who became the
mother of George. She was born in 1790 and died in 1864. Her people also seem
to have been prominent in military and political as well as social circles in their native
Scotland as well as in Vermont, so that Mr. Farnsworth comes from a people who
from a social and professional standpoint are renowned for aggressive fighting quali-
ties, combined with sterling honesty and a high order of native ability and character.
His father was conspicuous at Fairfax, Vt., as a collector of the historic direct tax
levied after the War of 1812, and later was a brigadier-general of militia, being in com-
mand about the last time his brigade was called out in 1832. He was a general mer-
chant at Fairfax for many years, and was engaged in lumbering and rafting spars and
square timber from Lake Champlain via the Sorrel River and the St. Lawrence, to a
market at Montreal and Quebec. In those pursuits he accumulated a fine fortune, but
lost it by reason of heavy endorsements of paper, for friends who were unable to meet
it, and failed in business, dragging their endorser with them. He lived an active and
useful life, and passed away at a ripe old age, at Madrid, N. Y., whither the family had
moved in 1837.
Of this family of seven children but two are now living: Caroline, widow of Brad-
ley Barlow, of St. Albans, Vt., and George, who was born at Fairfax, Franklin County,
Vt., May 22, 1825. George was thrown upon his own resources at an early age in
such wise as to develop those sterling qualities which have been manifest through
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 265
life. Leaving school when but twelve years of age, he had no later school experience
except about six months at Potsdam, N. Y., where he went when fourteen years of age.
At the age of thirteen he entered the store of Hickock & Catlin at Burlington, Vt.,
where he served for a year. In the spring of 1840, at the age of fifteen, he came west to
Racine, VVis., and meeting a young man of his own age named Deming Hanks, the
two walked the entire distance to Chicago, arriving there footsore and weary and with
but S3 in money between them. The boys secured accommodations for the night at the
old Sauganash (Shaw-wau-nas-see.) Hotel, corner of Lake and Market Streets, and after
breakfast next morning, finding that the bill was just 83, paid out their last cent, and with
resolute hearts set out in quest of work. By noon young Hanks had secured a place in
the drug store of a friend of his, but George Farnsworth was less fortunate, and at night-
fall returned to the drug store to sleep with his friend. Having heard that a boy was
wanted at a place called Grand de Tour, near Dixon on the Rock River, he the next
day borrowed 85 from young Hanks (who borrowed it from his employer) and
walked out to Grand de Tour, a distance of nearly 100 miles, sleeping the first night
in a vacant log cabin around which the wolves howled dismally until daybreak, but was
less fortunate the second night, which was passed on the bare ground. He reached
his destination on the third day only to meet with disappointment, as a boy had just
been hired. This was a sad blow to the boy's hopes, but it did not discourage him,
rather did it develop the pluck and persistence which has been a marked feature of
his life. He was permitted to remain with the man for a few days until his feet were
in better condition for travel, when he started for Southport, now the thriving city of
Kenosha, where he succeeded in obtaining employ in the store of Hale, Lee & Lay,
where he remained about a year. His father dying about this time young Farnsworth
returned to the East and saw his mother and the family safely settled with an uncle
at Sheldon, Vt., and leaving with them all his money except $15 he walked thirty
miles to Burlington, thence worked his passage to Whitehall and Albany, and thence,
by assisting the cook on a canal boat, to Buffalo, obtaining an occasional shilling for
service rendered passengers, until on his arrival at Buffalo he found that his original
815 had increased to &2O, so carefully had he husbanded his original store and subse-
quent earnings. From Buffalo he took deck passage with Capt. Blake, of the
steamer "Michigan," for Racine, and upon arriving there secured a job of digging post
holes for fencing in the small lumber yard of a Mr. Lewis. He was but a light strip-
ling of a boy, utterly unsuited for such hard work and on the second day Mr. Lewis,
who was a kind-hearted man, placed him in his store to keep books and assist in the
lumber yard, and found him so useful that he retained him thus for a year. In the
meantime young Farnsworth did not know that he was to receive anything more than
his board. At the close of the year his employer asked him why he did not buy new
clothes to replace those now almost worn out, and on receiving the reply, " I have no
money." Mr. Lewis turned to the books and placed to the boy's credit the munificent
266 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
sum of $600, proving himself a veritable friend and an appreciative employer. These
were trying experiences for one so young, but they were the supreme test of his
resources and character.
Young Farnsworth then nineteen years old was solicited to form a partnership with
Horatio Monroe, a young man of about his own age, who was desirous of engaging in
the lumber business, but upon stating that he had no capital, the father of young
Monroe bought out the Lewis yard for $4,000 and loaned young Farnsworth $2,000,
notwithstanding his protest that not being of age he could give no security for the
loan. But the elder Monroe was willing to trust the boy, whom he had formed a
high opinion of, and whom he desired as a partner for his son, and the young men
took possession of the yard. Within six months they had cleared $4,000, and, young
Monroe wishing to engage in other business, they sold out and Mr. Farnsworth ten-
dered back the 82,000 borrowed of Mr. Monroe, Sr., who insisted on his retaining it
for a longer period. Such was the confidence begotten by industry and energy.
Pluck and honesty had won their due recognition.
Young Farnsworth then went to Muskegon, Mich., and leased a mill property for
one year, paying therefor $2,000 cash and giving his notes for $2,000. In the year he
managed to clear $7,000 and began search for a location where he could build and
own a mill, and after footing it from Muskegon north, on the east shore of Lake
Michigan, to the mouth of the Sheboygan River in the Straits of Mackinaw, he
finally selected a site at the mouth of the Pere Marquette River and entered
the Government lands on both sides of the river which were then densely cov-
ered with pine, and erected a mill containing two mulay saws and one siding
machine (then very popular). This he operated for several years, selling his
product in Chicago, sometimes as low as $5 per thousand feet. In this he became
involved to an extent from which he could not recover and the mill passed into the
hands of George W. Ford and H. S. Durand, from whom it passed to Loomis & Lud-
ington. Mr. Farnsworth worked for the new owners for a year and finding himself
hopelessly involved, with an income insufficient to supply his necessary living
expenses, he finally quitclaimed all his rights for $1,000 and with a load of $10,000 of
unsatisfied indebtedness began life anew, but with undaunted courage and firm deter-
mination to clear off his indebtedness anil reach the pinnacle of his early hopes.
Crossing the lake to Janesville he clerked for a time in a store, but soon realized that
this was but a slow and uncertain method of attaining his purpose. With the confidence
of a born speculator he contracted with a stock broker for 300 head of hogs, which
in about seventy days was increased to 6,000 head, upon which he cleared $7,000,
which was promptly invested in pine lands on the Peshtigo and Menominee Rivers,
selected after a careful personal examination. In 1856 R. M. Norton, H. S. Durand
and others, of Racine, employed Mr. Farnsworth to take charge of the building of a
large mill property at Oconto, Wis., which he managed for some time successfully,
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. '26"7
and in 1857 was on the point of purchasing an interest, when they, contrary to his
advice, made a poor investment, and the panic of the fall of that year brought heavy
losses, attesting the wisdom of his refusal to consummate the purchase. In 1858, how-
ever, a mill at Oconto, which had cost about $25,000 was sold under a mortgage and
bought in for a Mr. L. St. Ores for the small sum of $3,250. The purchaser then sold
a one-half interest to Mr. Farnsworth for 81,625 on his note for that sum and the firm
of Farnsworth & St. Ores began operating it. They were successful, but Mr. St. Ores
taking the California fever told his partner that if he would secure a purchaser for his
interest at $4,000 he would cancel the note for $1,625. This Mr. Farnsworth suc-
ceeded in doing and the firm of Farnsworth & Sedam was organized. The business
flourished exceedingly, and after several years Mr. Farnsworth purchased his partner's
half interest for $20.000 and immediately sold it to Nathan Mears, Eli Bates and
James C. Brooks for $28,000, whereupon the firm became Farnsworth, Mears & Co.
A large business was done under this name until the assets reached the sum of $250,-
OOO, at which time the "Oconto Company" was incorporated, the capital being subse-
quently increased to $1,000,000, Mr. Farnsworth being elected first president and
holding that office until 1886. The enormous growth of the business rendered it advis-
able to divide it somewhat, and the Bay de Noquet Company was formed, with Mr.
Farnsworth as its president, also. Still another company was organized for the manu-
facture of boxes and barrels in Chicago, making a specialty of the "Thompson" patent
barrel, the product being about 1,500 barrels per day.
Having reaped a comfortable fortune after the vicissitudes of a long and busy
life. Mr. Farnsworth in 1886 decided to let the heavier burdens of business fall on
younger shoulders, and while retaining his one-half interest in the now immense busi-
ness, which had originally cost him nothing, and in which the original $28,000 of pur-
chase money comprised the entire investment of his partners, Mr. Farnsworth con-
cluded to take life easier and to see something of the outside world. He has spent
much time in foreign countries, his practical mind well fitting him to appreciate and
to form correct opinions as to points of predominance in the social and mechanical
world of Europe, as well as in America. Probably so checkered a career, with its
prosperities and adversities, its successes and its failures, its youth of hardship and
its old age of opulence, could be open to none other than a denizen of a new country
like our own, but the lesson of the boy of fifteen starting out into the wilderness to
earn his living, the long and weary tramp in the determination to find work, the faith-
ful service with no expectation of compensation, the pluck and perseverance which
pushed aside the obstacles which met his pathway in swollen streams as well as in sol-
itary tramps through the forest, or on the shores of the lake, the pack on the back
and compass in hand, with which returning good fortune led to forest research in the
selecting of valuable timber lands, and the final recognition of the timely venture which
from nothing, has developed a competent fortune, are all but evidence of an honesty
268 /AT? US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
of purpose, an integrity of life, and a persistency of effort, worthy the emulation of
every young man who may read this sketch, and who may learn a lesson of wisdom
therefrom.
Addison Ballard is one of the survivors of the pioneers of Chicago's lumber
business. Though born in Warren County, Ohio, November 30, 1822, he sought the
wider and newer West as the field for his industry while still a youth, and Indiana
became his temporary home. Raised to believe in the religious tenets of the Society
of Friends and in the political ideas of the Old Line Whigs, he has never changed his
beliefs, and in the autumn of 1892 his name appeared in the Tribune as candidate on the
Republican ticket for commissioner of Cook County, to succeed himself in that office.
The youth of this old Chicagoan was passed on the Ohio farm in about the same
manner as that of other boys of the period. In August, 1841, he ventured as far west
as La Porte, Ind., and learned the carpenter's trade there. An important item of his
work then was cornice making for house exteriors. This was simple work compared
with cornice building at the present time; for then he was only required to cut down
a butternut, bore holes on two opposite sides, split the log and hollow it out for an
eavestrough, attach O. G. molding, fasten it in its place with spikes, and there was the
cornice, filling the double purpose of eavestrough and ornament. He revisited Ohio
in the winter of 1842-43, but in March, 1843, determining to go farther into the
West, he sailed down the Ohio from Cincinnati, up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and
thence to La Salle, 111., by steamboat. The voyage won the enthusiasm of the young
carpenter so thoroughly, his later prairie experiences could not deter him. Setting
out from La Salle for Chicago, he traversed the water-covered prairie until he reached
the Aux Plaines River at a point about sixteen miles northwest of Chicago, about where
is now the railroad bridge of the Green Bay branch of the Chicago & Northwestern
Railroad. A friend from Ohio who accompanied him, participated in his determina-
tion to reach Chicago, and this long journey over the water-covered prairie was per-
formed. At Aux Plaines they were fortunate in meeting a farmer bound for the city,
and in his wagon they took seats. Often during that dreary trip the wagon-box floated
on the water, but, being held by stay chains, was replaced as soon as the horses drew
the wagon to higher bottom. Arrived at Chicago, Mr. Ballard waited a short time for
the dove, which was expected with evidence of dry land, but the bird did not come
and he set out for La Porte. Traveling via the lake shore, the sand around Michigan
City formed a welcome sight to eyes so used to wastes of mud and water; he arrived
at La Porte and entered on the completion of an apprenticeship commenced in 1841.
Mr. Ballard, speaking of this journey, says: "Advising my friend of my intention to
go to La Porte and finish my apprenticeship, we went together to the foot of Monroe
Street, and on the beach bid each other an affectionate good-bye. I knew enough
about Olney's old geography, and that if I kept close to the water's edge I
would some time reach Michigan City. I started off with an old-fashioned ' fip '
TIfE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 271
(6K cents) in cash. From the foot of Monroe Street along the beach to Michigan
City, there was not a house in sight except the Indian wigwams at the mouth of the
Calumet." Think of it, ye modern comers who complain of Chicago of to-day, with
its 170,000 houses, some of which are larger than the towns of 1843. Then a strong
young man determined to settle here was driven off by its dismal appearance to seek
a resting place in the old village of La Porte. He finished his apprenticeship there,
and became a fair mechanic for the time and place good enough, he states, to be
classed as a " wood-butcher " in this day.
Mr. Ballard is heard of next as a contractor and builder. Subsequent to 1844 ne
was a periodical visitor to Chicago, coming hither to purchase hardware and other
building material. He built the La Porte court house in 1848-49, and the same year
erected a large hotel at New Buffalo, then the terminus of the Michigan Central Rail-
road.
In 1849 he joined the Argonauts, but was wise enough to avoid the trail through
the "Great American Desert." Taking passage at New York he sailed to the Isthmus
and crossing it reembarked for the Golden Gate. Arriving at San Francisco in March,
1850, he went into the mines, but regarding the certainties of his trade with more
favor than the uncertainties of the placer mines, he establi shed himself at Sacramento
as a builder, and erected several houses between the Sacramento River and the foot-
hills. In the spring of 1853 he returned to civilization, built many houses at La Porte,
including the present Tegarden House, and early in 1853 visited Chicago. Here he
met a Manitowoc lumberman who wished to dispose of a quantity of logs. Mr. Bal-
lard had the money and the intention of establishing a lumber yard at La Porte, so he
made the trade or purchase. But a new difficulty arose the Michigan Southern &
Northern Indiana Railroad demanded 20 cents per 100 pounds, or about $8 per 1,000
feet for fifty-six miles hauling. The Old Line Whig got a practical lesson in prohibi-
tory tariff affairs. He should establish a yard at Chicago, or sell his logs here, or lose
the money and time. He had three alternatives. Wandering along Market Street,
just south of Van Buren, he saw the lumber sign of Wilcox, Lyon & Co., who were
arranging their lumber yard and building an office, the first south of Van Buren
Street. Mr. Ballard stated his dilemma and also said he would sell the logs for a
certain profit and abandon his idea of a La Porte yard. The same day Wilcox &
Lyon accepted his proposition on condition that he would become their employe or
agent at Manitowoc in buying lumber, cedar posts, shingles, etc., and shipping the
material to Chicago. They offered him &i per day and expenses. Mr. Ballard
accepted and was engaged in Wisconsin and Michigan, as their agent to buy and
ship lumber, lath and shingles, and later on establishing lumber yards at the tem-
porary terminals of new railroads, selling such yards and establishing others at twelve
miles distance, as the railroad construction progressed. Sometime in the winter of
1855-56 Mr. Ballard became a partner of Frank McFall in the sash, door and blind fac-
272 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
tory established by Henry Beidler in 1849 on Congress, Franklin and Market Streets,
and which was conducted by John McFall & I. O. Lyon from 1 850-52, and by the widow
and sister of McFall in 1853-55. At that time this concern, with Foss' on Canal and
Monroe, and Goss & Phillips' on Clark and Twelfth Streets, were the only factories of
the kind in Chicago. Robert Foss was the owner of Woodworth Planing Machine
rights in Cook County, and as all planing machines were adjudged to be infring-
ments of the Woodworth patents, the users of them had to pay Foss a royalty of Si
for every 1,000 feet of lumber planed. The charge for dressing lumber being 85 to
$6, left a large margin for profit and lumbermen did not complain, but later other
machines, such as the wide Triumph, were introduced and the planer became so com-
mon that the owners of mills hauled lumber to and from without charge, merely to
obtain shavings for fuel. Mr. Ballard was among the first to commit the planer to
the double purpose of smoothing boards and making fuel material. In 1857 Mr. Bal-
lard sold his interest in the mill to Frank McFall, who had previously purchased the
interest of John McFall's widow. He repurchased his interest in 1858 and carried on
the industry until 1860, when Will & Roberts bought the concern. Mr. Ballard, who
made doors by hand for a number of years, is credited with being the originator of
the O. G, panel door. He conceived the idea of raising the panel on both sides. In
1861-62 he was still engaged in the lumber trade, but the miserable currency rag-
tag, bob-tail and stump-tail of the times, caused him to lose faith in business and to
sell out. Again, the war was well on and he did not know the hour he would have to
swear allegiance to the Southern Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, ct
al. He thought of entering the army, but the issue of greenback currency gave him
hope. The banking law of January 25, 1863, strengthened this hope. He saw his
mistake in getting out of business. At that time Richard Mason had a lumber yard
on the corner of Market and Monroe Streets, where J. V. Fanvell's wholesale store
now stands. Mr. Ballard purchased the stock and contracted with Mason for the
next season's cut of his mill in the Green Bay region. This contract was made in the
fall of 1861. Early in 1863 he moved his yard to the corner of Adams and Market
Streets. In 1865 he and others built the Finley & Ballard elevator, which passed
through the great fire, and still stands north of Madison Street bridge. Early in 1867
he moved his lumber yards back to Market and Monroe Streets, began building
on Wabash Avenue, and was making rapid progress when the fire of 1871 swept his
property away. Though insured for $66,000 in local companies, he was only able to
collect $700. All this was sufficient to madden a most patient man. He abandoned
the lumber business and gave his attention to the buildings on Wabash Avenue. Bor-
rowing money at 10 per centum, the present iron building on the southwest corner of
Wabash Avenue and Monroe Street, and that at 227-229 Wabash Avenue, known
now as the Eden Musee, were constructed. He survived one fire and the insurance
companies, but greater trials were in store. The panic of 1872-73 and the fire of 1874
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 273
carried away almost all his equities in the buildings and property. A year was given
to him for a study of ways and means to lift this load of disappointments. In 1875 he
purchased the small yards of Loomis & Davis on Fifth Avenue, south of Harrison
Street, where is now the great depot of the Wisconsin Central Railroad. There he
carried on business until 1886, and succeeded in beating back the lingering shadows
of fires and panic. A decade of prosperity heralded the close of his connection with
the lumber trade and he retired in 1886. During the last six years he has erected
some buildings for himself.
Mr. Ballard was elected a county commissioner in 1891, serving one term, and
sharing in the general landslide of defeat to the Republican party in 1892, running,
however, far ahead of his ticket. He was a representative of the Second Ward in the
city council from 1876 to 1881, being elected three times to aldermanic honors in the
ward which had been his home for twenty-eight years. He was again elected in
the spring of 1894, after a warmly contested campaign, in which the saloon and
gambling element strove strenuously tor his defeat. During his public service
he held the important chairmanship of the committees on building and finance, and
in the county board that of the insane and poorhouse, and was a member of the com-
mittee on education.
Although brought up a Quaker, Mr. Ballard has for many years been an elder in
the Presbyterian Church, and a recognized force in Christian work in connection with
that denomination, although extremely liberal in his ideas concerning all classes
of Christian workers.
>
Mr. Ballard \vas married in 1861 to Miss Catherine Miller, who was born in Scot-
land. One daughter, Mrs. Mary Derby, is living. Mr. Ballard's marriage took place
in the first " flat " ever erected as such in the city, and which was located .on Clark
Street, opposite the court house. Few rnen have been more intimately or more
usefully associated with the growth of this wonderful city.
Francis B. Stockbridge. Among the older and pioneer lumbermen of Chicago,
closely identified through a long period of years with the growth of the business,
was the Hon. Francis Brown Stockbridge, for the past six years one of Michigan's repre-
sentatives in the United States Senate, and re-elected in January, 1893, to succeed
hi mself for another term of years. Mr. Stockbridge could take pride in an American
ancestry dating from the earliest settlement of the country and beginning with John
Stockbridge, who came in the " Blessing," landing in June, 1635, an d settling in
Scituate, Mass. He was at that time twenty-seven years of age and in 1646 became
one of the Cohassett partners. He soon after became a large land owner at what was
subsequently known as " Stockbridge Mill Pond." In 1656 he built a grist mill, one
of the earliest in the colony, and also the Stockbridge Mansion House, which was used
as a garrison in the Indian war with King Philip. This mansion was not finally destroyed
until 1850, when the old timbers were iound full oi Indian bullets. Joseph Stockbridge,
274 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
his son, lived in Pembroke, Mass., and married his second wife March n, 1773, at the
ripe age of one hundred years. Longevity and virility are characteristics of the race.
Thomas, son of Joseph, lived in the old mansion, dying in 1780. David, son of
Thomas, was a representative of the Colonial Legislature from 1749 to 1756, and again
from 1761 to 1762, and was a justice of the peace under King George for many years.
He was an extensive land owner and a man of large estate. William, his son, lived in
Hanover, Mass., and in 1798 was the largest land owner in that region. He died
February, 20, 1831. John Stockbridge, son of William, studied medicine with Dr. Gad
Hitchcock, of Pembroke, Mass., and settled in Topham, Me., in 1804, removing to
Bath in 1805, where he died May 3, 1849, aged sixty-nine years. His first wife,
Theodocia, was a daughter of Rev. Tristam Gilman, of North Yarmouth, and his sec-
ond was Eliza Isabella, daughter of Hon. John Russell, of Boston (for many years
editor and proprietor of the Boston Commercial Gazette and a brother of Maj. Ben
Russell, editor and proprietor of the Boston Sentinel).
Francis Brown Stockbridge was a son of Dr. John Stockbridge, and was born at
Bath, Me., April 9, 1826. He graduated at Bath Academy, April, 1842, and spent
the summer of that year with his uncle, Col. J. B. F. Russell, in Chicago. After rest-
ing for a year, he in 1843 took a clerkship in a retail dry goods store in Boston, sup-
plementing it in 1844 by service in a wholesale store on Kilby Street. In the spring
of 1847 ne came to Chicago and formed an alliance with Artemas Carter under the
firm name of Carter & Stockbridge, with saw-mills at Saugatuck, Mich., which became
the special charge of Mr. Carter, and lumber yard in Chicago, between Washington
and Madison Streets, extending through to Canal Street on the west side of the
river, the latter under charge of Mr. Stockbridge. In 1848 the yard was moved south
to the corner of Canal and Monroe Streets, extending from Canal Street to the river,
under a ten-year lease at 8350 per year. The property was owned by the late W. B.
Ogden, who urged Mr. Stockbridge to purchase it for $10,000, payable in sums of $1,000
per year without interest. Before the expiration of the lease the property was pur-
chased by the railroad company, who paid $85,000 for it.
In 1850 Mr. Stockbridge purchased Mr. Carter's interest and took charge of the
mills, Mr. Carter entering Mr. Stockbridge's employ, in charge of the Chicago yard.
In 1852 Mr. Carter purchased the yard and continued the business himself. From
1847 * '850 there were no steam tugs on the river. X'essels sailed, if the wind was
favorable, or warped with a line running to a pile ahead, or towed by the vessel's
small boat. A scow ferry operated by a rope stretched across the river at Rush
Street, and float bridges at Clark and Randolph streets, were the only means of cross-
ing the river. The vessels of that day carried from 35,000 to 40,000 feet of lumber on
a draft of five feet. When Mr. Stockbridge built the schooner "Octavia," in 1850, she
was not only the first three-masted schooner on the lake, but was ranked as a large
vessel, her carrying capacity being 100,000 feet of lumber.
x **
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 'ir,
Mr. Stockbridge continued to operate the mill at Saugatuck, cutting from 8,000,000
to 10.000,000 feet per year until 1860, when he was joined by Mr. O. R. Johnson, and
the firm of O. R. Johnson & Co., during the succeeding fifteen years, manufactured
an average of 20,000,000 feet of lumber and 30,000,000 shingles annually. In 1875 the
Menominee River Lumber Company was organized, two-thirds of the stock being held
by Johnson & Stockbridge, and the balance by Jesse Spalding, who, in 1892, purchased
the interest of his associates. In 1881 the Mackinaw Lumber Company, and the Black-
River Lumber Company were organized to operate on the upper peninsula of Michi-
gan, with mills at St. Ignace and the mouth of the Black River, the operations of which
are now being closed up in consequence of the exhaustion of their timber resources.
Mr. Stockbridge was president of both of these companies, with W. D. Houghteling,
O. R. Johnson, and James L. Houghteling as associates, and the operations of these
concerns were from the first eminently satisfactory in their results.
Mr. Stockbridge was in 1869 elected a member of the Michigan House of Repre-
sentatives, and in 1871 was elected to the Senate, holding the position in a manner
satisfactory to his constituents. In January, 1887, he was elected to the United States
Senate, as a successor of Senator Conger, whose term had expired. That his service
was satisfactory to his constituents is shown by his reelection, as has been stated,
in January, 1893, as his own successor to serve for six years. But although crowned
with political honors, Mr. Stockbridge had by no means abandoned his lifelong occu-
pation, and became extensively interested in the Union Lumber Company, of California,
in connection with his old associates, O. R. Johnson and Gen. R. A. Alger, of Detroit,
the company having a saw mill at Ft. Bragg, Mendocino County, Cal., in the heart
of the redwood district, with a yard at San Francisco for the sale of the product,
the timber holdings of the company comprising 72,000 acres, estimated to contain
3,000,000,000 feet of redwood timber.
Mr. Stockbridge has since 1878 made his home at Kalamazoo, Mich. He was
married about thirty years ago to Miss Betsey Arnold, a daughter of Dan and Betsey
( Foster) Arnold, the father born in Vermont, of a Scotch family, and the mother
of Nova Scotian birth, but of English descent. Mr. Arnold was one of the pioneers
of Allegan County, Mich., and located a farm of 500 acres, now owned in the family.
Mr. and Mrs. Stockbridge have had one son, Joseph Arnold Stockbridge, now deceased.
Joseph Stockbridge, a younger brother of Senator Stockbridge, came West also, but
died a few years later. In the winter of 1894 Mr. Stockbridge was taken sick while
engaged in his senatorial duties at Washington, and came north seeking recuperation,
but died in Chicago soon after his arrival. Mourned and respected by all who knew
him, his remains were taken to Kalamazoo for interment.
Vine Alexander Watkins. As a member of the firm of Palmer, Fuller & Co., Mr.
V. A. Watkins has for nearly a quarter of a century been a prominent representative
of Chicago's lumber and wood-working industries. Mr. Watkins was a Vermonter, a
278 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
State which lias vied with Maine in the number of its sons who have been sent into the
forests, and to engage in the lumber industries of the West. Born at Stockbridge,
Windsor County, in 1825, his education was such as was afforded by the common
schools of the day, until he attained an age at which he could be useful to his parents
in the acquirement of his father's trade of carpenter and joiner. In 1837, when Vine
was but twelve years of age, his parents removed from Vermont to New York State,
where they remained until 1845, when, coming West, they located at Elkhorn, Wis.,
where Vine assisted his father at his trade, but making a specialty of the manu-
facture of sash and doors. The proficiency thus gained stood him well in hand, when
in 1848 he came to Chicago and entered the employ of P. W. Gates & Co., who were
engaged in the manufacture of wood-working machinery and mowers and reapers.
Remaining in the business but one year, Mr. Watkins, in 1849 went to Montgomery,
111., and having constructed some small machinery suitable tor use in sash and door
manufacture, engaged, in 1851, in the sash, door and blind manufacturing business
in connection with Azariah R. Palmer, under the name of Palmer & Watkins. The
lumber used in their work was carted by wagon from Chicago, a distance of forty-two
miles, and the manufactured stock was delivered by team as far west as Fulton, 111.,
and Clinton and Lyons, Iowa, by the same means. The machinery was run by water
power, and the business soon increased, so that the firm was compelled to employ
a man and two boys to assist them in keeping up with the demand for their product,
In 1866 Mr. Palmer formed a connection with W. A. Fuller, of Chicago, and the firm
of Palmer, Fuller & Co. was established as successors to Goss, Phillips & Co. in the
extensive manufacture of sash, doors and blinds in this city, and Mr. Watkins in 1866
purchased the Palmer interest in the Montgomery plant, which had now grown to an
extent requiring the employment of about forty men and boys. In 1872 Mr. Watkins
sold his Montgomery business and purchased an interest in the firm of Palmer, Fuller
& Co., the firm name remaining unchanged and continuing until this day. The busi-
ness of the firm, at the cdrner of Twenty-second and Union Streets, requires the
employment of about 400 men and boys in the extensive manufactory buildings
which were erected in 1871. The firm has from the first added an extensive lum-
ber business to its manufacturing branch, and its sales aggregate from 40,000,000 to
45,000,000 feet of lumber and 35,000,000 to 40,000,000 of shingles per year. There are
few business houses in the city which can boast so long a continuous record, and none
which have secured a higher reputation for enterprise, probity and reliability than the
one of which V. A. Watkins is an honored member. He was married in 1851 to Miss
Catherine Gray, of Montgomery, Kane County, 111., and has been a constant resident
of this city since 1872.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 279
CHAPTER III.
PERSONAL SKBTGE,S OF LUMB&RM&N*
I Him 1850 to 1860.
Trenus Kittredge Hamilton. In the town of Lyme, New Hampshire, there was
born in 1830, December ist, Irenus K. Hamilton. Of Scotch-Irish descent, his
immediate ancestors were stalwart sons of New England. Both the Scotchman and the
New Englander are strongly marked in Mr. Hamilton. His paternal grandfather was
Dr. Cyrus Hamilton, of Lyme; his maternal grandfather Dr. Jonathan Kittredge, of
Canterbury, N. H., both well-known physicians in their State. His father was Deacon
Irenus Hamilton, whose chief occupation was that of a farmer, but who also operated
a saw and grist mill. He occupied high positions of trust and confidence in his State,
and was at one time State senator. The old family homestead was built by Dr. Cyrus
Hamilton, and is still the greatest ornament of Lyme Plain. Here were born Irenus
K. Hamilton, Woodman C., Charles T., Alfred K., and one daughter, Mary Esther,
who is now the wife of Dr. Henry M. Chase, of Lawrence, Mass. Mr. VV. C. Hamilton
resides in Fond du Lac, Wis., and has been associated in business with his elder brother
for many years. Charles T. died at the age of seventeen. Mr. A. K. Hamilton is a
resident of Milwaukee, Wis., and is well known in business and social circles.
In October, 1853, Mr. 1. K. Hamilton was married to Miss Mary Louisa Waterbury,
of Brooklyn, X. V. To them svere given two daughters, Amy and Louise, and two sons,
Nathaniel W. and Irenus K., Jr. His eldest daughter is now the wife of Mr. R. J. O.
Hunter; his youngest daughter is Mrs. William Waller, both of this city. Nathaniel
\V. married Miss Harriet Chase, of Chicago, and is in business in Denver, Colo. The
youngest child, Irenus K., Jr., has just completed his collegiate studies and is about to
enter business life as an electrician. Mr. Hamilton's wife died in 1886, and in 1889 he
married her sister, Mrs. Charlotte L. Williamson, of Boston, Mass., who has one
daughter, Caroline L.
Mr. Hamilton's education was received at the public schools of Lyme and at St.
Johnsbury Academy, Vermont. It was in the home life and at school that Irenus
K. Hamilton and his brothers learned to work, and to lay the foundation of those
habits of industry for which they have been noted in all their subsequent career.
Then "boys were made for work and not for play," and the lad of the present genera-
tion would think he was having anything but an easy time, if brought up in a similar
manner.
*Au occasional belated sketch appears out of its chronological order.
280 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Immediately on the completion of his course at the celebrated academy, Mr.
Hamilton began his business training and found employment in a general store at
St. Johnsbury. The same thoroughness which had characterized his home and school
tasks was carried into his mercantile life. This soon attracted the attention of Gov.
Fairbanks, then at the head of the great scale manufactory of E. and T. Fairbanks
& Co., who offered him the position of book-keeper to their New York branch. At
the end of a year and a half, the manager of the New York house, Mr. Charles Fair-
banks, was obliged to go to Europe on account of his health. His position was
offered to Mr. Hamilton, who filled it to the entire satisfaction of his employers for
the next eighteen months, at the end of which time Mr. Fairbanks returned. It was
during this period that Mr. Hamilton learned more thoroughly the advantages of
persistence, the study of minute details, self reliance and honorable business methods,
all of which qualities have since characterized his life. But in spite of the flattering
offers of the Fairbanks Company to continue in their employ.it seemed to Mr. Hamilton
time for him to go into business for himself. Accordingly, he left New York and con-
nected himself with the A. Latham & Co., car, locomotive and general machinery manu-
facturers, at White River Junction, Vt. The financial depression of 1854 wrought such
changes that the company went out of business. Free to carry out plans which he had
been contemplating for some time in the summer of 1855 Mn Hamilton went West, and,
after careful investigation, decided to go into the lumber business with his brother, Mr.
W. C. Hamilton, in Fond du Lac, Wis. They erected a saw mill, entered lands, and con-
ducted a satisfactory business for twelve years. In 1868, for the purpose of enlarging
their interests, they sold out in Fond du Lac, and, in connection with Mr. A. C.
Merryman, erected a gang and circular mill at Marinette, Wis. They acquired large
tracts of pine lands on the Menominee River and its branches. In 1873 the company
became a corporation under the name of Hamilton & Merryman Company. Of this
corporation Mr. I. K. Hamilton is the president, Mr. W. C. Hamilton vice-president
and Mr. A. C. Merryman, secretary. In connection with the mill, in 1875 they
opened a yard at the corner of Loomis and Twenty-second Streets, and bought three
vessels to convey the lumber from the mill to the yard. Their business has amounted
to 30,000,000 feet per annum.
In the same year as the establishment of the yard in Chicago, Mr. Hamilton
removed his residence to this city as manager of the Chicago interests, to the great
regret of his many warm friends in Fond du Lac, where he had proved himself an
honorable and highly respected citizen.
The Hamilton & Merryman Company are owners of valuable tracts of timbered
lands in Michigan, under which there have been found to exist rich deposits of iron
ore and other minerals. On one section at Iron Mountain, Mich., is located the famous
Hamilton Iron Mine, which has the deepest iron shaft in the country, 1,400 feet. In
addition to these interests each member of the corporation is a large owner in the
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.
Marinette & Menominee Paper Company, of Marinette, Wis., an immense establish-
ment, with a daily capacity of sixty tons of paper manufactured from wood pulp.
The rapidly developing lumber trade of the South, and especially in the pine lands of
Louisiana, as well as other interests, are likewise part of the activities of these pro-
gressive business men.
Mr. Hamilton is a director in the American Exchange National Bank, of this city,
and of the First National Bank of Englewood. In this capacity as well as in all others
he has the thorough respect and confidence of all who know him. At St. Luke's
Hospital he has for many years done valuable service as trustee. He gives with his
membership a warm personal interest and practical support to a number of charitable
societies of various denominations, as well as to those of the Protestant Episcopal
Church of which he and his family are members.
Although of a most friendly nature and always welcomed in social circles, Mr.
Hamilton finds his chief enjoyment in the simple pleasures of home life. Quiet and
unobtrusive, even modest in the advancement of his views, his advice is widely sought
and his influence has been and is most helpful and powerful in the development of
the Northwest and of Chicago.
George A. Marsh, formerly president of the Marsh & Bingham Company, was
born near Kalamazoo, Mich., November 3, 1834. and died in Chicago, August 12, 1888.
These few words would tell all that the public is interested to know of many men, but
not of such as was the one known among men by the name above written. "Some-
times," said Dr. W. W. Everts, who officiated at Mr. Marsh's funeral, "a connoisseur
of art, after gazing with bewildered or inappreciative attention through the halls of
an art gallery, pauses before a particular painting with intense interest. Something in
its position, figure, coloring, expression, or historical or allegorical meaning, fascinates
him, and he lingers before it in a transport of admiration and ideal study, and carries
with him across the sea, and to the end of life, a vivid memory of that masterpiece. So in
our promiscuous observations of men, in business, social, political, or religious circles,
we sometimes become acquainted with individuals whom we would be willing to
accept as representatives of the highest mankind, and of succeeding generations. Such
an one was George A. Marsh, so distinguished by the ennobling attributes of truthful-
ness and justice, moral courage and charity, that by the considerate judgment of those
who knew him best, in circles of business, society, politics, public charity, and church
life, he would be commended as a safe and bright example for the study and imitation
of the rising generation." The lives of such men are not only interesting but edify-
ing, and the details which go to make them up, command the attention not only of
students of humanity in its varying phases, but of those who study the history of the
rise and development of the communities in the upbuilding of which they have
assisted.
284 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
John P. Marsh, father of George A. Marsh, emigrated in 1833, with a family of
seven sons and daughters, from Townsend, Vt.. where he had been a merchant, to
Michigan Territory, then in the extreme West, in order to train his boys to the industry
of the farm, and he took with him into that pioneer home much of the social refine-
ment, united with a vigorous hardihood, which characterized so many New Kngland
village homes. Deeply interested in education, as well .from his lifelong training as
on account of his own family, Mr. Marsh, in conjunction with Rev. Jeremiah Hall,
pastor of the church in Kalamazoo, and the Rev. T. W. Merrill, laid the foundations
of Kalmazoo College, using their personal credit to purchase its site and erect its first
building. After passing his boyhood days on the farm, young George Marsh prosecuted
the course of study in that institution, which, although cut short of graduation by
impaired health, was yet a good foundation for his subsequent business life.
Thus obliged to leave college, Mr. Marsh looked about him for some means
toward earning a living and establishing himself in life. Taking advantage of the
first opportunity that was offered, he entered a carriage manufactory as an apprentice,
and, having learned his trade, went into business for himself at Metamora. 111., in
company with a young man who had been his classmate and shopmate. After five
years of hard work in this business, and while on a visit to friends in Chicago, circum-
stances favored his removal to this city. A large contract for railroad ties was offered
him, and, accepting it. he, with his wife, went over into the oak timber district along
the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. In this enterprise came to Mr. Marsh, at the
age of twenty-eight, the turning point in his life. It required a year and a half's time
for him to complete this contract, but having done so he was enabled to return to
Chicago, educated in all the details of the manufacture and shipment of railroad ties,
and thereafter, for more than a quarter of a century, he was identified with the railway
material trade of this city, and was probably the largest railroad timber dealer in the
Northwest.
From 1864 to 18/9, under the firm names of Marsh & Goodridge and George A.
Marsh & Co., a vigorous trade was carried on in ties, piles, poles and car manu-
facturers' lumber. In 1879 F. O. Marsh, a brother of George A., joined in the
business, and the new firm, Marsh Bros. & Ransom, purchased the timber mill and
yard at the foot of Illinois Street. This addition to the business led to a larger growth.
In 1883 F. (). Marsh retired, A. E. Bingham taking his place, and the new firm
reorganized under the present corporate name of the Marsh & Bingham Company. In
1878 Mr. Marsh took into his employ his nephew, Charles Allen Marsh, who, together
with Arthur E. Bingham, previous to 1882 of Wells & Bingham, was Mr. Marsh's
partner thereafter until the latter's death.
Mr. Marsh is given credit for having felt the greatest sympathy for all mankind
and a desire to take no advantage in trade. It is said that this characteristic often
came between him and a large profit on his contracts, since it was not his disposition to
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 285
grind the poor, and that, therefore, he was not among the men who coined money out
of the scanty earning of the forest toilers. While this trait is supposed to have stood
in the way of his prosperity, it brought its reward, through the confidence reposed in
him by business men who had been furnished repeated assurance of his integrity. While
lie is credited with having been a model commission man with his customers, he is
also said to have enjoyed a personal credit far in excess of his bank balance. Several
times during his business career he suffered losses through placing confidence in
others which would have thrown many men into bankruptcy. His friends say that at
such times he bore the loss quietly, and bravely set about the task of restoration.
Among Mr. Marsh's acquaintances during his college life was Miss Maggie,
daughter of Rev. Cyrus and Jane W. Barker, who were missionaries to Assam, where
their daughter Maggie was born. Mr. Marsh and Maggie Barker were married in 1859.
After a residence of three years in Metamora, 111., and a business engagement of
eighteen months, Mr. Marsh removed to Chicago. In the beginning of his manhood,
Mr. Marsh was baptized into the fellowship of the Baptist Church at Kalamazoo,
Mich. Upon coming to Chicago, he and his wife united with the First Baptist Church,
and gave themselves at once to the mission and home work of that organization.
When Indiana Avenue Mission became a church, they united with it returning to
the First Church again on consolidation of the two churches and the removal to
Thirty-first Street. Mr. Marsh was superintendent of the Sunday-school on Indiana
Avenue, and later for a number of years of the Sunday-school of the First Church,
until compelled to decline a re-election on account of the protracted illness of- his
wife. Upon the removal of the church to Thirty-first Street he was elected one of it's
deacons, and held the office until his own failing health compelled him to ask his
brethren to release him. In the erection of the present house of worship he was a
tireless member of the building committee, giving a considerable portion of nearly
every day for a year to looking after a multitude of details, which would be sure to be
neglected if not attended to by some one who loved the church and its welfare. ' Mr.
Marsh was not only a generous contributor, according to his ability, to all the expenses
of church work, but always had an open hand for the many general purposes which
make so large a draft on the benevolence of Chicago Christians. In the department
of organized public charities he was identified from its beginning with the Krring
Woman's Refuge, located at the corner of Indiana Avenue and Thirty-first Street.
This Home will always be a monument to his faithfulness, and to his Christian fidelity
and self-sacrifice.
Such Christian professors as Mr. Marsh, in the public esteem, partially atone for
the imperfections of church membership, and retain the prestige of the church in ele-
vating public opinion and in settling moral questions according to divine law. In his
business relations Mr. Marsh was, in the best sense of the word, a man and a Christian,
so distinguished by the ennobling attributes of truthfulness and justice, moral cour-
286 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
age and charity, that by the considerate judgment of those who knew him best, in
circles of business, society, politics, public charity, and church life, he would be com-
mended as a safe and bright example for the study and imitation of the rising genera-
tion. He was wise and wary in the management of his business; conscientious and
fearless in maintaining political principles; courteous and condescending, without
being undignified in social life; sympathetic and self-sacrificing in the administration
of charities; and judicial and influential in all trusts and relations.
Olcott Barber Barker. Few men have held a more honored place in the lumber
trade of Chicago than Olcott B. Barker, whose connection with the trade of the city
dates from 1853.
Mr. Barker was born at Bradford, Vt., in 1830. The family dates from colonial
times, Mr. Barker's grandfather having left England about the middle of the seven-
teenth century to settle as a farmer in the young colony of Vermont. Here, in 1/97,
William, father of " O. B." (by which designation Mr. Barker is best known to the
trade), was born, and here he died in 1869, after carrying on the trade of harness
maker at Bradford for more than half a century. His wife, mother of " O. B.," was
Naomi Andross, of Bradford (also a descendant of colonial days), who died in 1840,
when the subject of this sketch was between nine and ten years of age. Only those
who at a tender age have been deprived of the loving counsel of a wise and discreet
mother can appreciate the loss which thus came to the boy, yet, fortunately for him, he
was left to the equally wise government of a loving father, who gave the boy the best
advantages to be had from the schools of his native town until he reached the age
of twenty years, when he went to Boston and served a two-years' apprenticeship in a
boot and shoe house, after which he began business for himself in the butter and egg
trade. An unfortunate fire in the spring of 1853 broke up his business, and in the fall
of that year he turned his face toward Chicago and became an employe in the lum-
ber yard of Holbrook, Elkins & Co. on Clark Street near Sixteenth, where, after two
years' service, he entered the employ of George R. Roberts & Co. in the same neigh-
borhood, and with whom he remained until the breaking out of the war of the
Rebellion.
In 1861 he enlisted in the "Sturges Rifles," a Chicago company, which had the
honor of serving as body guard to Gen. George B. McClellan, continuing in this
capacity through all his campaigns, and until the resignation of their gallant general,
when the company was mustered out of service, filled with grief at the misfortunes of
their beloved commander.
Mr. Barker now returned to Chicago, and was at once employed by Holt & Bal-
com, with whom he remained for one year, when he accepted a position with the
N. Ludington Company, on Morgan and Twenty-second Streets, with whom he
remained for the next ten years. In 18/5 ne entered the employ of the Ludington,
Wells & Van Schaick Company, and, on the decease of Mr. Van Schaick, in 1892, was
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 289
made manager of their Chicago business at the yard on Loomis, south of Twenty-
second Street. To this date Mr. Barker's experience counts forty-one years in the
Chicago lumber trade, of which the past nineteen years have been in connection with
the Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick Company.
Mr. Barker was married in 1865 to Miss Josephine McNeice of Wells River, Vt.
One son, who is a student at a military school in Ohio, has blessed the union. Mr.
Barker with his family attend the Scotch Presbyterian Church and cling to the tenets
of the Covenanters. He is a home man, of genial disposition in business and social
life, while not a member of any of the clubs or secret orders of the city.
William Alden Fuller. The firms of Palmer, Fuller & Co. and Goss & Phillips
have probably been more widely known among the lumbermen of the Northwest than
any other during the past forty years. William A. Fuller of the former firm was born
in 1836 at Lancaster, Mass. His education was such as was afforded by the common
schools of Lancaster, and his native faculties were sharpened by work upon his
father's farm in the intervals of school work. At the age of eighteen, in the year
18^4, Mr. Fuller came West and entered the employ of Goss & Phillips, sash and door
manufacturers, at the corner of Clark and Twelfth Streets, as book-keeper, which in
those days meant not only a care of the books and accounts, but general office work
and looking after all the interests of the firm, from sweeping out the office to a help-
ing hand in the tallying and loading of the incoming material or outgoing product.
For twelve years Mr. Fuller continued in this capacity until in 1866, when he, together
with Azariah R. Palmer, was admitted to partnership in the firm, which now became
known as Goss, Phillips & Co. This continued, however, but a little over one year,
when, in 1867, Goss & Phillips sold out the business to their junior partners, and the
house of Palmer, Fuller & Co. was established.
The firm continued to occupy the old factory on the southwest corner of Clark
and Twelfth Streets until the fall of 1871. when, having during the previous year
erected a large and commodious factory on the corner of Union and Twenty-second
Streets, they removed thither, and here remained until the present time, building up the
immense business which has given the house a national reputation. About 1868-69 Mr.
George B. Marsh became a member of the firm, Mr. Palmer's health failing to such an
c-xtent that he was incapacitated for business, his connection with the house being
fully severed in 1872, although he survived until 1874. Mr. Palmer had some years
previous been associated with Vine A. Watkins in the manufacture of sash and doors
at Montgomery, 111, and in 1872 Mr. Watkins became associated with the business, the
firm name of Palmer, Fuller & Co. originating with the incoming of Mr. Marsh in 1867,
continuing in fact, to the present time. Mr. Palmer died in 1874, and Mr. Marsh
remained in the firm until 1885, Messrs. Fuller and Watkins continuing to the present
time, Mr. Fuller having been the active office man of the firm since its institution in
1866.
290 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO;
Few of the many merchants of Chicago have won more creditable renown or had
more to do with the development of the manufacturing industries of the city, and none
have stood higher in the estimation of their fellows. The business of the firm has been
a constantly expanding one, and has not been exclusively confined to the manufactur-
ing departments, but in addition to the extensive planing mill industry, a lumber bus-
iness aggregating from 35,000,000 to 40,000,000 feet per year, with a shingle trade
aggregating an equal number of millions, has placed the firm high in the category of
the enterprising lumber dealers who have done so much for the development of the
metropolis of the West. Mr. Fuller has been closely identified vith the sash, door
and blind association of the Northwest, serving as its treasurer for several years; he
was also repeatedly elected a director of the Lumberman's Exchange, and as a busi-
ness man holds an enviable position in mercantile circles. He was married in 1860 to
Miss Ginevra Walker, of Oswcgo, 111., and one son and one daughter survive. The
son, Leroy W., is now a partner of the lumber firm of Watkins, Fuller & Co., and is
expected soon to take the position so long and ably held by Mr. Watkins in the house
of Palmer, Fuller & Co.
Nelson Ludington. Chicago was peculiarly fortunate in her pioneers in all
departments of endeavor, and especially fortunate in her pioneers in the lumber trade.
They were a grand galaxy of sturdy spirits, as venturesome as it is given to careful
business men to be, some of them so far-seeing that their faith in the West and its
future was almost like the faith of the fathers in the predictions of the prophets of
old. One of the most enterprising of them all, one of the most careful in planning,
one of the most painstaking in execution, one of the most prophetic in regard to
Chicago and the West, and their great development in the years to come, was Nelson
Ludington, who became identified with the trade forty-five years ago, was signally
successful during a long period in the management of a gigantic business, and died
leaving a personal record which is inseparable from the history of the whole western
country in which he was at once a figure and a fosterer, after having lived long enough
to participate in Chicago's glory and look about him proudly upon the ever expand-
ing fruition of his faith and his labors, and of the faith and labors of other spirits such
as his.
The progenitor of the .American branch of the family of Ludington, was William
Ludington, who settled in Charlestown, Mass., in 1680. Col. Henry Ludington, who
removed from Bradford, Conn., to Putnam County, X. Y., was the grandfather of
Nelson Ludington. Col. Ludington was conspicuous in New York during the Revolu-
tionary War, and was commissioned by the Provincial Congress and later by Gov.
George Clinton, and given command of the militia of that part of the country, and in
that capacity he cooperated with the patriot army and was efficient and valuable as
a counselor of Washington above almost any one else in that section, and his spacious
old mansion was the real headquarters of the Commander-in-chief of the colonial
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 291
forces during a great part of the year 1777, though his headquarters were nominally
at Fredericksburg, not far away. Since then, time has wrought many changes in all
that country, and among them the change of the name of Fredericksburg to Kent, and
the christening as " Ludington " of the patriot colonel's historic old home, which came
in time to be the nucleus of a little village, and in honor of the man who first settled
there and gave the place a name in history by his deeds and his distinguished associ-
ations. In that old country house many conferences were held and many plans were
made which resulted advantageously to the cause of the colonies. In the " History
of New York," by Martha J. Lamb, it is stated that Col. Ludington at numerous times
thwarted the careful scheming of Gen. Howe, and that this so exasperated the British
commander that he set a price on the Colonel's head. As a consequence, the patriot's
life was sought by torics, who on one occasion surrounded the historic old house in
large numbers and would, doubtless, have effected his capture but for the bravery
and presence of mind of his daughters Sibyl and Rebecca, who were standing guard
with guns in their hands and discovered the enemy in time to baffle their plans by an
ingeniously conceived and intrepidly executed deception. Sibyl Ludington it was
who, just after the British forces had raided Danbury, Conn., rode all night on horse-
back to arouse Col. Ludington's regiment of " minute men," and whose daring achieve-
ment has been embalmed in history, story and song.
At that old family home of such precious associations Nelson Ludington was
born January 18, 1818, and there he passed his boyhood days, receiving his primary
tutelage in such schools ;is were afforded at that time and place. A course of study
at the Tucker Hill Academy, in Dutchess County, completed his education so far as
schools were concerned, but it cannot be said of such a man as Mr. Ludington that
his education was ever completed, for he was not one to be satisfied with imperfect
attainments, his present was never so bright to him as the promise for his future, and he
was, all his life long, a diligent reader, a student of events, and a diviner of the peculi-
arities of men. It was in a little old-fashioned general store at Cold Spring, N. Y., that
his business experience began, but he soon went to New York City, then the Mecca
of every ambitious youth in America, as Chicago is now, and for a time was employed
as a clerk in a dry goods store. It must be borne in mind that under conditions gov-
erning business at that time, a clerkship in a dry goods store in a city or even a large
general store in a country town, was considered an admirable opening for a youth,
however little advancement these may appear to be to the young man who enters
iil)on a career as a salesman in the great trade emporiums of the present day. Then
he was, in such a position, in touch with the business men in all the surrounding
country, and in one way and another had to do with about every kind of enterprise
carried on within a radius of ten or twenty miles. The credit system prevailed, and
fully two-thirds of the business ol the country was done through the merchant, who
in a sense backed about every enterprise and received his pay in hulk when its man-
292 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO.
agers brought it to a successful issue. Among the early merchants of Milwaukee were
Ludington, Burchard & Co., a firm constituted of Mr. Ludington's uncle, Lewis Lud-
ington, his brother, Harrison Ludington, and Harvey Burchard. In 1839 young Lud-
ington became a clerk in the general store of this company, and two years later he
was enabled to buy the interest of Mr. Burchard, and the name of the firm was
changed to Ludington & Co. In 1848 Mr. Ludington sold his interest in this store
and forming a partnership with Hon. Daniel Wells, Jr., and Jefferson Sinclair,
embarked in the lumber trade, the style of the firm being N. Ludington & Co.
The lumber trade of this region was at that time in its infancy. There was little
in its status then to invite the investment of capital. Rewards, if rewards there were
to be, were matters entirely of the future. The West was only beginning to develop,
and at that time it required something more than ordinary prevision to see into its
great future and the future of the lumber trade dependent upon it. It was a power
greater than this that enabled Mr. Ludington to perceive how great must the market
for lumber become, how it must go on increasing in a proportion almost magical, as
the work of developing this great country should progress. He saw not alone the
possibilities of the West, but those of the Northwest as well, for he and his associates
were favorably located to supply lumber to both markets, and he believed that, with
such advantages, those earliest in the field would reap the largest returns. In the
daring enterprise of the firm, Mr. Ludington was the acknowledged leader. He pro-
ceeded to act upon his convictions by acquiring considerable bodies of fine timber
lands, and establishing mills at Escanaba and Marinette, Mich., thus enabling the firm
to go extensively into the manufacture of lumber.
The principal docks and lumber yards of the company were at Milwaukee until
1851, and even at that time the tide of enterprise was beginning to roll in upon Chi-
cago from all parts of the country tributary to it, and Mr. Ludington and his asso-
ciates decided to establish, under Mr. Ludington's personal supervision, what they
intended to be a branch of the business in this city. It required only about three
years to demonstrate Chicago's superiority to Milwaukee as a lumber distributing
center. Before half that time had elapsed Chicago was the headquarters of the entire
business and at its expiration the office and yards at Milwaukee were abandoned, and
in 1854 the enterprise was, to all intents and purposes, wholly a Chicago one. As
such it grew with a rapidity far beyond the most brilliant anticipations of its pro-
motors. The great business was conducted as before under a simple partnership
arrangement until 1868, when a long cherished plan was adopted of incorporating the
concern under the style of the N. Ludington Company. Of this heavily capitalized
corporation Mr. Ludington was chosen president, for reasons which cannot but be
obvious to the most casual reader, and he retained that office until his death, fifteen
years later. During a period of more than a third of a century Mr. Ludington was
the executive head of the firm and of the corporation which bore his name, a com-
Goodspccd. BrothM. BdTustara Cln
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 295
pany and a corporation which won a degree of success almost unexampled in the lum-
ber trade of Chicago, and which, rewarded with an independent fortune about every
man at all prominently identified with them financially, a fact that speaks unequivo-
cally of his splendid conservatism and well-judged enterprise. This is all the more
noteworthy when it is remembered that not many of the pioneers of the lumber trade
here achieved lasting and final success. Many of them went down in the financial
maelstroms of 1857 and 1873, many of them succumbed to disasters which overtook
them in the regular course of business, and most of the few who were enabled to
retire" wealthy, had been buffeted by the waves of adversity till they counted their
gains most dearly earned. During its long career, in times of financial calm, and in
times of financial storm, the concern of which Mr. Ludington was the head never
failed in one instance to meet its obligations and fully satisfied any and every demand
upon it, and its credit was so high that at times it was able to carry other concerns
through periods of threatened ruin.
Mr. Ludington, in a splendid way, combined the qualities of the great merchant
with the qualities of the great financier, for his success as a merchant was no more
conspicuous than his success as a banker. Upon the organization of the Fifth
National Bank of Chicago, in 1863, he was chosen one of its directors, and ten years
later his services for the benefit of that institution were recognized by his election to
its presidency, a position which he retained until the charter of the bank expired by
limitation in 1872, when he became one of the directors of its successor, the National
Bank of America. Living in an era of speculation, with ample capital to invest, con^
stantly tempted to speculate, he was no speculator. All his operations were planned
with the greatest precision and beyond the legitimate risk of trade nothing was left to
chance. Beginning his career as a Western business man with a cash capital of only
$35, he pushed his enterprises persistently and with rare good judgment until his
tra nsactions reached up into the hundreds of thousands annually, and during all the
long time consumed in the achievement and amid all the vicissitudes of competition
and changing conditions, there never was a day when he did not know almost to a
dollar how his affairs stood; and, informed as to the realities of the present, he made-
few mistakes, and none of magnitude, in calculating the probabilities of the future.
The strictest probity and integrity were no less distinguishing characteristics of his
business career than his conservatism, and in all of his associations with his fellows he
was the peer of any of the pioneer merchants of the West. The estimate placed upon him
by his competitorsand contemporaries in business was expressed at the time of his death,
which occurred January 15, 1883. in the following extract from a series of resolutions
passed by the Chicago Lumberman's Exchange, which attended his funeral as an organi-
zation : "Our circle has been deprived of one wise in counsel, enterprising in spirit, diligent
in business, and a citizen whose example was worthy of the emulation of those who are
yet early in the pursuit of success in business life, and who are seeking successful
20P. INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
models for their guidance." Resolutions of like tenor, some of them more emphat-
ically expressed, were adopted by the board of directors of the National Bank of
America, by the Chicago Clearing House Association, and by other important corpor-
ate bodies. Such tributes are paid only to men of the highest standing, the most
praiseworthy achievements and the most shining reputation.
Mr. Ludington was little inclined to publicity except in an unavoidable business
way. His disposition was extremely modest and retiring, and he studiously avoided
all ostentation, devoting himself entirely to his home and his family in his hours of
relaxation from the cares of the great enterprises to the successful conduct of which
he gave the best years of a true and noble life. The surviving members of his family
are his widow, Mrs. Charlotte J. Ludington, and his daughters Mary L. Barnes, wife
of Charles J. Barnes, of the publishing house of A. S. Barnes & Co., New York and
Chicago, and managing director in Chicago of the American Bank Company, and
Jennie L. Young, wife of George W. Young, a capitalist of this city. The interests of
his estate center in Chicago, and one of the notable business blocks of the city is
known as the "Ludington Building." The latter years of his life were marred by ill
health, but he never lost his geniality or the tranquillity that is the reward in advanc-
ing age of a life well spent. Accompanied by his wife, he traveled quite extensively
in this country and abroad in quest of health, but that which he sought was not
vouchsafed to him, and with a heroism born of a knowledge of a life as nearly blame-
less as mortal life may be, and the hope of immortality which was his through faith,
he resigned himself to the inevitable and passed away, regretted a thousand fold more
than regretting.
James Farr, Jr. Among the oldest of the representatives of the earlier lumber
trade of Chicago must be named James Farr, Jr., who was born at Fort Ann, Wash-
ington County, N. Y., October 27, 1820. His father was of the Puritan stock, which
settled in Massachusetts as early as 164010 1660; his grandmother was descended from
the Huguenots of Switzerland, a colon)- of whom arrived in this country about the
same period.
James Farr, Sr., was a farmer, and in connection with his farm built and operated a
water saw mill, whose sash saw was of the primitive character so often and truthfully
spoken of as " up to-day and down to-morrow," but equal in capacity to the wants of
the limited settlements of the day.
With his ancestry he was a stanch colonist and devoted American, serving in the
War of 1812, his regiment being stationed for ninety days at Plattsburg, on Lake
Champlain. He was subsequently promoted to a colonelcy, and took delight in train-
ing young men in military tactics. He was a public man and politician, and repre-
sented his count}- in the New York Legislature in the session of 1847-48.
James Jr. was brought up on the farm and enjoyed the limited advantages of the
three to four months which comprised the yearly quota of the common schools of the
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 297
day, with the addition of three terms at the academy at Granville and Fort Ann.
Leaving home in August, 1841, he started for the then distant West, landing at Chi-
cago on the 1st of September. He first paid a visit to some friends who had settled
at Galesburg, remaining a part of the winter, going thence, in February, 1842, to Mil-
waukee, where he opened an office for the commission trade in lumber, in pursuance
of early predilections for a mercantile life, work about his father's saw mill creating a
strong preference for the lumber business, which he found to be a thriving business in
the city of his location.
In April, 1843, he entered the employ of Anson Eldred, of Detroit, who had a
branch yard at Milwaukee, of which young Farr was given charge, and continued in
its management for six years, when he acquired a joint interest with his employer in
the Milwaukee business, which proved so successful that in 1852 the capital of the
firm had outstripped the growth of the city, and as Chicago presented better facilities
for the desired extension, the business was removed to this city, and the firm of Farr,
Ladue & Co. was organized, buying the Eldred interest and opening a yard on Canal
Street, north of Van Buren, and Mr. Farr became the resident and managing partner.
About two years later Mr. F.ldred again was induced to join the Chicago firm, which in
1853 became known as Anson Eldred & Co., comprising Anson Eldred, Andrew Ladue
anil James Farr, Jr. In 1855 t ^e partnership ceased, and Mr. Farr removed to Beloit,
Wis., where he opened a lumber yard which he continued to operate until the fall of
1861, when he was appointed assignee of the firm of Eldreds & Balcom ( Elisha
Eldred, Chicago, Anson Eldred, Milwaukee, and Uri Balcom, the firm operating a_
saw mill at Stiles, Wis.. with yard at Chicago). The liabilities of the firm were about
half a million of dollars, and it took nearly five years to close its extensive business,
but the result was the payment of every obligation, principal and interest, which was
esteemed the most remarkable settlement of an assigned estate in the history of the
city up to that time. In the spring of 1868 Mr. Farr concluded a settlement with Mr.
Eldred, upon whose honor he had relied for a suitable compensation for the arduous
work in which he had for so long been engaged, taking the Muskegon mill as a part
of his dues, operating it for one year and then disposing of it.
He now entered the employ of Kirby, Carpenter & Co. on a" salary, superintend-
ing the purchases and sales of that large concern, with which he remained for several
years, when he took the same position with Charles J. L. Meyers, with whom he con-
tinued for ten years in the superintendency of the yard and of the buying and selling,
of his extensive business at Chicago. In 1882 Mr. Farr entered the employ of Brooks
& Ross, doing all the buying for their large Chicago trade. In 1887 he became buyer
for S. B. Barker and continued in this employ until 1890, when he opened a commis-
sion office, which he continued until his death, his advanced age in no wise diminishing
his ardor for useful occupation.
Mr. Farr, in 1845, was married to Miss Lucy Coleman, of Fort Ann, N. Y., who
298 FND US TKfA L CHIC A CO.-
died in 1847. leaving a little daughter who survived hut a few months. In 1850 he
was married to Miss Jane Chapin, of Hartford, Conn., by whom he has two daughters
now living, a son having died in infancy and two daughters after attaining woman-
hood. Mr. Farr long resided in the beautiful suburb of Evanston, enjoying the
respect of all who had known him during a long and busy life, nearly the whole of
which had been identified with the lumber interest of Chicago and the Northwest.
He died at Evanston in 1893.
John Henry Witbeck. Unquestionably, the lumber trade of Chicago is one of the
most gigantic industries ever instituted by the genius of man for the benefit of society
as an organic unit. It can be safely said that the art of transforming the stately trees
of the forest into the beautiful architectural forms of to-day, is wholly in keeping
with the marvelous strides of the century in subjecting the crude forms of nature
to the joy and advantage of humanity. The figures given by some of the largest
of the lumber firms of this city thrill the mind with amazement. And then when
it is considered that the largest house is but one of many, and that the figures must
be multiplied by tens and hundreds, the brain becomes bewildered. No one can
contemplate this vast industry without a feeling of pride in this great city, and in the
enterprise of the individuals whose intellectual capacity, unceasing activity, and
systematic business methods have given Chicago its great reputation, and reflected
upon themselves so high a renown. There is something more in great business success
here, than a mere drifting upward with the tide of urban development. An individual
is but an atom of an aggregate community; but his rebound from other atoms,
his upward spring from business laws and requirements, and his perpetual tendency
and endeavor to reach the top, contribute far more toward his success than does
chance, or wind, or tide. Temporary success may result from exceptional conditions,
but long continued success in the turbulent sea of competition proves the existence
of an unusual capacity, if it does not absolutely demonstrate a high order of genius.
Point out a man who has risen from idleness and nothing, to industry and fortune,
and you will show the world a man of heroic parts, courageous, penetrating, broad-
minded, and with a will of tempered steel. We have these men in Chicago, and you
will not have to go many steps to meet one.
John Henry Witbeck is the president and treasurer of the H. Witbeck Company,
wholesale dealers in lumber. The great mills of this company are located at Marinette,
Wis., where 250 employes find labor, while the local office and yards have for many
years, and until the withdrawal from the yard trade in 1894, been located at 310 West
Twenty-Second Street, this city. The capacity of their " Island Mills" at Marinette,
in 1891, was 52,000,000 feet, and the current year will see a considerable advance over
that enormous figure. The sales of lumber by this company in Chicago in 1891
reached 25,cco,cco feet, and to Buffalo 26,cco,cco, and in Marinette over 2,OCO,CCO.
These figures are bewildering but not, it seems, to Mr. Witbeck. He glories in their
L Brothers Puilisiifirs. Chicago.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 301
magnitude, and takes pleasure in holding them up like the head of Medusa to petrify
his astonished competitors. But he is a practical lumberman, the incarnation of
industry and success, and is a polished, genial gentleman. Besides this, he is an old
settler of Chicago, and this fact would alone cover a multitude of sins. Back in 1843,
when this city was a grotesque town struggling to rise above the mud and swamps, he
came here, a boy of seven years. Here his youth was passed in companionship with
the youthful Chicago, receiving his education from the public schools. In 1853 he
accepted a position as clerk for the lumber firm of Edward Wing, at the corner of Jack-
son and Market Streets, where he remained about two years and then engaged in the
same capacity and business with John M. Williams, at the corner of Monroe and Canal
Streets. A year later he purchased an interest in the wagon and implement manu-
facturing establishment of his father, and thus continued until the whole plant was
sold to A. E. Bishop in 1862. The following year he purchased an interest in the
lumber firm of Cutler, Witbeck & Co., composed of Asa E. Cutler, George Witbeck and
John S. Reed. This was changed to the style of H. Witbeck & Co., in 1869, and the
succeeding year was incorporated under the title of The H. Witbeck Company. This
business has since grown to enormous proportions under the direct care and supervision
of John Henry Witbeck, the sales of twenty-three years aggregating more than
550,000,000 feet of lumber. But Mr. Witbeck has not confined either his labor or his
pleasure to the management of this business alone. In August, 1890, the Chicago &
Tampa Improvement Company was organized by himself and others and, incorporated
with a capital stock of 8500,000, he was made secretary and treasurer. They have 120,000
acres in Hillsboro County, Fla., where many beautiful homes are being founded,
and many fine orange groves opened to the world. Mr. Witbeck was for five years
a director in the National Bank of America, and is now a director and vice-president
of the Fort Dearborn National Bank. He'is also vice-president of the Vessel Owners
Towing Company. In all these responsible positions he has shown the highest
capacity. He has taken much pleasure, and the lodge has derived great profit from
his connection with the Masonic order, of which he has been a thirty-second degree
member for over twenty years, grand treasurer of the Grand Commandery of the
State of Illinois, and has been for fourteen years, a past commander of Chicago
Commandery. He was united in marriage January 24, 1859,10 Miss Mary E. Guernsey,
a native of New York, and daughter of Alonzo and Ellen M. ( Hines) Guernsey, who
came to Chicago in 1854. Mr. Witbeck and his wife have four children: Henry Yaie,
James Alonzo, Fannie E. and Grace M. Few men of Chicago have shown the busi-
ness qualifications possessed by Mr. Witbeck. He was gifted by nature with a powerful
mind and a strong will, and both were placed in a field of action requiring their con-
stant use. In fact almost all of his adult life has been passed in stirring industry in
the lumber trade and business world.
His father was Henry Witbeck and his mother Huldah Yale, the former born at
u
302 I\nUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Athens, Greene Count}', N. Y., in 1813. At the age of fifteen years he was appren-
ticed to learn the blacksmith's trade, in which capacity he served five years. At this
trade, as journeyman, he worked until 1845, but in the meantime, in 1843, came to
Chicago. In 1845 as a member of the firm of Pearce & Witbeck he opened up a
wagon and agricultural implement manufactory at the corner of Randolph and
Jefferson streets, which business grew and flourished until it was sold in 1862. In
1869 he became the senior member of the lumber firm of H. Witbeck & Co.,
which a year later was incorporated with a capital of $100,000, subsequently increased
to $600,000, the first officers of the incorporated company being Daniel Wells, Jr.,
president; Henry Witbeck, vice-president; John H. Witbeck, secretary and treasurer.
In 1886 the officers elected were John H. Witbeck, president and treasurer; Daniel
Wells, Jr., vice-president, and Warren J. Davis, secretary. Henry Witbeck, a man of
more than usual honesty, industry and ability, died April 12, 1891. He was prom-
inent here for many year* and was a member of the famous " fire council" of the
city, which brought order and prosperity out of the awful calamity of 1871. At the
time of his death and for twelve years previously he had been vice-president of the
National Bank of America.
John A. H. Waldo was born at Methuen, Mass., January 16, 1827. His father,
George A. Waldo, was a merchant of Methuen, the son of Edward Waldo, a soldier
of the Revolutionary War, and sixth in descent of the Waldo family in America,
Cornelius Waldo having landed at Ipswich, Mass., in 1654 from England, being a
descendant of Peter Waldo, a merchant of Lyons, Erance, who was burned at the
stake in 1 170 for his religious opinions.
John was educated at the common and private schools of Methuen until the age
of eighteen, when he took a clerkship during the summer and attended school in winter.
At ^he age of twenty-two he (in 1849), joined the army of Argonauts and sailed for
California in the ship " Euphrasia" from Boston, which reached San Erancisco May 26,
1850, after a voyage of 195 days, stopping at Rio Janeiro and Valparaiso en route. He
remained in the "diggings" at Tuolumne and Hawkins Creeks and at the town of Nevada
on Deer Creek until the fall of 1852, when he returned via the Isthmus of Panama.
On the 2d of August, 1853, he was married to Miss Susan M. Blaisdell, of Carlisle,
Mass., and came west with his bride, settling for a time at Jefferson, Wis., as a manu-
facturer of furniture. In June, 1855, he came to Chicago and entered the employ of
Walker & Day, lumber dealers (on Canal Street ), as book keeper, continuing with
their successors, Kennedy & Day, until February, 1859, when he bought the stock of
the firm and continued the business at 1 1 5 Canal Street until 1880, when he retired,
and has since occupied his time in the care of his own real estate in this city. Mr.
Waldo was for many years a member of the Lumberman's Exchange and a prominent
member of its committees. He is a member of Oriental Lodge, E. & A. M., and a
life member of Apollo Commandery, K. T. He has for many years been judge of
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 30*
election in his ward, but has held no other political positions. His only son, John B.,
is editor and proprietor of the Apparel Gazette, the organ of the wholesale clothing
trade of the country,
Oscar Daniel Wetherell. Not only as a lumberman and planing-mill owner and
operator, but as an influential citizen, an able public official and a business and munici-
pal financier of the very highest order, is Oscar Daniel Wetherell, known to Chicago-
ans of this and an earlier generation. Born at Bath, N. H., in 1834, and taking advan-
tage of such educational opportunities as the common schools near his home afforded
him, he devoted his time and youthful energies, in a measure, to the demands of his
father's farm. In 1852, at the age of eighteen, he came West and found employment
in the lumber yard of J. H. Pearson, at Henry, 111., and in the spring of 1853 he came
to Chicago to serve throughout the season as tallyman on the docks, for Inspector
Arthur Meglade, who, with his brother, William Meglade, was doing a lumber com-
mission and inspection business at 550 South Clark Street. In the spring of 1854 Mr.
Wetherell entered the employ of Jabex. Barber, on Canal Street, between Madison and
Monroe Streets, as foreman of the lumber yard, and remained there and with the
Xewaygo Lumber Company, at the corner of Sherman and Taylor Streets, until 1863.
In that year he formed a partnership with VV. 11. Jenkins and the firm of Wetherell &
Jenkins established an office and yards at the corner of Canal and Lumber Streets, and
there remained until the spring of 1872. During 1871 Mr. Wetherell formed a con-
nection with Ami W. Wright, of Saginaw City, Mich., and J. H. Pearson, of Chicago,
who had been in the lumber manufacturing business for twenty years, and the firm
of A. W. Wright & Co., and the later firm of Wright & Wetherell, became well known
among the leading saw-mill concerns of the Saginaw Valley. In 1884 the A. W.
Wright Lumber Company was incorporated and has had a continuous existence since.
During 1872-73 Mr. Wetherell devoted his time to-the mill at Saginaw City, until, in
September of the latter year, he returned to Chicago and opened a yard on Throop
Street, near Twenty-second, where the firm of O. D. Wetherell & Co. did a yard busi-
ness for the succeeding three years. In 1876 Mr. Wetherell erected a large planing
mill at 2514 Quarry Street anil gave up the yard business. Subsequently, in 1879,
another planing mill was erected on Lincoln Street, and in 1880 one on Wood Street,
and later one at Throop and Twenty-second Street was acquired by purchase.
Between 1884 and 1892, at various dates these were sold, with the exception of the
Quarry Street mill, which at this date Mr. Wetherell still retains. In December, 1890,
Mr. Wetherell became one of the incorporators of the Globe National Bank, of Chi-
cago, to the presidency of which he was elected, a position which he still occupies.
This, although one of the youngest, has already taken rank among the most popular
and reliable of Chicago's banking institutions, and is elsewhere in this work more fully
mentioned. Mr. Wetherell is a large stockholder in the Senour Manufacturing Com-
pany, of Chicago, manufacturers of paints, oils and colors, which together with the
:J04 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Wetherell elevator, is connected with the planing mill on Quarry Street, and he is
interested also in the North Aurora Roller Mill Company.
Mr. Wetherell's successes in life have not been confined to the domain of lumber.
Few men have of late years been more potent and influential in shaping the affairs of
this great city than O. U. Wetherell, who has always been recognized as a force in all
matters looking to the purification of city politics, and the inception and success of
all measures having for their object the advancement of the sanitary, moral, economic
and political interests of the city, county and State. A staunch Republican in
national politics for many years, he was in 1 88 1 elected to the Aldermanic Board as
the representative of the Fourth Ward, and was steadily re-elected to that position until
1889, when he declined further nomination. During his service he was elected mayor
pro tern, in November, 1886, during the temporary absence of Mayor Harrison, and
was usually made chairman of the committee on finance, in which capacity he dem-
onstrated a clearness of vision and a perception of the needs of the city in its financial
management, which won for him the confidence and esteem of the people. He may
be said to have led the fight over the questions of cheap gas and telephone rates and
control, and was the first to advance and advocate the idea that the interest on the
public funds belong to the city and are not rightfully a perquisite of the city treas-
urer. As a result, the retiring treasurer, in April, 1893, for the first time in the history
of Chicago, paid the city the interest which had accrued on the public funds. When
he took the office in April, 1891, though there was no law requiring it, he agreed with
the three banks in which the public money was to be deposited, that all interest accru-
ing on the city money should be turned over to the city. The substance of that
agreement was that he should be allowed out of the interest enough to pay the
expenses of his office and a fair salary for himself. The expenses of the office for the
first year were $18,000. The city council appropriated that amount, but the treasurer
did not draw a dollar of the appropriation, and it was turned into the general fund.
It was agreed that he was to be allowed for the first year 830,000 $18,000 for
expenses and $12,000 for salary. During the second year the council made no appro-
priation, and there was, therefore, nothing to be turned into the general fund. The
council did provide that by reason of the adoption of the weekly payment system
the expenses of the office for clerk hire might be increased $3,000. Thus there were
$33,000 paid out of the interest, for office expenses and the treasurer's salary. The
total amount thus used in two years was $63,000. Under the agreement made
with the banks they returned all of the interest in excess of the amount drawn. The
total amount which had accrued on the city money was $106,991.52, from which was
deducted the $63,000 used in running the treasurer's office, leaving a balance of
$43,991.52 for the benefit of. the city. To such an extent were Mr. Wetherell's views
upon financial matters approved by Mayor Harrison, that on the re-election of Mr.
Harrison in 1893 he tendered the position of city comptroller to Mr. Wetherell.'
Amsncar. B\ot)PukCa Chicago
or u
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 307
This from so strong a Democratic partisan as Mr. Harrison, was justly regarded as the
highest possible tribute to the honesty and financial ability of a gentleman who had
been known as a strong and active Republican from the first formation of the Repub-
lican party, and, in the estimation of an appreciative public, was complimentary in the
highest degree to both the mayor and his appointee. In the matter of high license
for saloons and the regulation of corporations, and on many other questions affecting
the public weal, Mr. Wetherell has been conspicuous for his advocacy of the public
interest as opposed to the individual schemer. A self-made man, who has risen by
his own efforts from a farmer's boy to the successful merchant, the efficient and
respected legislator, and the competent and trusted banker, Mr. Wetherell presents a
true type of that enterprise and push which have made Chicago the second, and in
some respects the first, city of the New World. Mr. Wetherell has been twice mar-
ried, his first wife, Sarah M. Wild, of Chicago, to whom he was united in 1854, died in
1883, leaving two daughters and a son to mourn the loss of a faithful mother. In
1885 he married Miss Marrieta M. Senour, of Topeka, Kan., who has blessed him with
two sons and two daughters.
Ezra Durgin. Among the Chicago dealers of the early fifties we find the name
of Ezra Durgin, who was closely identified with the trade for a decade.
Mr. Durgin was from an ancestry closely allied with the early days of the
republic, his parents residing in the seventeenth century near Concord, N. H.,
his father taking an active part with the patriots of the Revolution. Ezra was
born in 1796, and with such education as could be obtained in the schools of that
early period, he, while still a youth, engaged in the business of contracting, and figured
extensively as such in the building of the Erie Canal, and later in the construction of
many important public works in Indiana and Illinois, including, about 1841-42 a
considerable contract on the Illinois and Michigan Canal.
Attracted by the lead mines of western Wisconsin, he, about 1843, removed to
Exeter, Wis., where he carried on mining operations until the breaking out of the
gold excitement in 1849, when he went to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama,
at that time a most tedious and trying route, and settled on the north branch of the
Yuba River, where, finding extensive forests, he erected a water saw mill, finding
local market for its product at the remunerative rate of $100 per 1,000 feet log run.
He continued in this business until reaping a handsome competence, he returned East
in 1853 and engaged in the lumber business, with yard at the corner of Van Buren and
Canal Streets, and two saw mills at Manitowoc, Wis. These saw mills, known as the"Old"
and the " Coleman," consisted at that time of single mulays, and were run by small
steam engines of the primitive type of the day, each having a capacity of about ;,OOO
to 10,000 feet per day. About 1857 he established a second yard on the corner of
Eighteenth and Grove Streets, and in 1858 sold out the business- and mills, and
removed to Rock County, Wis., where he engaged in fanning and died in December,
308 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
1863, at the advanced age of sixty-seven years, leaving a widow and six children, of
whom the youngest son, John C., is elsewhere mentioned as at this time and for many
years past a prominent commission lumber dealer of this city. Another son, Myron H.,
was for some years associated with his father in business, and later was a well-known
lumberman at Muskegon, Mich., where he died in 1889. Mr. Durgin was noted for
his abundant energy and pushing enterprise in whatever line he decided to follow, and
as a man of integrity was most highly esteemed by all who were brought in contact
with him. He is spoken of as combining the thrift and integrity of the Yankee race,
with the push and vim of the " wooley West," and was a fair type of the energy which
has made this city in common with the whole Western country the synonym of enter-
prise throughout the land, and indeed, throughout the wide world. Mr. Durgin was
married in 1815 to Miss Temperance Nutter, of Maine, who died at Beloit, Wis.,
in 1857.
Horace W. Chase. Whatever may be said in praise of the speculative spirit,
whatever fortunes may have been acquired by its means or honor achieved by the
brilliant exercise of its power, the results are ordinarily so uncertain, the risks so
hazardous that it has come to be correctly regarded by the great mass of successful
business men that speculative tendencies are sure in the end to plunge the possessor
into financial ruin. Here and there among speculators may be found a lucky one
upon whom the caprice of fickle fortune has showered the losses of hundreds of others
now moneyless, and, therefore, friendless and unknown to fame. While, therefore,
the successful speculator flames like a meteor across .the financial sky, attracting
great attention by his rarity and radiance, thoughtful people will not be deceived or
misled by the glare, but will proceed to conduct their business on conservative lines
and according to the rules of honesty, which is the best policy.
It is not the speculator who has made Chicago. The latter has simply afforded
the speculator his opportunity and the triumphant and successful one is met with the
scowls of the thousands who have lost all. Like one who draws the grand pri/c in a
lottery he encounters the frowns of the thousands who have failed, and contributed to
his prize. But this termination is speculation gone mad, and the law, therefore, has
stepped in to say that the public welfare demands its suppression. In other words,
the speculative spirit leads to gambling and should be curbed and confined within the
legitimate fields of adventurous yet conservative enterprise. Men whose methods of
doing business have been guided by these safe rules an enterprising conservatism
are at once the makers and the pride of Chicago. They have given its commerce
credit and strength by imparting tone and confidence to its markets and expansion to
its trade, and to their honest efforts alone, is due the fact that Chicago to-day is the
greatest city in the world.
Among the business men here who have ranked highest for their honest)' and con-
servatism \vas Horace W. Chase, whose active and successful life furnishes main- useful
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 309
lessons. Born July I, 1833, '" Hunter, Greene County, X. Y., he was there reared
and educated, receiving during youth a fair knowledge of the lumber business in the
yards and mills of his father. The latter, Charles Chase, was also a native of the
Kmpire State, though his ancestors were from Massachusetts, of an old colonial
family. Upon reaching manhood he married Eleanor Howk, also a native of York
State, and about this time opened a tannery at Hunter, and later established a saw
mill and a lumber yard there, conducting all with success and amassing a comfortable
fortune. Here it was that Horace W. Chase was educated and first instructed in the
complexities of the lumber trade. In 1857, being then of age, he came to Chicago
and was tendered the position of foreman in the lumber yards of Larncd & Chase,
the junior member of the firm being the elder brother of Horace W. He accepted
the responsible position and at once entered upon his duties and thus continued until
1861, faithfully discharging his task and acquiring much valuable information of the
lumber trade in the bustling and enterprising market of Chicago. In fact, the founda-
tion of his knowledge of the lumber business was gained during this period, though
the ripening and fruiting seasons of his profitable life were yet to come.
When the Government was plunged into war and all patriotic men were urged to
come forward and maintain the union of the States, the stirring call met with a respon-
sive answer from Horace W. Chase, who, April 19, 1861, promptly tendered his ser-
vices as a private, and was assigned to Company A of the Chicago Light Artillery,
one of the first troops of the war. He enlisted for three years, and served with his
command until July 16, 1864, when he was mustered out at Springfield, 111., and honor-
ably discharged from the service. He served in all the engagements of his regiment,
and was commissary of his battery all through the service. This was one of the most
famous commands of the western army and participated in the folio wing engagements:
Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Champion's Hill, siege of
Vicksburg, siege of Jackson, Miss., Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Dalton, Ga., Kenesaw
Mountain and many others. He at once returned to Chicago, after receiving his dis-
charge, and purchased a small interest in the lumber firm of Howard & Chase, and at
the same time assumed the duties of a responsible position with the firm, for which he
drew a salary until 1867, when he became the junior member of the firm of D. F.
Chase & Brother, with yards at the Halsted street bridge. A strong, yet conservative,
business was conducted by the brothers from 1867 to 1872, when D. F. Chase withdrew
from the firm and D. S. Pate was admitted as a partner, and the following year the
style of the company became Chase & Pate. Mr. Pate had been in the employ of the
brothers for three years. Upon the formation of the company, in 1873, the yards were
located at Archer Avenue and Quarry Street, where they remained until 1876, and were
then removed to Throop and Twenty-second Streets and there were conducted until
May i, 1892, when Horace W. Chase retired from the firm.
Alter 1873 tlie business of the firm grew very rapidly under the safe and reputable
310 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
business methods of Mr. Chase. There was at that time and subsequently an intense
tendency to speculation in every industry of the city. Many far-sighted and con-
servative business men, sound and able on all questions of finance, were led into
unwise speculation and serious losses more, in fact, than they could bear. In such
times it is difficult to resist the temptation of what seems to be certain success in the
speculative world, and the active business man who can live through it and resist all
its enticements, at the same time conducting his business safely and conservatively,
deserves the highest credit. This was the course pursued by Mr. Chase. The specu-
lative fever had no effect upon him, or, if it had, he applied the antidote of sound
sense to it and had no difficulty in penetrating its probable dangerous results. As a
consequence he did not venture more than was prudent, made no contracts he could
pot promptly and profitably perform, carried on a large and constantly expanding
trade upon safe and able business rules, was adventurous and enterprising enough to
outwit numerous competitors and thus secure many profitable fields in the lumber
market, and, by reason of his foresight, wise methods, unceasing industry and strict
honest}', built up one of the strongest and most reputable trades ever in Chicago. It
is doubtful if the city has produced a safer business man than Mr. Chase, certainly
not one of greater industry, honesty and success. He started out without a dollar,
was energetic, faithful, alert, a student of his occupation and in less than half a life-
time had become one of the shrewdest lumbermen of the city, had amassed a fine
fortune and gained a reputation without blemish.
During the career of the firm from 1876 to 1892 several important changes were
made in the business. In 1884 they became associated with C. A. Paltzer & Co.,
being known as the company of that concern, and were so connected until June i,
1892, at which time Mr. Chase purchased the interest of Mr. Pate, which he continued
to hold at the time of his decease. He did not take an active part in the business, but
his interests were large and his profits satisfactory.
Mr. Chase was a man of pure life and simple habits, loving his family and fireside,
was warm-hearted and hospitable and at once inspired ease and confidence. He
resided at 3226 South Park Avenue, and attended the Peoples' Church, presided over by
Rev. Dr. Thomas. He was a Master Mason and a Republican. He belonged to George
H. Thomas Post, G. A. R., and Battery A., Light Artillery, and was treasurer of that
association. He was also president of the " Old Cairo Survivors " organization. His
first marriage occurred in 1872 to Miss Elizabeth Tebbetts, a native of Manchester,
N. H., who presented him with two bright children; Volney H. and Eleanor E. His wife
died October 23, 1883, and in March, 1885, he wedded Miss Anna L. Odlin, a native of
Dayton, Ohio. In his happy home Mr. Chase was prepared to enjoy his life and his
fine reputation, until death claimed him September 6, 1893, after an illness of but a
week, from a malignant carbuncle on the neck, attacking the brain, and he was fol-
lowed to the tomb by a large concourse of lumbermen and other warm friends.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 313
"At a meeting of the board of directors of the Lumbermen's Association, held
the following afternoon the following resolutions on the death of Horace W. Chase
were unanimously adopted:
" Whereas, This association has learned with profound sorrow of the sudden
death of our late associate, Horace W. Chase, of the firm of C. A. Paltzer & Co., who
died September 6, and desirous that the memory of his life may be a matter of record
with this association, therefore, be it
" Resolved, That, identified as was Mr. Chase for over a quarter of a century with the
lumber trade of Chicago and the Northwest, his life was a bright example of business
integrity, and uprightness, worthy of emulation by all others, and we point with pride
and satisfaction to the life of our late associate as an example of patriotism in his
devotion to his country through a term of service spent in her defense during our
late war.
" Resolved, By the Lumbermen's Association of the city of Chicago, that while we
reverently bow to this decree of the Maker and Ruler of all the earth, yet we cannot
but regret to part so suddenly with one of our members so favorably known, respected,
and loved.
" Resolved, That we tender his sorrowing family our heartfelt sympathy in this hour
of their great affliction, and remind them that their surest consolation will be found
in the unsullied record of his earnest and faithful life.
" Resolved, That these resolutions he spread upon the records of the Lumbermen's
Association, and copies transmitted to the family of the deceased and to the lumber
and daily press."
David F. Chase, a brother of Horace W. Chase, and whose connection with the
lumber trade of Chicago dates from 1853, was born at Hunter, Greene County, N. Y.,
November 13, 1831. After receiving a common-school education, supplemented by a
two-years course at the Charlotteville Institution, he, in 1853, came West, locating at
Peoria, 111., and engaging in the manufacturing of sash, doors and blinds.
In his frequent visits to Chicago for the purchase of stock, he made the acquaint-
ance ofThroop & Lamed, who offering him an interest in their lumber business, he sold
out his Peoria business and removed to Chicago. The firm ofThroop, Lamed & Chase
was organized in the spring of 1858, and continued but one year, Mr. Chase disposing
of his interest to his partners, for the purpose of starting a yard at Tonica, 111., in
connection with a man named Kipp, the firm being Chase & Kipp. In 1859 Mr. Chase
took the gold fever and went to Pike's Peak, returning the following year without
realizing the success which fancy had pictured to him and which pluck deserved.
Like a majority of gold-seekers in the mines of California, Fraser River, Pike's Peak,
etc., he did not require a Government escort to protect the results of his hard labor
with pick and shovel.
On July 16, 1861, Mr. Chase enlisted in Taylor's Battery "B" as sergeant, and was
wounded at the battle of Belmont, Ky., and losing the use of his right arm he was dis-
charged for disability, June 19, 1862. Returning to Chicago, he engaged again in the
314 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
lumber business with* S. G. U. Howard, the firm being Howard & Chase. In 1864
Mr. Chase was married to Mrs. Kmily F. Taber, of Chicago. In 1866 the firm of Mor-
ton & Chase was established and continued until 1868, when, Mr. Morton retiring,
Horace \Y. Chase, a brother of David, purchased Mr. Morton's interest and the busi-
ness was continued under the name of D. F. Chase & Bro., and continued until 1872,
when, on account of failing health, the subject of this sketch sold out his interest to
Davy S. Pate, and the business was continued by H. W. Chase and D. S. Pate, under
the firm name of Chase & Pate.
In 1 880-8 1, having regained his health, Mr. Chase formed a partnership with F. H.
Hannah, under the designation of D. F. Chase & Co., with a yard located at Cologne
and Fuller Streets bridge. This business was closed out in 1882, this ending Mr.
Chase's intimate connection with the Chicago lumber trade.
In 1884 Mr. Chase bought an interest in the Kureka Hoop Company, at St.
Charles, Mich., and was elected president of the company. In 1884 he purchased his
partner's interest and continued the business until a short time before his death, which
occurred February 9, 1891, at East Saginaw, Mich., leaving a widow (now residing at
Evanston ) and two sons, Frank D., now aged fourteen years, and Albert W., aged sixteen
Mr. Chase was a man who possessed the highest confidence of all who had dealings with
him; open-hearted to a fault, his hand was never withheld when suffering, distress or
trouble of any kind was threatened to those with whom he was associated. I le was one
of whom it might truly be said that the world was better for his contact with it, and his
memory will ever be held sacred by all who had intimate relations with him. Honor-
able to a fault, if such be possible, his connection with the lumber business of Chicago
was a credit to the trade, while as a citizen and a patriot his example was worthy of
emulation by all who hold a high sense of the duty devolving upon a true American.
Isaac Stephenson. In connection with the sketch elsewhere of Nelson Ludington,
the Nelson Ludington Company, and I. Stephenson Company, it will be gathered
that Isaac Stephenson has been a prominent factor in the lumber business of Chicago
for many years, although not at any time a resident of the city, his duties in connec-
tion with the business being more largely confined to the work of manufacturing the
lumber at the mills, and directing the logging operations in the woods.
Mr. Stephenson was born at Fredrickton, New Brunswick, his parents being Isaac
Stephenson, of Ireland, who married Elizabeth Watson, of London, England. His
father was a lumberman and farmer by occupation. Isaac attended the common
schools until the age of sixteen, when he worked on a farm and in the lumber woods.
In 1845 h e came West, and in 1846 helped put in 400 acres of wheat at Rock Prairie,
.five miles south of Janesville, Wis. In the fall he went to Escanaba. Mich., and engaged
in the lumber business with M. Jefferson Sinclair, the man with whom he came West,
and in 1850 became connected with Harrison anil Nelson Ludington and Daniel
Wells, Jr.of Milwaukee, in logging and the manufacture of lumber at Marinette,
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 315
Wis.. on the Menominee river, and in 1858 became a stockholder with those gentle-
men in the incorporated company known as the N. Ludington Company.
In 1882 Mr. Stephenson was elected by the voters of the Ninth District of Wiscon-
sin to represent them in the Congress of the United States, a position to which he was
re-elected for two successive terms. At the closing up of the estate of Mr. Nelson
Ludington, after that gentleman's decease in 1882, he associated with him Daniel
Wells, Jr., S. W. Wyatt and C. W. Wells in the incorporation of the I. Stephenson
Company (1888), which became the legitimate successor in Chicago of the N. Luding-
ton Company, established in 1852. Mr. Stephenson is a practical business man, whose
forte lies in the direction of the selection of timber lands, the care of the logging
operations in the woods and of the manufacture of lumber at the mills at Kscanaba,
where at the two mills 150.000 feet of lumber with a full quota of shingles and lath are
the average daily product. Mr. Stephenson has been married three times: in 1852
to Margaret Stephenson, who died in 1872. His second wife was Augusta Anderson,
to whom he was married in 1873, and who died in 1882. In 1884 he was married to
Elizabeth Burns, who still survives. He has eight children, two sons and six
daughters.
Mr. Stephenson owns a controlling interest in the N. Ludington Company, which
manufactures from 30,000,000 1040,000,000 feet of lumber per year, also in the Stephenson
Manufacturing Company, of Marinctte, \Vis., with a manufacture of 15,000,000 feet per
year, and as well in the Peshtigo Lumber Company, which manufactures from 40,000.-
ooo to 45,000,000 feet. He is president of the Menominee River Boom Company
and of the Stephenson National Bank of Marinette. He is recogniz.cd as an excellent
and reliable business man, and has won a wide reputation for political sagacity, and
honorable business methods in all the various departments with which he is con-
nected, and, while not a resident of Chicago, has been intimately connected with the
vast development of its lumber industry for nearly half a century.
Dcvillo R. Holt. Mr. D. R. Holt dates back to an early connection with the
lumber trade of Chicago, and has continued in it from 1847 down to the present day.
Mr. Holt was born at Watertown, N. Y., December 27, 1823, and at about the age
of twenty years came West and followed the occupation of an Indian trader and mer-
chant, with headquarters on the island of Mackinaw. The climate proving too severe,
social privileges too restricted, and the confinement of the store too enervating, he
abandoned a business in which he had accumulated some money, and turning his face
toward the south end of Lake Michigan he reached Chicago on the 24th of October,
1847, and a couple of weeks later, on November 6, bought out the lumber yard of
(ieorge Roberts on the corner of Market and Madison Streets. There was no rail-
road, and the canal was not opened until the following year, consequently the trade
was local and by teams to the surrounding country. Mr. Holt obtained his supplies
principally direct from the manufacturers of Grand River and Muskegon, Mich., and
316 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
from Green Bay, Wis., until 1852. He looked principally to Peshtigo, Wis., for his
supplies, until 1856-57, when considerable quantities were received from Lake Huron
ports. By an incendiary fire in 1858 Mr. Holt lost his yard with a fine stock of Sag-
inaw lumber, the word "fine," as applied to the lumber of that period signifying some-
thing far superior to the average cut of lumber of later years. The fire protection of
those days consisted of hand engines, which at an early stage of the fire became use-
less, and the destruction of the yard was complete. The incendiaries were appre-
hended and proved to be members of the fire company who sought the premium
accorded in those days to the company which first reached the fire. They were tried,
convicted and served a term in State prison.
In 1852 Mr. Holt became interested with Richard Mason in the purchase of the
Ferguson mill at Little Bay De Noquet, and the firm of Holt & Mason, with an old
fashioned sash mill, sold D. R. Holt about 6,000,000 feet of lumber annually. In 1854
the mill was enlarged by the addition of a siding mill, of a sort which is never seen to-day,
'which was used to saw cants six inches wide into half inch or thicker, by auto-
matic set works. This was a most useful machine in its day, but did not come
into universal use, probably because it did not make enough sawdust, economy of
timber not being considered the virtue it has since become. Mr. Holt sold out his
mill and yard interest in 1858 to his partner Mason, and became a stockholder and
director, as well as a charter member of the Merchants Loan & Trust Company, with
which he remained four years. In 1862 Mr. Holt associated himself with A. C. Cal-
kins, his former foreman, superseding the firm of Calkins & Dennison, and not long
after (1863) Mr. Uri Balcom purchased the Calkins interest, and the firm of Holt &
Balcom was formed, continuing until 1887, and this firm acquired large tracts of tim-
ber land, and a saw mill at and near Oconto, Wis., which was operated until the disso-
lution in 1887, and were succeeded by the Holt Lumber Company.
One of the first big yards in Chicago was that of Eldred & Balcom, 1855-56, the
partners being Anson Eldred and Uri Balcom, and they, pushing business rather
beyond its ability to maintain itself, failed twice before either succeeded in getting a
start in life which led on to fortune. In 1860 Mr. Holt built a home at Lake Forest,
purchasing the lumber both for frame and finishing at S8 per thousand in Chicago,
almost any portiofi of which would rate at $30 to $40 per thousand to-day. Having
occasion to lay a quantity of sidewalk, Mr. Holt purchased three or four car loads of
wide and practically clear but somewhat shaky plank at $5 per thousand.
Upon the formation of the firm of Holt & Balcom, in 1863, Mr. Holt abandoned
the yard trade, and the firm confined its attentions to the ever-increasing manufacture
of its mills at Oconto and the disposition of the product by wholesale. The firm
acquired large quantities of timber land upon the Oconto River, and wisely adopting
the latest improvements in saw-mill machinery, as the same developed, were enabled to
keep pace with the ever-increasing volume of demand at a minimum of cost for manu-
7
'To
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 319
facture. The office of the firm was established at the lumber docks at South Water
Street, to which point intending purchasers resorted each morning to inspect and
purchase the cargoes arriving during the preceding night. Upon the dissolution of
the firm of Holt & Balcom and the incorporation in 1888 of the Holt Lumber
Company, the system was changed, and the new company adopted the system of
piling, seasoning and selling from its extensive yards adjacent to the mill at Oconto.
The Holt Lumber Company, with a capital of $600,000, embraces D. R. Holt,
president, his sons taking the active management of the business, George H. Holt
being vice-president and resident manager, actively assisted by William A. Holt
holding the office of treasurer.
Mr. Holt has, since the incorporation of the Holt Lumber Company, practically
retired from an active business life, while still giving to his sons such advice and
assistance as his wide experience demands, and at a ripe age, with a still vigorous
intellect and robust physical frame, commands the respect and affection of all who
know him. Residing at Lake Forest, a thriving suburb north of Chicago, he takes a
deep interest in the prosperity of the noted Presbyterian University of that place, and
as an elder, and active worker, in the Presbyterian Church, has a warm place in the
hearts of the many hundreds of students who have profited by his instructions in the
Bible class, of which he has for many years been the respected, intelligent and useful
teacher. He has witnessed the growth of Chicago from a small hamlet to the second
city of the continent, and the wild country surrounding to teem with thriving suburbs,
and in this wonderful development few if any citizens have contributed to a greater
degree than has the subject of this sketch.
James H. Swan. Among the elder and most highly respected among the surviv-
ing members of the lumbermen of an early day, must be mentioned Mr. James H.
Swan. Mr. Swan was born November 23, 1824, at Haddam, Conn., where he passed
the first twenty years of his life. His education was secured in the common schools,
supplemented by a three-year course at Hrainard Academy. His father was Deacon
Hurlbut Swan, a sturdy Puritan, who came west with his wife and four boys in the
spring of 1845, making their home at what is now Fremont, in Lake County, 111., where
the good deacon died at the advanced age of eighty-one. The subject of our sketch
was engaged in farming from 1845 until 1853, having in 1847 married Mary Emily,
second daughter of Alva Trowbridge, who, in 1850, established himself in the mill busi-
ness at Muskegon, Mich., and was joined in the business by his son-in-law, Mr. Swan,
in 1853, who became a partner in the business in 1855, Mr. Swan removing to Chicago
to take charge of the yard, which was then located on Market Street, near Monroe
Street, the firm being Hrown (M. J.) & Trowbridge. In the spring of 1857 the yard
was removed to the ground upon which the Union Depot of the Chicago, Pittsburg &
Fort Wayne Railroad is located, the firm now having become Trowbridge & Swan.
The financial stringency and panic of 1857 \\&s felt by this firm, as it was by many
320 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
other lumbermen, and after struggling against destiny until the summer of 1858, they
were compelled to assign, but such was the confidence in their integrity that the
creditors voluntarily raised the assignment and extended the time, so that all debts
were soon paid, both principal and interest.
When the war of the Rebellion broke out the blood of patriot ancestors asserted
its power, and, in July, 1862, Mr. Swan, with twenty-two other young men, members
of the Church of the Redeemer, with which Mr. Swan was connected, enlisted in what
afterward became the Chicago Mercantile Battery, going to the front under the patron-
age of the Chicago Mercantile Association. In less than a year he returned with
broken health, and in the fall of 1863 again embarked, in company with Charles B.
White, in the business which he had eighteen months previously relinquished to try
the fortunes of a soldier life.
Mr. White, like Mr. Swan, had formerly been associated with Mr. Trowbridge
and had learned the intricacies of the lumber business. In 1871 Mr. Ira O. Smith
was admitted to the partnership, and the firm became White, Swan & Co., Mr. Smith
taking charge of the manufacture at the company's mill at Muskegon, the other mem-
bers attending to the sale of the product at Chicago. The yard business was relin-
quished in 1869, and the business was subsequently confined to wholesaling by the
cargo, until the dissolution of the firm in 1888, when they sold their plant to the Thayer
Lumber Company, Mr. White retiring, Mr. Swan and Mr. Smith continuing together
in the limited purchase and sale of timber lands, principally in Wisconsin. Mr Swan,
while an earnest Republican in politics, has never been ambitious for political prefer-
ment, having persistently declined all proffers of office, satisfied to do his duty
as a private citizen. He has for the past thirty-five years been a more than ordinarily
active member of St. Paul's Universalist Church of Chicago, of which for nearly
a quarter of a century the late Rev. Dr. Ryder was the pastor. The bond of friend-
ship between Mr. Swan and Dr. Ryder was strengthened by these years of mutual
labor in a common cause, and the confidence of the pastor in his lay member was
evidenced by the fact of the latter being named as executor of Dr. Ryder's estate,
which in extent would have been considered equal to the ambitions of the ordinary
business man. In the evening of life Mr. Swan finds himself in comfortable circum-
stances, the wife of his youth still spared to comfort his declining years, and to share
in the comforts and blessings resulting from mutual affection and mutual labor. One
daughter, the only child, is the wife of L. C. Lawton, Esq., of the firm of Lawton & Hall,
while three grandchildren, James, Lucille and Margueritte, add to the joys and com-
forts of a life which may hopefully be prolonged for the benefit of mankind for many
years to come, while a circle of business friends, and those of a social and church
connection, in a multitude which no man can number, attest the sincerity of the con-
fidence and affection which wishes for his declining years all the joy and peace, which
is the culmination of a life of probity, industry and usefulness to his fellow-man.
TIH-: MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 321
Mr. Swan was associated with the Lumberman's Exchange from its inception,
being frequently elected a director, and serving as president in 1885 and as treasurer
in 1887-88, and at all times recognized as one of its most sterling friends and sup-
porters.
Martin Ryerson. Few among the many lumbermen of Chicago or the Northwest
can boast a more remarkable history than the late Martin Ryerson, and few have had
a more intimate connection with the lumber interest.
Mr. Ryerson was born in Bergen County, N. J., January 6, 1818, and was the son
of Tunis and Jane Ryerson, who were descendants of a family which emigrated to
this country from Amsterdam, Holland, in the Seventeenth century. His father was
a farmer, and Martin's youth was divided between the country schools of the neigh-
borhood and work upon his father's farm. In 1834, being but sixteen years of age,
Martin left the home farm and made his way to the then but little known western
country, reaching Detroit, Mich., by way of the Erie canal and sailing vessel from
Buffalo to Detroit, in which latter town he became acquainted with Richard Godfrey,
an Indian trader, and, entering his service, accompanied him over what was little
better than a trail through the forest, to the small village of Grand Rapids. Remain-
ing with Godfrey but a year, he, in 1835, entered the employ of Louis Campau,
another trader, whose name subsequently became one of the most noted in the history
of Michigan, with whom he remained until 1836, when he began a three-year service
with Joseph Trotter, who was also an Indian trader. These years of travel and trade
among the aboriginics was the key to the deep regard in which he held the Indian
race, culminating before his death in the erection at Lincoln Park of a beautiful group
of bronze statuary to the memory of the Ottawa Nation, now almost, if not quite,
extinct. His travels among the Indians took him into the dense and virgin forests of
pine for which Michigan soon after became noted, the coming value of which his dis-
cerning mind was not slow to apprehend. In 1839 he entered the employ of Theo-
dore Newell, a merchant of Muskegon, who was also the proprietor of a saw mill of
the type prevailing in those days, and after remaining in his employ for two
years, purchased Mr. Newell's mercantile interest and entered into contract to
run the saw mill, an arrangement which proved mutually satisfactory and profitable
for several years, until 1845, when Mr. Ryerson, associating with him Samuel Green,
established the firm of Green & Ryerson and purchased the mill, the firm later becom-
ing Ryerson & Knickerbocker, which continued but a short time, when Knickerbocker
sold his interest to Robert XV. Morris, and the firm became Ryerson & Morris. In
1851 the firm associated with them Mr.John M. Williams, of Chicago, and commenced
a yard business in this city under the firm name of Williams, Ryerson & Co., at the
corner of Canal and Fulton Streets. In 1854 Mr. Williams withdrew, selling his inter-
est to Watts T. Miller, and the firm now became Ryerson, Miller & Co., continuing
until 1859, when Mr. Miller withdrew, and the firm again, as in 1845, became
322 /.VDUSTRTAL CHICAGO.-
Rj'erson & Morris. About this time a second yard was established at Beach Street,
between De Koven and Bunker Streets, which soon developed an extensive business
under the management of Read A. Williams. The saw-mill business at Muskegon
had by this time developed large proportions, and the firm had acquired a large amount
of valuable pine timber upon the Muskegon River and its tributaries, and on the retire-
ment of Mr. Morris in 1865 Mr. Ryerson reorganized the business by the admission
of Henry H. Getty, Ezra Stevens and Charles T. Hills as partners, forming the firm of
Ryerson, Hills & Co., at Muskegon. In 1867 Messrs. Getty, Stevens and Hills became
interested in the Chicago house, the designation of which was changed to Martin
Ryerson & Co. Mr. Stevens died in 1869, but the firm designations have remained
unchanged. In 1880 Martin A., son of Mr. Ryerson, was admitted to partnership and
the business begun in so humble a manner in 1845 ' lat ^ become one of the most exten-
sive in its branch in the Northwest. The original mill with its single gate, cutting
from 2,000 to 3,000 feet per day, ample for the limited demands of the age, was from
time to time improved by the addition of wings and machinery, through the success-
ive stages of the evolution of the saw mill, the sash gate being displaced by the mulay,
and it by the rotary and gang, until with these improvements and the addition of
another mill, the business had attained proportions and capacity equal to the manu-
facture of 300,000 feet per day, or 55,968,602 feet per season, the aggregate product of
forty years reaching an amount exceeding 1,200,000,000 feet of lumber, besides
shingles, lath and pickets, aggregating 300,000,000. The farmer's son became a mer-
chant prince, as the result of untiring industry, indomitable energy and a strict regard
for the rights of others. The affection in which he was held by the Indians, with
whom he so early became associated, marked the integrity of his dealings with a class
never slow to manifest its enmity toward such as would treat them unjustly, and the
same high principle marked his dealings with the superior race.
Mr. Ryerson was a man whose word was never questioned; those who had deal-
ings with him placed implicit confidence in any assurance he saw fit to make, and in
this lay the secret of his success in life. While engrossed in his business, constantly
increasing with the wonderful development of the West, Mr. Ryerson found time to
store his mind with useful information, and possessed intuitive perceptions, to an extent
seldom encountered in the walks of life. His judgment of men and things and his
natural perception of matters coming within the range of his observation were com-
bined with a native polish marvelous in one whose youth and early manhood had
been spent in a new country and amid rough surroundings. Being fond of travel and
abundantly able to gratify his desires in this respect, Mr. Ryerson became thoroughly
conversant with his own country and the continent of Europe, and his discerning mind
was not slow to comprehend the existing social and pol'itical conditions of the world
at large. Imbued with philanthropic principles, his charities were widespread and
wisely directed, and he was known as a liberal giver to all worthy objects which came
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 325
within his range of observation, and in these no question of race or creed was per-
mitted to warp his judgment. His liberality was not permitted to cease with his life,
for with foresight in his love of humanity, he made provision for the distribution of a
goodly proportion of his ample wealth among charitable institutions of Chicago to
the extent of nearly a quarter million of dollars, to be held in trust under the designa-
tion of the " Martin Ryerson Charity Trust," and in this, four Roman Catholic and four
Protestant asylums, homes and hospitals became beneficiaries, including the Old
Peoples' home, the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, the Chicago Nursery and Half
Orphan Asylum, the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children, The Alexian Brothers'
Hospital, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, St. Vincent's Infant Asylum and Mercy Hospital.
While not a church member, Mr. Ryerson had a creed deeply imbued in his nature,
the foundation of which was love for his fellow-man and sympathy with his sorrows
and sufferings. In all this he recognized the common Creator as a being whose source
was love and compassion for his creature, man, and who required of the more highly
favored a recognition and alleviation of the sufferings of the less fortunate. With few
early advantages in life, destined to hew out his own fortune, few men have made
better use of the opportunities within their grasp, or been more keen to seize and
apply to their own advancement, social or moral, and few, indeed, of the early
pioneers of the Western land have made better use of the success which has crowned
their lifelong labors. In 1851 Mr. Ryerson was united in marriage with Miss Louisa
M. Duvernay, who survived but a few years, and in 1855 he was married to Miss Mary
A. Campau, daughter of Antoine Campau, of Grand Rapids, Mich. In the fall of
1887, after spending a few months on the sea-shore, he was taken sick at Boston,
Mass., and died there, September 6, of that year, leaving his widow with his daughter,
Mrs. Mary Butts ( since deceased), and son, Martin A. Ryerson, to mourn, with a large
circle of friends, the death of one of nature's noblemen.
Thomas M. Avery. Another citizen who can easily be called a good man and,
in all earnestness, a great man, is Thomas M. Avery. Since March, 1851, he has
belonged to Chicago. He soon saw it rise above its village environments, witnessed
its destfuction in 1871, was the first among the rebuilders, and is to-day the embodi-
ment of Chicago herself. Born at Perryville, Madison County, N. Y., October 12,
1821, he can look back over a record of over seventy years with pride, and, better still, go
farther back, to progenitors who were faithful when the struggling colonies rose to
cast out the oppressor. His parents, Oren S. and Abigail (Morris) Avery, were born
in Madison county, their parents having moved westward when the evils and restraints
of Colonial Government were removed. In 1776-77 the name of Elijah Avery appears
on the muster-roll of Capt. Waits' company of Col. Cilley's New Hampshire Revolu-
tionary Regiment, and were the writer to search the records closer, other companies
from the North Atlantic colohies would show the name. In fact, the names of Avery
and Morris have been identified with letters, jurisprudence, politics, medicine, art and
15
326 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
science in the Eastern States from the earliest times, and the name is not wanting in
the West in these branches of life.
Oren S. Avery died in his native county during the cholera epidemic of 1834.
Some years later the widow remarried and, like the brave pioneer women of that day,
removed to Whitewater, Wis., with her husband and family, and there ended her days,
enjoying an old age which proved the happy reward of her life in the Western wilder-
ness.
Thomas M. Avery, had, before he was fifteen years of age, attended the Poly-
technic Institute of Chittenango and the academies of Cazenovia and Homer, New
York State. At the age stated, he entered the general store of Harvey Morris at New
Woodstock, Madison County, N. Y., as clerk, where he remained until the close of
1840. During that year his employer died, and the duty of settling the estate
devolved upon him. This duty accomplished, he opened a general store himself, which
he carried on until 1851. The stories of the Argonauts of 1849, an ^ of the men who
followed their trail, had taken possession of even the pioneers of western New York, and
the young merchant of New Woodstock became an emigrant. In March, 185 1, he became
a Chicagoan. The lake village was far enough westward for the most reliant at that
time, and this fact, coupled with his intuitive knowledge of the future, bade him
remain. However uninviting the locality, he saw at once the advantages it offered to
the business man, and seeing, cast his lot with the villagers. His partnership with
Read A. Williams in the lumber business was his first venture, handling entirely
Saginaw lumber to the extent of 3,000,000 feet, and being the pioneer in that trade.
For five years their yards on Canal and Fulton Streets were scenes of activity, which
pictured, as a mirage pictures, the future of the Chicago lumber trade. In 1856 Mr.
Avery became sole owner of the yards and carried on an immense lumber trade there
until 1877. The new lumber district at Twenty-second and Laflin Streets was opened
in 1868, and thither the yards were transferred in 1877. When the Lumbermen's
Board of Trade of Chicago was organized, in 1855, he was among its incorporators,
working with his fellow members until the results of the panic of 1857 and the intro-
duction of some disturbing elements began to tell on the association. In 1869, when
the Lumberman's Exchange was organized, he was elected president, and in his
address pointed out the time when Chicago would be the greatest lumber center in
the world.
His son, Charles O. Avery, was given an interest in the new yards in 1875, but he
was practically the manager of the lumber trade of T. M. Avery & Son for some time
prior to 1875, when the founder of the firm retired, so that his other large interests
would be given a greater share of attention. On February I, 1881, they sold their
yards to Bryant, Marsh & Wood. A few years before retiring from the lumber busi-
ness we find his name closely linked with that extraordinary event, the rebuilding of
Chicago. He and T. W. Harvey were placed at the head of the committee on shelter.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 327
Within seven days of the hours when the last blaze of the great fire died away in
the north, this committee entered on duty, and in less than four months from Octo-
ber 18, 1871, completed no less than 5,226 houses, using in construction, 35,000,000 feet
of lumber at a cost of about $600,000. During the succeeding four years the work of
rebuilding the city was carried on vigorously, and it is safe to say that the Avery
yards proved one of the great lumber-supply depots, where every demand for lumber
was promptly met. Indeed they might be termed the nucleus or hub of the lumber
world of Chicago, from which a trade of $39,000,000 in value in 1891 sprung.
As if to add the seal of certainty to the proverbial genius of adaptability in Chi-
cago life, Mr. Avery became connected with the Elgin National Watch Company,
immediately after the war. On February 15, 1865, the National Watch Company
completed the organization begun August 27, 1864. A special charter was obtained
April 25, 1865, but not until April I, 1867, was the pioneer Elgin watch produced. In
October of that year Thomas M. Avery was elected president, the condition of his
acceptance being, that he should fill the position temporarily, giving to it only the
time he could steal from his extensive lumber business. From the moment his admin-
istration began to be felt, Elgin and her great industry grew young again, to flourish
like youth. He who accepted the presidency with the intention of holding the office
until some one acquainted with watch manufacturing could be chosen, became a sine
qua noii, and at each annual meeting his election was hailed with increasing pleasure.
At length, in 1875, he ceased to give attention to the lumber trade, devoted himself
with greater assiduity to watch-manufacturing affairs, and built up on the banks of
Fox River an industry, national in reputation, employing 2,600 hands within its walls,
paying to these $1,320,000 annually, or about $508 to each, and producing 1,900
watches daily. From April I, 1867, to March I, 1891, there were 4,690,125 watches
manufactured, and up to March I, 1892, about 5,290,125. The value of the product of
these works, in 1892, was over $4,000,000. Nothing, of course, succeeds like success.
While a second watch factory, established south of the old city limits, in 1872, did not
succeed, this of Elgin did. The reason why, is told in the wise and broad ideas of
business instilled into it by its president since 1867. The success of the Elgin
National Watch Company must be, unquestionably, credited to him. Already con-
versant with the methods of a great industry, when called upon to preside over
this new manufactory he brought with him not only experience, but also a high finan-
cial standing, a name synonymous with business integrity and an enviable social posi-
tion. How far all these went to crown the works of Elgin with success is best told
in the successful history of that industry.
Mr. Avery was married April 14, 1847, to Miss Margaret E. Morris, of Madison
County, N. Y. This lady died November 20, 1870, leaving two sons, Charles O. and
Frank M. Avery. Charles, a native of Chicago, was, as already stated, associated
with his father in the lumber business up to 18/5. He was killed October 5, 1883,
328 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
while prospecting and mining in the mountains of Colorado. Frank M. is to-day
superintendent of the Chicago Brass Company, of which his father is president. He
is undoubtedly one of the leading young business men of this city and one destined
by family and business associations, as well as by industry and intelligence, to take
an important part in the greater Chicago of the next century.
Mr. Avery, Sr., has been for many years prominent in the affairs of the First
Congregational Church, is a member of the Calumet and Union League Clubs, and a
Republican since 1856.
Henry Beidler. Henry Beidler was born in the town of Bedminster, Bucks
County, Penn., November 27, 1812. His grandfather and his father were both
named Jacob Beidler, and both were born in Bucks County. The former, who was
a farmer, died in 1781. His grave, in Perkasie burying ground, in Hilltown, Bucks
County, Penn., is marked by an appropriate and tasteful granite monument, placed there
by his grandson (Henry) during a recent visit to the scenes of his childhood. Henry
Beidler's father was both a farmer and a carpenter. He was a man strong mentally
and physically, who lived a worthy and well-rounded life, which terminated only after
eighty-nine years. He married Susanna Krout, also a native of Bucks County, who died
at the age of eighty (1893). Enough has been said of Mr. Beidler's ancestry to establish
two facts, both favorable to him he was of the purest Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and
came of a family rather remarkable for longevity.
Mr. Beidler's boyhood and early manhood were passed on his father's farm, and
he was given a good common-school education. Thus equipped, and as a farmer, he
earned that first Si,OOO which he liked to refer to as the foundation of his success in
the commercial world. The West then and later offered an inviting field for the enter-
prise of ambitious young men. At that time Illinois was " away out West," and much
of the West of to-day was not designated on any map. In 1843 Mr. Beidler located
at Springfield and engaged in the grocery trade. There he remained until 1848.
Meantime his brother, the third Jacob Beidler in direct descent, had come to Chicago
and gone into the lumber business and met with good success. After five fairly
prosperous years at Springfild Mr. Beidler joined him and became his partner. In
1855 he went to Muskegon, Mich., and took the management of their manufacturing
department there, his brother remaining in charge of the trade in Chicago. Under
skillful management, the business increased so rapidly and brought in such financial
rewards that in 1876 Mr. Beidler was enabled to retire permanently from active busi-
ness, though for some years later he retained an interest in the enterprise, the partner-
ship between Jacob and Henry Beidler terminating finally by mutual consent. Return-
ing to Chicago in 1876, he was afterward regarded as one of its prominent citizens,
interested in all that pertains to the city's welfare.
After his retirement Mr. Beidler traveled extensively throughout America and
made a visit to the Bahama Islands. In his journeyings he collected a great variety of
\^'
Soodsi]6edBiothera.RibliBliBra.Clucafic
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 331
curiosities, consisting of rare shells, precious stones, etc., which he preserved in a
handsome cabinet and which are well worth inspection and study.
Mr. Beidler's honesty was apparent in every transaction of his life, and the com-
petency he enjoyed in his declining years had not on one dollar of it a taint or suspicion
of trickiness or unfairness. His religious views were broad and he was tolerant of
the opinions of others. With his family he was identified with the People's Church,
under the pastoral care of Rev. Dr. H. W. Thomas. In political sentiment he was
a Republican, and though he never aspired to or consented to accept any office, nor
took any active part in public affairs, his interest in our institutions, national, state
and municipal, was deep and abiding, and there was not in Chicago a stauncher advo-
cate than he of the purification of politics.
Mr. Beidler was married April 23, 1860, to Miss Sarah Sammons, a daughter of
Thomas Sammons, of Syracuse, N. Y., who died October 2, 1886. A woman of the
noblest mind and most generous impulses, she was a fond and devoted wife and
mother, and by her pure life and her constant charities, she endeared herself to a large
circle of friends. She bore Mr. Beidler one son, Herbert A. Beidler, president of the
Standard Elevator Company, of Chicago.
William Butterworth Phillips. For many years one of the leading operators in
the lumber interests of Chicago was William Butterworth Phillips, who was born at
Monson, Mass., August 20, 1830. He was the son of Elbridge and Elizabeth (Butter-
worth) Phillips, both parents being natives of Massachusetts, of old colonial and
Revolutionary stock. The father of William B. was a carriage builder by trade, the
grandfather, John Phillips, was a participant in the battle of Bunker Hill, while farther
back we find the Phillips family dating to the early colonial times of 1630, when the
ancestor of the American branch, Rev. George Phillips, was a fellow passenger with
Gov. John Winthrop and Sir Richard Saltonstall on the good ship "Arabella." He was
the earliest advocate of the Congregational order and discipline, and his name appears
in the list of those who were admitted freemen May 18, 1631, which is the earliest
date of any such admission. His descendants, Gov. Samuel, and John Phillips, LL.D.,
were the founders of the academy bearing their name at Andover in 1778 and at
Exeter in 1781.
The father and mother of William B. were both killed in a railroad accident in
1848, leaving three children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the youngest and
is now the sole survivor. Mr. Phillips received the advantages of the celebrated
Monson Academy in obtaining his education. His first business engagement was in
a grocery and feed store at Palmer, Mass., in which line he continued for two years.
In 1850 he came west and settled in Chicago, which has since been his business home,
removing his family to Evanston in 1872, where he has a fine residence on the banks
of Lake Michigan. On his first reaching Chicago Mr. Phillips engaged with Mr.
Daniel Goss in the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds, under the firm name of
332 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Goss & Phillips, with a factory on the corner of Clark and Twelfth Streets, from
which point he, in 1852, witnessed the arrival of the first train of cars from the East,
over the Michigan Southern Railroad. The firm of Goss & Phillips continued to
occupy the same location until 1866, when Mr. W. A. Fuller, their book-keeper, and
Mr. A. R. Palmer being admitted as partners, the firm name became Goss, Phillips
& Co., continuing, however, but one year, when it was changed to Palmer, Fuller & Co.
In 1868 Messrs. Goss & Phillips retired, and in 1871 the Goss & Phillips Manu-
facturing Company was organized and went back to the old location, and also built a
large factory on the corner of Fisk and Twenty-second Streets, which was occupied
until the final dissolution of the company in 1887. Mr. Goss died in 1879, and Mr.
Phillips having been president of the company from its organization, had also the
management of its affairs until its retirement from active business, and in closing up its
accounts. Mr. Phillips' attention has not been wholly confined to the Chicago busi-
ness, having been associated with the firm of C. D. Nelson & Co., Muskegon, Mich., in
the manufacture of lumber, and being one of the organizers of the Pentwater Lumber
Company, of Pentwater, Mich., of which company he was president during itssuccessful
career. He was also connected with the Lumbermen's Insurance Company, and for
many years a member of the Lumberman's Exchange of Chicago. In politics a Repub-
lican, it is his boast that he is descended from a thoroughly American family, and that
his grandfather, John Phillips, voted at every presidential election from Washington
to the second election of Abraham Lincoln, during which campaign he made a speech
which called forth an autograph letter from the Martyr President, which is in the
possession of, and highly prized by his loyal grandson. In his domestic life Mr.
Phillips has been abundantly blessed, having in 1856 married Miss Marion Goss,
daughter of Daniel Goss, who came to Chicago from Massachusetts in 1848, and was
one of the early and most enterprising of its merchants. Three children have blessed
Mr. Phillips' union: Miss Jessie, Dr. William A. and Charles A. Mr. Phillips is a
member of the First Methodist Church of Evanston, and the high esteem in which he
has ever been held by his business associates, and all with whom he has had business
dealings, is an eloquent testimony to the fact that his life was molded upon patterns
of sincerity and uprightness. Of no Chicago business man could it be more truly
said, "His word is as good as his bond."
James Henry Pearson. Many of the eminent and successful of Chicago's busi-
ness men sprang from New England stock and were reared amid the intelligence of
the Eastern States, with an education which eminently fitted them to assume posi-
tions of influence and to command success in the localities which should afterward
be chosen as the field of their life's endeavor. Such a man was James H. Pearson,
who for years past has stood high in the business world of Chicago, the peer of the
most respected, an influence for good in upholding a standard of integrity and intel-
ligence, worthy of the imitation of all contemporaries and associates.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 333
Mr. Pearson was born December 10. 1820, at Haverhill, N. H., and enjoyed the
advantages of the district schools, supplemented by that of Haverhill Academy, and
then entered the employ of a dry-goods house at Boston, where he remained for two
years, where he learned the lesson so often attained by young men on entering a
clerkship, that he had left school too soon, but, unlike many, he obtained permission
from his parents to spend one more year in study at the Haverhill Academy, after
which he entered the arena of business, which his subsequent career has shown that
he was fitted for. After the death of his father, James, in connection with his
brothers, rented the farm and saw mill connected with it formerly owned by his
father, and succeeded in keeping the family together. In 1850 he was married to
Miss Sarah Elizabeth Wetherell, of Haverhill, N. H., and soon after engaged in busi-
ness at South Hadley, Mass., but shortly after sold out and came West, reaching Chi-
cago in July, 1851. He found here a wild, rough Western town, full of an adventurous
class of home-seekers, fortune-hunters and splendid possibilities. His experience in
business and in the saw mill had fitted him at once to enter a lumber office, and,
bringing with him, as he did, a letter of recommendation signed by a number of lead-
ing citizens in his native town, headed by Gov. John Page, of New Hampshire, certi-
fying to his trustworthiness and business qualification, both as a man and a lumber-
man, he at once found favor with the firm of Chapin & Butts, who supplied him with
a sufficient stock of lumber, with which, in 1851, he started a lumber yard at Henry,
in Marshall County, of this State, which he conducted until the spring of 1853, when
he returned to Chicago. As was the custom of that day he handled a considerable
quantity of corn in connection with his lumber business at Henry, shelling it and
shipping it to Chicago by canal boats. He then formed a partnership in the lumber
business with Josiah L. James under the firm name of James & Pearson, with yards
on Clark Street, near the old Flint & Wheeler elevator.
In 1854 Hugh Mayher, the owner of the property, purchased the interest of Col.
James in the lumber business, and the firm then became Mayher & Pearson, continu-
ing but for one year, when Mr. Pearson sold his interest for a handsome sum, and in
1855 organized the firm of J. H. Pearson & Co., Mr. William T. Powers, of Grand
Rapids, Mich., being his associate, and opened a yard at Madison and Market Streets.
Two years later the yard was moved to the west side of the river, and the firm of Pear-
son & Messer was organized, but Mr. Messer dying soon afterward, Webster Bachel-
der purchased his interest, and the firm became Pearson & Batchelder, with yard again
located on Market and Madison Streets. This firm did a large and successful business
until the spring of 1862, when Mr. Batchelder sold his interest to Avery, Murphy &
Co., of Port Huron, Mich., when the firm became Pearson, Avery & Co. They then
removed their yards to the Stowell slip on Clark, near Twelfth Street, where, with I ,OOO
feet of frontage, they had one of the largest yards in the city, and an enormous
and profitable trade resulted. In 1865 Mr. Pearson purchased a half interest in
334 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
It
a saw mill at Saginaw City, Mich., and a partnership known as A. W. Wright &
Co., at Saginaw, was continued as J. H. Pearson & Co., at Chicago. This firm flour-
ished from 1865 to 1876, owning vast tracts of pine lands and manufacturing large
quantities of lumber, which found sale at the Chicago yard. In the spring of
1871 the Chicago yards were sold to Elisha Eldred & Co., who had the misfortune to
be in the path of the great conflagration of that fall and were burned out. From this
time until 1880 Mr. Pearson's time was devoted to the mill interests at Saginaw with
continued success. In 1880 he again located a yard in Chicago, at the corner of Canal
and Lumber Streets, and the firm of J. H. Pearson & Co. entered upon a new and con-
tinued era of prosperity. In 1883 a large planing-mill plant was added to their busi-
ness. In 1880 Granger Farwell became a member of the Chicago firm, and while still
retaining the designation of J. H. Pearson & Co., the yards were removed to what has
since become a prominent lumber district on Thirty-ninth Street, known as the "Stock
Yards district," where the business is still carried on under the incorporated name of
" The Pearson Lumber Company," notwithstanding Mr. Pearson having disposed of
his interest to Granger Farwell. Mr. Pearson now occupies his time in the care of his
well-earned competence. The Michigan mills were kept in operation under the manage-
ment of Mr. Pearson's son Eugene, and under the improved conditions of business and
excellent management produced a large revenue.
Throughout Mr. Pearson's entire business career his conservative New England
training, combined with his quickly acquired Western dash and enterprise, rendered
success inevitable. In 1882 the Perry Pearson Company, which in 1885 became the
North Shore Lumber Company, was organized and operated in timber lands and lum-
bering. In 1886 this company was sold to Hall & Buell, of New York City. In his
family relations Mr. Pearson has been peculiarly blessed, finding in the partner of
his youth a confidential friend and safe adviser through all the years of their married
life. In her death, which occurred in December, 1891, Mr. Pearson and his children
met with an irreparable loss. Of the three sons and one daughter, the fruit of this
happy union, the eldest son, Arthur, has turned his attention to art painting; the sec-
ond, Eugene Henry, was for many years a partner with his father in the Saginaw busi-
ness under the designation of J. H. Pearson & Son, the youngest son, Robert N., is
connected with the Central Trust Company, Denver, Colo.; the daughter is the wife
of H. McDonald Scott, a professor in the Chicago Theological Seminary.
With an elastic disposition, he has withstood the depressing effect of business
reverses or impending financial loss. Becoming connected with the First Congrega-
tional Church in 1858, the influence of a healthy religious association, in the strength-
ening of the faith which looks beyond this life to the glad reunion with the loved who
have gone before, in the land where all burdens are laid down, have had a powerful
influence in the present molding of a life of usefulness to his fellow-man. Mr. Pear-
son is one of the clear-cut, prominent characters in the era of great development of
Jrofhsrs Publishers. Ghira,fB
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 337
this marvelous city, standing where all can observe the splendid moral of a useful and
well-spent life.
George C. Morton was for many years one of the more prominent among the
lumbermen of Chicago. He was born at Attica, Genesee County, N. Y., October 25,
1819, his parents being Eleazor Morton and Joanna (Cotton) Morton, of old New
England stock. George C. was the fourth son of a family of five sons and five daugh-
ters. His parents, who as early as the year 1800 were school teachers, moved to Attica
and engaged in farm life, subsequently removing to Tonawanda Creek, Erie County, and
later to Brockport, where, as dealers in wool and in dressing of cloth, they also became
largely interested in the canal-boat and warehousing business of the Erie Canal.
After several subsequent years spent in Ohio, they removed to St. Joseph, Mich.,
in 1834, and purchasing a farm at what is now the city of Benton Harbor, built the
first log dwelling, the pioneer of that now beautiful city. Clearing up a farm, they
planted it liberally in fruit trees, and were the first to send fruit to the young city
of Chicago. George remained with his parents until the age of fourteen, when
he earned his first money, one dollar, by assisting a passing drover to drive a herd of
stampeded cattle across the river and on to Schoolcraft. Here he entered the employ
of the mercantile firm of James Smith & Co., and acquired so good a reputation that on
the death of Mr. Smith he was employed to settle the estate. After hard work in behalf
of the election of President William Henry Harrison in 1840, he entered the employ of
Daniel Ball, then the most extensive business house on Grand River, whose dealings
including lumber, Mr. Morton was frequently sent to Chicago to dispose of it, and
finally selected this city as his residence. In 1851-52 he was in partnership with Frank
and Thomas D. Gilbert (of Grand Rapids, Mich.) under the firm name of George C.
Morton&Co.,hispartnerssupplying thestock from Grand River, thenthemostextensivc
source of the Chicago supply. Their yard was south of what is now Van Buren Street,
and extended from the river to Canal Street, and their trade was not only local, but in-
cluded canal shipments to the interior, over the newly opened Illinois & Michigan Canal.
In 1853-54 the directory names the firm of Morton & Gilbert (Ashley G.) as
located on Charles Street, between Harrison and Van Buren; that of 1855-56 names
Milliard, Howard & Morton. As we fail to find his name in the directories of subse-
quent years, it is but reasonable to conclude that it was not many years later that, his
health failing, he was compelled to relinquish a business in which he had been emi-
nently successful, and in the conduct of which he had acquired considerable real
estate, to the care of which, and in the management and settlement of trust estates
(and it is worthy of mention that no bonds were required of him as such executor),
he devoted the remainder of his life until his death, July 6, 1887. His frequent selec-
tion as an arbiter of disputes, and in the settlement of estates, is at once an index of
the character of the man, and the confidence and esteem of those who knew him.
An excellent business man with a clear head, he was unswerving in his honesty of
338 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
purpose and action, and often at personal expense and inconvenience undertook the
cause of the oppressed, neither expecting nor accepting compensation for his services.
No man in the business world of Chicago ever enjoyed or deserved more highly the
appellation of " noble man." A Universalist in his religious proclivities, he lived up
to what he believed to be the duty of man as a child of God, and, imbued with a
desire to walk uprightly in the sight of God and man, few men have come nearer the
mark, as viewed from an earthly standpoint. Mr. Morton was married in 1851 to Miss
Charity J. Rathbun, of Grand Rapids, who still survives him, residing in the " Morton
Flats," an elegant stone-front building on the corner of Eighteenth Street and Michigan
avenue.
Hiram Pearsons Murphy. To all the lumbermen of Chicago, almost from the
inception of the trade in this city, at least since 1852, the name of "Hi" Murphy has
been so familiar as to be almost entitled to the appellation of a "household word."
And justly so, for Mr. Murphy was Chicago-born, and boasts the proud distinction of
being the oldest living native voter in the city. He was the son of John Murphy, one
of Chicago's earliest citizens, who was born in Ireland and came to the United States
when he was but fourteen years of age, settling at Hartford, Conn., where he remained
for several years, growing up with that noted city. In 1834 he married Miss Harriet
Austin, of Suffield Conn., and in June of that year came with his bride to Chicago,
then a small village on the outskirts of civilization. Here he was for many years noted
as the proprietor of a new hotel built by Mark Beaubien on the northwest corner of
Lake and Wells Streets, known as the "Illinois Exchange," and later of the celebrated
Saugaunash Hotel, for many years the leading "tavern" of the new west, and a few'years
later he built the United States Hotel, on the northwest corner of West Water and
Randolph Streets, on property which had been acquired by him soon after his arrival.
Hiram P. was born at the "Illinois Exchange," April 15,1835. John, the father, died
in 1850, his widow surviving him until 1886, when after more than half a century of
residence, in which she had witnessed the transformation of the village of -a few thou-
sand inhabitants into a city of nearly a million souls, she, too, passed away to the better
land, mourned by the vast multitude who had known her but to love.
Hiram P. was named after Hiram Pearsons, who was a prominent real-estate
dealer of Chicago in its earlier days. When old enough to attend, he was a pupil at a
small public school at the west end of the present Lake Street bridge, and was ferried
across the river in a small boat, no bridges having yet been built. Shortly after, the
city erected a one-story frame schoolhouse on the northeast corner of Monroe and
Clinton Streets, where Hiram was for a time a pupil of Joseph K. C. Forrest (whose
" Old Timer " contributions to the Chicago Daily News have proved the source of
great public interest and value for some years past). Still later the city erected a
two-story brick schoolhouse on Madison Street, and called it the Scammon school,
where, under Principal A. D. Sturdevant (still living), Hiram continued his education,
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 339
supplementing it by a course at St. Mary's of the Lake, Chicago, and still later by a
course at Notre Dame du Lac, South Bend, Ind., completing at the Connecticut
Literary Institution at Suffield, Conn. It was in the Chicago public schools, however,
that Mr. Murphy claims to have gained his most useful knowledge as a student.
In 1852 the late John Spry, then in the employ of H. N. Turner, who had a lumber
yard at the east end of the Madison Street bridge, decided to go .into the wood
business, and offered his place with Mr. Turner to young Murphy, who obtained from
Mr. Spry his first knowledge of the lumber business, leaving his situation in the fall, to
complete his education in Connecticut, where he remained until late in 1853, when,
returning, he entered the employ of Mansfield & Steel, whose yard was at the west
end of the Lake Street bridge. This firm did a large rail shipping trade, delivering
the lumber to the railroad by teams. The Chicago & Galena (now North-Western)
and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy roads had receiving yards on Kinzie, between
Clinton and Desplaines Streets, no switches having up to this time been placed in the
separate lumber yards, and the loading was done by the railroad employes at the cost
of the shipper. Freights were based upon measurement, and not as at the present on
weights. In 1856 Mr. Murphy entered the employ of Sylvester Lind, and in 1858 was
with John McCaffery, who had bought a mill owned by Mr. Lind at Cedar River,
Mich., with a yard near the present Polk Street bridge. He continued with Mr.
McCaffery until in 1863, when he entered the employ of Kirby, Carpenter & Co. (later
known as "The" Kirby-Carpenter Company), remaining with them until 1866, when
he began a five-year service with J. H. Pearson & Co., remaining with them until
1871, when they closed out their business (resuming some years later). Just previous
to the burning of the city, in 1871, Mr. Murphy started a small yard on Lumber Street,
south of Twenty-second Street, which he continued until 1873, when he took VV. H.
Jenkins into partnership, and the firm became Murphy & Jenkins, with yard at the
southeast corner of Laflin and Twenty-second Streets. For a year or two Mr. Murphy
took charge of the rebuilding of some dwellings in which he was interested and which
the fire had destroyed, but on May I, 1875, entered the employ of the Hamilton-
Merryman Company, with whom he has been associated for the past nineteen years.
If, as remarked in the opening chapter of the history of the lumber trade of Chi-
cago, the history of the trade is that of the Northwest, it may truly be said that the
history of Hiram P. Murphy is the history of Chicago. Born in the village of but
3,265 inhabitants, whose lumber needs were amply satisfied with 1,250,000 feet of
lumber, entering the lumber trade when the population of the city was but 38,000,
and the city handled but 147,000,000 feet of lumber for its own use and for the supply
of the country tributary to it (practically the whole Northwest and West), he, still
a comparatively young man, is now a participant in a trade comprising more than
2,000,000,000 feet annually, in a city which approaches 2,000,000 ot people in popula-
tion. If this does not constitute one of the marvels of the centurv, where shall we
340 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O .-
look for that which surpasses it? He has seen the dockman and teamster rise to the
dignity of a "lumber king," and the wealthy lumberman reduced to a search for a
fifteen-dollar-a-week job. He has seen changes in the methods of doing business, and
witnessed the practical exhaustion of what was supposed to be the "inexhaustible"
forests of pine. He has seen the despised hardwoods rescued from the settler's log
heap to become the prized ornamentof the millionaire's mansion. He has seen the broad
prairie dotted with Indian tepees, and the lake cities crowded with the product of the
same broad prairie, from which the tepee has vanished and its occupants exterminated
from the face of the earth. He has seen the humble "tavern" of his parents give
place to the princely hotel of twenty stories in height; he has seen the humble cot-
tages of wood displaced by rich mansions of stone, brick and iron. Truly the marvels
of his life surpass the most wonderful story of Aladdin and his magical lamp.
Mr. Murphy was married in 1857 to Miss Nellie Wilde, of Chicago, and two sons
and four daughters have blessed the union. He is a pew-holder in the Church of the
Kpiphany, and member of the Illinois and Menoken Clubs, and is held in the highest
esteem, both in social and business circles.
Anthony Gerard Van Schaick. To the conscientious historian no task is more
difficult than that of doing justice without exaggeration or fulsomeness, to the memory
of one who has held the position of an honored friend, not to the historian alone, but
to an entire community. When a man's virtues have been of that exalted nature
which silences the voice of criticism, and commends him as not only an upright
business man, but as an intelligent, far-seeing and useful citizen, it is meet and proper
that in a history of the particular branch of commercial activity to which the best
efforts of his life had been devoted, such a man's character should be enlarged
upon, that his salutary example may stand for the guidance and emulation of later
generations.
Such a man as is described above was Anthony G. Van Schaick, for many years the
practical head of the Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick Company. A descendant of one
of the old patrician families of the Mohawk Dutch, whose early settlement of the Hudson
River and the Mohawk Valley united the colonies of America with the ancient manorial
customs of Holland, and established customs which with the lapse of time, even
under Republican institutions, have not become wholly obsolete, their descendants are
still noted for courtly bearing and superior intelligence.
Mr. Van Schaick was born on Van Schaick Island, near Troy, N. Y., November 13,
1829. His education at an academy in Waterford, N. Y., terminated when he was but
fourteen years of age, and he at once entered as clerk in a country store, and began
the business education which developed so great intelligence and activity in his
later days.
In 1849 ne turned his face westward and entered the mercantile employ of N.
Ludington, & Co., of Milwaukee, as a clerk. The firm was also engaged in the manu-
VS***
/ '
'YD (A,
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 343
facture of lumber at their mills at Menominee, Mich., and in 1853 the young man who
had proved so efficient in the store was inducted into the mysteries of the rapidly
increasing lumber business of the firm, and six years later, in 1859, he was placed in
charge of their yard in Chicago, and soon after was admitted to a partnership, and
the firm became N. Ludington & Co., the business management devolving almost
wholly upon Mr. Van Schaick.
In 1867 Mr. Van Schaick sold out his interest in this company to Isaac Stephenson,
and became junior partner with Harrison Ludington, Daniel E. Wells and Robert
Stephenson in the house of Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick, which in 1874 was
incorporated as the Ludington, Wells & Van Schaick Company. Of the original
members of this well-known house only Mr. Wells still survives, but the company
still exists and continues its extensive operations at the Menominee mills and
Chicago yard, in the interest of the heirs of the original stockholders, the Chicago
business being in the hands of O. B. Barker, an old and trusted employe of the house,
still maintaining its large trade and well-earned reputation.
During the entire period, from the establishment of the firm until his decease, in
October, 1891, Mr. Van Schaick was manager of the Chicago business, and for many
years, of the extended operations of the company, in the purchase of timber lands and
the manufacture of lumber at its mills at Menominee, filling the offices of secretary,
treasurer and vice-president, his position in the company calling him also to various
other responsible positions in other avenues of business in which his company was
largely interested. He was vice-president of the Marinette Barge Line, a director in
the Continental National Bank, vice-president of the Joliet Mound Drain Tile Com-
pany, director in the Menominee River Boom Company, the Vessel Owners' Towing
Company, and president of the First Regiment Armory Association of this city. He
was president of the Lumberman's Exchange in 1872, and again in 1881, holding the
office of treasurer for five years from 1869 to 1874, and again from 1875 until his elec-
tion to the presidency in 1881, and later for the three years 1884-85-86. During all
these years it is safe to assert that he did more to unify and sustain an interest in the
organization than any other member of the Exchange, frequently advancing needful
means to its exhausted treasury. When he became interested in a person or organi-
zation, it was in no half-hearted manner that Mr. Van Schaick manifested that interest.
It was the good fortune of the writer to assume the duties of secretary of the
Exchange at the time when, in 1881, Mr. Van Schaick became its president for the
second time and if there was added eclat and interest evoked among the membership
at that time, the credit was due to the intelligence and- masterful comprehension of
the value of the organization to the trade of the city, and the hearty interest of Mr.
Van Schaick in its work. No man had a deeper comprehension of the value of statis-
tical data, and it is safe to add that none equaled him in the acquisition of useful
statistics of the conditions of the lumber trade of the nation, whether in regard to the
344 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
volume of standing timber, the extent of production, or the relative conditions of the
trade as regulated by supply and demand.
Mr. Van Schaick was a ready speaker and a most entertaining and instructive
conversationalist. A good listener, his active mind quickly absorbed the salient
points of an argument, and his ready tongue was at all times prepared to present
those conclusions which his active brain most readily and intuitively formed, brushing
aside sophistries of argument and reaching directly to the kernel of his subject. His
administrative ability, combined with a uniformly wise judgment, led him no less to
be sought as a leader and guide upon matters pertaining to the interests of the trade
than as an arbiter in commercial disputes. In the great strike of 1886, known as the
" Haymarket massacre," and in which the laborers in the lumber yards participated,
Mr. Van Schaick was called to the chairmanship of the committee of safety created
by the lumber dealers, and his management of this matter won for him so great
applause that earnest endeavor was made to continue the committee indefinitely in
the interests of the city at large. As to the practical icsults, it is but necessary to say
that there has been no concerted strike in the lumber district since that day.
Not alone at home was the remarkable character and ability of Mr. Van Schaick
recognized and admired, but upon the organization of the Lumber Manufacturers'
Association of the Northwest, in 1882, an association comprising the manufacturers
of Michigan, Wisconsin, and the Mississippi Valley, there was no dissenting vote
to the motion to place Mr. Van Schaick at the head of the organization, an office
which he held for three years, and until other pressing cares led him wisely to decline
further service.
No man was ever less free from bigotry and intolerance; a Republican in politics,
he had the highest respect for a man of opposite political views, if convinced that they
were the result of sincere and intelligent conviction. Broad in his mind, he welcomed
intelligent discussion upon any and all subjects, whether of politics, religion, com-
merce, or social conditions. A demagogue was his detestation, and upon all subjects
concerning the welfare of the city he was outspoken in denunciation of wrong, and
equally strenuous in commending what he believed to be right. H'e was a firm friend
to the military organizations of the city, believing that even under our republican
form of government there were dangerous classes who could be kept in restraint
only by a realization of the ultimate results of a contest with the military power.
Open-hearted, the appeal of worthy poverty was never passed unheeded, while the
intuitively discerned fraud seldom cared to brave his denunciation for a second time.
Urbane and suave in general manner, his greetings were equally hearty to wealth
or poverty, and he was never so busy as to forget the amenities of life. Too often he
paid the penalty of his courteous nature, in the late hours of labor necessitated by the
many interruptions, as it was a business principle to remain at his desk until the day's
duties were fully performed, and none of to-day's work left for to-morrow.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 345
In 1851 Mr. Van Schaick was married to Miss Georgiana Porter, of Milwaukee,
who was taken from his side in 1871, leaving three children, Charles, Frances and
Georgiana; of these Frances alone survives. In August, 1872, he was united in mar-
riage to Miss Ellen Ludington, daughter of his partner, Ex-Gov. Harrison Luding-
ton, of Milwaukee, and the union was blessed by four children: Harrison Ludington,
Ellen, Gerard and Arthur Patton, all of whom survive to mourn with their estimable
mother the loss of a fond parent and exemplary husband.
The death of Mr. Van Schaick, at Denver, Colo., was at once a surprise and severe
shock to the lumbermen of this city and the public generally. It was well known for
several months that he was ailing, but the general supposition attributed it to over-
work, which it was hoped would be antidoted by a season of rest. In 1890 he took a
European to.ur, and the trip seemed greatly to benefit him, and on his return he again
plunged into business affairs. During the spring of 1891 he contracted a severe cold,
and in August went to Colorado upon suggestion of his medical advisers, but the
bronchial affection, which speedily developed into consumption, made rapid progress,
yet not so marked as to lead to serious apprehensions until within a very few days of
his demise. The remains were brought to this city and hence to be interred in Forest
Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, and we venture nothing in the assertion that no man
was ever followed to the grave with more sincere feelings of personal affliction than
was experienced by the large concourse of business associates, whose tears were
mingled with those of the afflicted family.
The Lumbermen's Association honored the memory of Mr. Van Schaick in the
passage of the following resolutions:
"Resolved, That in the death of our valued friend this association has lost one of
its most trusty members; a man of strict integrity and business rectitude, of that
happy combination of character, who, loving his fellow-man, could claim in business
that which belonged to himself without giving offense, and yield without controversy
that which seemed in law or in equity to belong to another. In matters of business,
as well as in social life, he appeared truthfully to fill the measure of an honest, kind-
hearted, God-fearing man.
" Resolved, That the members of the Lumbermen's Association in sorrow tender
to his bereaved family their condolence and warmest sympathy, in this hour of their
great affliction.
" Resolved, That in sympathy we send a copy of these resolutions to his wife and
children, in hope that in their sorrow it may be some comfort to them to know how
we appreciated the husband and father, and that they be engrossed upon our records
and a copy furnished to the daily and lumber press."
Nathan Mears. Few men have been more closely identified with the lumber
trade of Chicago than Nathan Mears, and it may be added that he is to be numbered
among the earlier pioneers in the settlement and development of the central west,
coming as he did before the days of railroads, and taking part in the trials and priva-
tions experienced by the settlers of southern Michigan in the pioneer days, when inter-
346 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
course between Detroit and the interior of the State was not only by tedious stage
coach through a sparsely settled country, but through a region from which the wild
beasts had not yet been wholly driven out.
Mr. Mears was born at Billerica, Mass., December 30, 1815, the son of Nathan, Sr.,
who was a descendant of Robert Mears, whose name appears upon the public records
of Billerica as early as 1726. The mother of Nathan, Jr., was Lucy, daughter of
Nathaniel Leviston, a descendant of John Leviston, a Scotchman, who settled in
Massachusetts previous to 1677.
Nathan Mears, Sr., was a merchant and a land owner of Billerica, and a man of great
influence in the community, who died in 1828, leaving what was at that time consid-
ered an ample fortune. For eight years previous to his death he had filled the office of
selectman of the town of Billerica, and was otherwise esteemed one of the leading citi-
zens of the town. His wife having died two years previous to his own demise, the
children were left orphans. Nathan, the son, was at this time twelve years of age, and, a
guardian being appointed, he was sent to school at the Billerica Academy, and subse-
quently at Westford, until at the age of seventeen he began the business career which
has resulted so successfully. His first venture was as a clerk in one of the stores at
Lowell, Mass., and a few months later as a clerk in the wholesale and retail dry goods
business of Nichols & Leeds, Boston, where he remained for three years. He was now
of age, and with his two brothers turned his face westward, and found a resting place
at Paw Paw, Mich., where the brothers opened a general store, with a stock com-
prising everything that the few settlers might need or the many Indians still remaining
in the country might fancy, and where they were prepared to buy furs, grain or any-
thing which the settlers might have to sell. Paw Paw was 160 miles from Detroit, on
the stage line which then constituted the only public means of travel between Detroit
and Chicago and the West. All their goods had to be transported by wagon, and the
roads were at certain seasons as bad as a track through the forest could possibly be
pictured. Battle Creek being among the nearest prominent settlements, young
Mears became acquainted with Miss Ann Elizabeth Gilbert, of Salem, N. Y., whose
parents had settled at Battle Creek, and their marriage took place in 1840,
eventuating so fortunately as to call for its golden anniversary in 189x1, at which
the vast number of friends who gathered at the spacious mansion on Cass Street
testified to the esteem which was felt for the now aged couple, over whose heads a
half century of married life had brought but happiness.
Nathan bought out his brother's interest in the store at Paw Paw in 1839, and con-
tinued the business alone until 1849, when, having struggled against the hard times
of 1837, supplemented by the panic of 1847, he found it discouraging work, and
decided to turn his stock of goods into cattle; and driving his cattle east to New York
State realized enough to pay off all his indebtedness. In 1849 he came to Chicago,
whither his star of destiny directed him, and where his brother Charles, who had
W*K '.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 349
dabbled somewhat in lumber, induced Nathan to join him in the lumber business
and the firm of Charles Mears & Co. was instituted, Charles attending to the
manufacture at White Lake, and later at Hamlin and other points on the Michi-
gan shore, and Nathan attending to the business at Chicago. It was but a year
or two before the rapid growth of the business demanded more help, and Eli
Bates, who had previously lived at Milwaukee, came to Chicago at Mr. Charles Mears'
request to assist in his lumber yard. In 1853 he became a partner in the business,
and afterward married a sister of Mrs. Nathan Mears.
In 1859 the brothers divided their interests, and Nathan associated with him Eli
Bates, James C. Brooks and Geo. H. Ambrose, and ths firm of Mears, Bates & Co.
became not only one of the best known, but heaviest and most reliable, lumber firms in
the country. In 1865 they became interested with George Farnsworth in a large
mill at Oconto, Wis., and the Oconto Lumber Company being organized, Mr. Mears
for many years held the office of vice-president. Upon his advice, and in accordance
with his keen perception of what the future was to bring forth, the company adopted
the policy of acquiring all the pine lands which its increasing profits would enable
it to purchase, and it now holds about 100,000 acres of excellent pine timber land from
which for many years past no less than 50,000,000 feet of lumber has been cut
and manufactured yearly, to supply the immense wholesale trade which for the past
ten years has taken the place of the retail yard business of the previous years. In
connection with the mills at Oconto is a large planing mill, which, with excellent rail-
road facilities, enables the shipment of dressed lumber and mouldings direct from the
mills to any part of the country. It has been the policy of Mr. Mears, and as well of
his associates in business, to secure the best and latest improvement in time-saving
machinery as soon as such improvement was brought to their notice, and the mulay
succeeded the gate mill, and the gang was soon added. The rotary superseded the
upright saw, and the band saw in time found its way into the mill of this enterprising
company, the gang edger and the trimmer, steam feed and log turner, endless carriers
and labor-saving devices of every sort having been added without regard to cost, and
with sole reference to more economical manufacture and a greater saving of timber,
so that under the wise direction of the veteran subject of this sketch and his able lieu-
tenants, the cost of manufacture and the waste of timber has been reduced to the
minimum.
Mr. Mears has occupied yards in various portions of the city, but has been best
known in connection with yards at the Kinzie Street bridge, on the North Pier and at
Polk Street. As an index to his promptness to act and his quick perceptions of that
which is requisite at the moment, it is related of him that in 1866, on receiving a tele-
gram from Oconto stating that the mill had burned, and asking "What shall we do?"
it was but a moment's work to dictate the message, " But one thing to do; clear the
ruins and prepare to rebuild at once." When the fire of 1871 consumed 12,000,000
16
360 IXDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
feet of lumber for the firm, and while many dealers were wringing their hands over
the ruins, Mr. Mears dispatched Mr. George H. Ambrose to Saginaw with instructions
to purchase 5,000,000 feet, and he would send vessels for it, and before the close of
navigation an ample stock of such lumber as was required in rebuilding the city, was
on the docks of Mears, Bates & Co.
At the death of Mr. Bates, in 1881, Mr. Charles H. Mears, son of Nathan Mears,
became connected with the business, and on the retirement of his father, became the
head of the business, which is now carried on under the designation of Charles H.
Mears & Co., handling from 40,000,000 to 60,000,000 feet per year.
Mr. Mears' usefulness has not been wholly confined to his business endeavors.
On the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion Mr. Mears at once took part with
those citizens who were endeavoring to assist the Government. After the capture of
Fort Donelson, Mr. Mears was sent by citizens who had raised a fund for that
purpose, in charge of a force of ship carpenters and calkers, numbering 120, whose
services were required at Cairo in the repair of the transports and Federal gun-
boats which had been disabled and sent to that place for repairs. The mission
was well perfected, and at a minimum of cost to the fund which had been raised by
the citizens for that purpose, while the Government work was greatly accelerated.
Mr. Mears has his wise forethought and good judgment much to thank for the
excellent health, which at the ripe age of seventy-eight, he is now enabled to enjoy.
Unlike too many who could not spare the time to rest and recuperate, and as a con-
sequence break down early in life, Mr. Mears has wisely enjoyed the benefits of for-
eign travel as a relief from business cares, not more for the relaxation it afforded
than as a means of broadening his knowledge of the world, and in 1876, with his good
wife, made an extensive tour of Europe, visiting all the more famous places of the
old world. His vigorous constitution led him in the winter of 1893 to start upon
an extensive trip to California and the Pacific Coast. He was so charmed with the
country and climate that he purchased from Mr. Howard, of Boston, a beautiful win-
ter home at Pasadena. As before remarked, the golden anniversary of the marriage
of Mr. and Mrs. Mears occurred in 1890, and was participated in by many fond rela-
tions, children, grandchildren and a host of friends, who breathed an earnest prayer
for a long continuance in life and health of their honored host and hostess.
The family of Mr. Mears consists of the son, Charles H., and two daughters, Mrs.
Jonathan Slade and Mrs. James R. McKay, the husband of each being recognized
among the prominent citizens of Chicago.
Mr. Mears has from its organization been a prominent and active member of the
Unitarian denomination, and was most active in the organization of Unity Church,
and in securing to it the services of the eloquent and widely known Rev. Robert
Collyer, with whom he has for many years claimed the warmest reciprocal friendship.
Broad in view, liberal in thought, active in business, and recognized as honest in
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 351
the purposes of life, the history of Nathan Mears should prove an incentive to noble
lives in all who may read these pages.
David Goodwillie, who settled in Chicago in 1848, was born in Scotland, December
4, 1828. His parents, Robert and Jenett Gun Goodwillie, were of Saxon rather than
Celtic origin, but the families were known in Scotland almost as far back as the time
of Edward the Confessor, who enfranchised the Anglo-Saxons and relieved them of
the disabilities imposed by the Normans.
In 1832 the family left their native land for Canada and arrived at Quebec after
a lengthy voyage, there the mother died of cholera in 1833, the father moved to Mon-
treal some time afterward, and being a skilled mechanic, engaged in the building busi-
ness, finally becoming a contractor for public work done in and about the city of
Monteal, being in the employment of the Government, superintending public works
at the time of his death, 1854.
David Goodwillie left school before his eleventh year, being apprenticed to a
wholesale merchant, who had business connections in upper Canada. There he worked
in two different merchandising stores for four and one-half years, then returned to
Montreal and worked in his father's workshop, learning the trade of a carpenter and
joiner, being given the very best opportunities, and good work, among first-class
mechanics.
In June, 1848, he arrived in Chicago and obtained employment with Updike & Peck
on the day of his arrival, and worked piece-work for them on doors and store-fronts
and the best work in the shops, there being but little woodworking machinery in use at
that time. About one year afterward he carried on a carpenter shop on the alley in the
rear of the Opera House building. Leaving Chicago for a time, he started the first plan-
ing mill in Green Bay, Wis., at the town of DePere, afterward engaging himself with
one of the firm of Sanger, Hendricks & Co., contractors, having entire charge of their
work on the Illinois Central road-masonary, quarries and carpentering for thirty miles,
from about Riverdale southward. Completing this work, he engaged in building in
Chicago, erecting for the Illinois Central the first buildings at Askum and at Peotone,
and the first ten workmen's houses at Centralia, also furnishing the settlers of the
Illinois Central farm lands with houses, doing considerable work in and about Chicago,
where he became the owner of a planing mill on Ohio Street in 1855. There, besides
planing, he manufactured sawed shingles at the earliest period of that industry, together
. with builders' materials and boxes, and added to this was the wholesaling of Canadian
lumber, consigned to him here by his former master. He has been connected with this
business during the whole of this intervening period, about thirty-nine years in the
same locality, having had during the war, a second factory in Louisville, Ky.
We now find him, in 1894, in charge of the Consumer's Box Manufacturing Com-
pany, on Ohio Street, near Kingsbury, as president and treasurer, working about sixty
persons, with a capacity for the use, and working up into boxes of 1,000,000 feet of
352 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O :
lumber per month, having been connected with the industries of Chicago in these lines
for over forty-six years. He may be credited with working his way through the
varied times of Chicago's trials successfully, being especially fitted to do so by his
early experiences and training in the store and workshops.
Mr. Goodwillie was married in 1849, to Miss Cecelia Goodwillie, also a native of
Scotland; of nine children born to this marriage, six are living: Robert W., James G.,
David Lincoln, Willis Lord, Jennie D. and Cecelia C. The parents are members of
the Presbyterian Church.
James Clark King. The firm of Jillett & King (Edwin L. *Jillett and James
Clark King) was for many years one of the best known, most active, enterprising and
successful lumber concerns of Chicago. James Clark King, the active business man
and financier of the house, was born at Glover, Orleans County, Vt., April 5, 1830,
a son of George VV. and Hannah (Pierce) King. His father, who was a farmer,
'was of English and Scotch descent. Mr. and Mrs. King both died young, leaving
four sons and two daughters to engage in a bitter but victorious struggle with the
world for subsistence, and for recognition, as men and women of character and ability.
James Clark King secured as good an education as was afforded in that part of the
country at that time, and early engaged in farm work, which he varied by teaching
school for a while. In 1852 he came to Chicago, bringing with him the meager capital
of 270, the sum total of what he had been enabled to save to that time.
During the succeeding two years he was variously employed as opportunity
offered, but never idle, for he was not of the kind who hesitate and lose time, and as
he became acquainted with Chicago, its location and its promise and noted carefully
its posibilities, he formed an exalted opinion of the prospects of the young city. In
1854 he entered the employ of Williams & Avery as clerk and. book-keeper and in
1856 was admitted to a partnership, and the firm became Read A. Williams & Co., and
was located at 91 North Canal Street for one year. In 1857 Mr. King formed an alliance
with William M. Steers and the house of Steers, King & Co. was established on Beach
Street, near De Koven. This firm continued but one year, when Mr. King bought the
interest of James Eraser, of Lower Saginaw (now Bay City), Mich., in the house of
Eraser & Jillett, and the house of Jillett & King was established and continued until
1872, with headquarters at 258 Sherman Street. In 1872 Messrs. Jillett & King became
interested in the newly established firm of Ketcham, Stephens & Co., which succeeded
to the yard business of the old firm on Sherman Street. For several years Mr. King
was a partner in the firm of Holt, Balcom & King, which did an exclusively wholesale
trade under Mr. King's personal supervision.
At the time of the great fire of October, 1871, Jillett & King had an auxiliary yard
near the corner of Fifth Avenue and Harrison Street, and another near the dry dock,
in which lumber valued at a quarter of a million dollars was stored, which, being in
the pathway of the "conflagration of Sunday night," was wiped out in common with a
*This was later spelled Gillett.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 355
vast amount of other property. The firm had good insurance to the extent of nearly
one-half its loss, and was fortunate in the possession of its main yard at 258 Sherman
Street, where, with a stock of nearly 8,OOO,OOO feet of lumber, it was in a position to
materially assist in the rebuilding of the city. The active participation of Mr. King
and Mr. Jillett in the conduct of the yard business practically ceased with the organi-
zation of the firm of Ketcham, Stevens & Co., and in 1886 the last piece of property
was sold which was held by them jointly. The firm of Ketcham, Stevens & Co. was
succeeded by that of Ketcham & Pick, that in turn by J. P. Ketcham & Bro., which
in time gave place to the Ketcham Lumber Company, which still continues.
Jillett & King became well known in manufacturing and wholesale circles and in
connection with the vessel interests of the lakes. For many years their lumbering
operations on streams tributary to the Saginaw River, Michigan, were very heavy, and
they maintained yearly contracts for stocking the McEwan and other mills at Bay
City, in addition to the manufacture of large stocks at other mills, the product finding
market principally in this city. The firm owned and built a considerable fleet of ves-
sels during their active operations, one of which, the "J. C. King of East Saginaw,"
was named after the subject of this sketch. In all the various operations in which
the firm of Jillett & King were concerned, Mr. King was recognized as the active busi-
ness and financial manager, and it is no mean tribute to his ability to assert that from the
inception of their enterprise no year's balance sheet showed other than a favorable
and satisfactory result, and it is doubtful if any business house, during the history of
the city, could show a greater measure of success than fell to the lot of Jillett & King.
Mr. King is still an active business man, and in addition to the care of his own
extensive interests, is first vice-president of the Chicago City Railway, controlling the
street railways of the South division of the city, which was the first to introduce in
Chicago the cable system of car propulsion, and has proved itself alive to the wants
of a progressive, and aggressive, business community, and paved the way for the inves-
tigation and adoption of the latest and best improvements in urban passenger
transportation. Mr. King has always been recognized as a public-spirited and helpful
citizen, ever ready to aid any movement promising to benefit the great mass, or any
worthy class, of his fellow-citizens. Politically he is a Republican, earnest in his
devotion as a voter, but never publicly active in the political field; indeed he has ever
been and is yet too busy a man to consider the possibility of being so, even did his
tastes incline him in that direction. Fully identified with the Chicago spirit, Mr. King
is satisfied that the city of his young manhood is destined to increase in even greater
proportion for the next half century than it has done in the past, and to become the
leading city of the continent, and may well regard with honest pride the place he has
filled in its past growth and the credit that is accorded him in its present prosperity.
Samuel Minot Jones. Just forty years have elapsed since Samuel M. Jones first
made his debut in a Chicago lumber office, and to such advantage did he follow up
356 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
the experience of the succeeding years, that he has long been known as one of the
most reliable and solid citizens of this great city.
Mr. Jones was born at Enfield, Mass., September 13, 1836. His father was a man-
ufacturer of woolen goods and one of the earliest operators in that line of business in
New England. The family history dates back to 1630, in connection with the Minot
family, renowned in the early history of eastern Massachusetts. His wife, the mother
of Samuel, came also from a lineage intimately connected with the early settlement
of Vermont, being a daughter of Gen. Martin Field, long at the head of the State
military forces of the Green Mountain State. In Samuel's early youth the family
removed to Enfield, Mass., where his father established extensive woolen mills, and
here the boy was given a good academical education, fitting him for the collegiate
course, but did not enter upon it. At the age of eighteen he came to Chicago and soon
after found employ in the lumber office of James H. Ferry & Co., at the foot of Wash-
ington Street, where he remained for two years, when he engaged in the lumber and
grain trade at Havana, 111., and was thus occupied until the breaking out of the war
of the Rebellion, when the martial spirit of his maternal grandfather, and his own
spirit of patriotism, prompted his enlistment in the Fifty-ninth Illinois Regiment,
with which he became connected with the department of the Missouri and partici-
pated in its gallant campaign. At the battle of Pea Ridge, Mo., he was a staff officer
under Gen. Julius White; while at the battle of Stone River, Tenn., he was assistant
adjutant-general on the brigade staff of Gen. P. Sidney Post. His health failing from
the exposure and arduous duty of army life, he resigned in 1863 and returning East
for a season, he embarked for the continent of Europe, where the hoped-for recupera-
tion was happily found.
Returning to Chicago, he, in the fall of 1864, formed a partnership with Charles
R. Barton, and Barton & Jones opened a lumber yard near the Twelfth Street bridge,
and met with the success due to hard and intelligent application to business, to such
an extent that the firm soon became interested in the manufacture of lumber at
various points, having a half interest with the milling firm of B. Merrill & Co., at
Muskegon, acquiring a shingle mill at Manistee and a saw mill at Menominee, Mich.,
with large holdings of pine lands in various portions of the State of Michigan,
increasing the early manufacture of 4,000,000 feet per annum to 20,000,000 and as
high as 30,000,000 feet in later years. The firm continued in the yard business until
1880, when it withdrew from that branch of the trade and confined itself wholly to
wholesaling by cargo, with office " on the market " at South Water and Franklin
Streets. In 1886 Mr. Barton died, and his son-in-law, D. J. Kennedy, became asso-
ciated with Mr. Jones, and the firm of Jones & Kennedy have for several years past
been engaged in winding up the affairs of the former house, which task is now happily
accomplished. During the continuance of the firm of Barton & Jones, no less than
200,000,000 feet of lumber, with a proportionate quantity of shingles and lath, was
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 357
manufactured at the mills which were wholly or partially owned by them. In the
winter of 1894, the business of the old firm having been settled up, Jones & Kennedy
dissolved partnership, and Mr. Jones, who during his busy life had found time to make
several European trips in the interest of health, as well as of recreation, decided to see
more of his own coyntry, and has spent the past several months in the South, visiting
the Pacific coast, storing his mind with a better knowledge of the resources and
grandeur of his native land, which he appreciates the more, not less from his own
personal sacrifices in its interest, than from that pride which swells the breast of every
true-born son of America, as he contrasts his own land with the world at large.
Mr. Jones, with ample fortune, now devotes his time to its care, having retired
from active business. His firm was for many years a member of the Lumberman's
Exchange, and he, individually, being of a highly social nature, while remaining a
bachelor, has held membership in various social clubs, including the Union, Washing-
ton Park and other clubs of Chicago and the Union and New York Clubs of New
York. Of a genial nature, his society is sought by his friends, and few have a happier
faculty of winning and holding valuable friendships.
Morton Benjamin Hull. Morton B. Hull, vice-president of the National Bank
of America, and for many years prominent in the lumber circles of Chicago, was
a native of Berlin, Rensselaer County, N. Y., where he was born May 19, 1832. The
Hull family was of English descent, and was among the earlier settlers of the colonies
of Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York. Morton B. was a descendant of the
Connecticut branch, his great-grandfather, Daniel Hull, removing from Connecticut to .
Berlin, Rensselaer County, N. Y., in 1770, being the first " Yankee " settler in that town.
It was upon the farm which his great-grandfather had settled and cultivated, that Mor-
ton B. first saw the light; a farm which continued in the family for 121 years previous
to its alienation in 1891. The Hull family, as would naturally be imagined, were
prominent in the growth, development, and progress of that section of the country,
members of it occupying responsible and honorable positions both in church and
state, as magistrates, as members of the Legislature, and in the military organizations
of that early period. Benjamin L., the father of Morton B., was born in 1797, and
spent his days upon the old farm, and died in 1869, at the ripe age of seventy-two,
his wife, the mother of Morton, surviving him until 1884, when she too passed away,
at the age of eighty-two. Until the age of sixteen Morton B. attended the common
and select schools of the neighborhood, and at seventeen obtained the appointment
of teacher of the district school, where for three winters he taught, assisting his father
upon the farm in summer.
Upon attaining his majority, having decided upon a business life as more congenial
than farming, he entered the employ of an uncle who was a lumberman, engaged in
manufacturing and dealing, at Scio, Allegany County, N. Y., then, and for many years
after, one of the leading lumber producing sections of the country. Here young Hull
358 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
became thoroughly indoctrinated in the principles and details of the lumber trade,
and in 1856, having served three years with his uncle, he decided to come West, but
finding no ready opening in the lumber business he accepted a clerkship, first in a grocery
and later in a dry goods store at Uubuque, Iowa, where he remained until the panic
of 1857 having wiped out the firm with which he was engaged, he was variously
employed in clerical work until the fall of 1859, when he came to Chicago, and, not
readily finding a situation in a lumber office, accepted a position as collector for
several Eastern houses who had doubtful claims against merchants throughout the
Northwest, and thus acquired a valuable knowledge of the collection laws of the
various States, and how to collect bad debts, which has proved of great value in his
subsequent business career.
On the ist of April, 1861, Mr. Hull entered the employ of Geo. R. Roberts & Co.,
lumber dealers, at the corner of Harrison andWells Street, having mills at Muskegon,
Mich. Here he filled various positions until 1865, when, having saved a considerable
sum from his salary, he was, in connection with James W. Calkins, induced to purchase
the interest held by Mr. Roberts' silent partner, and the firm of Roberts, Calkins &
Hull thereafter continued until in December, 1868, when Mr. Hull purchased the Cal-
kins' interest, and the firm of Roberts & Hull was instituted and continued until 1878,
Mr. Roberts having, at his death in 1875, left a will, one of the provisions of which
was the appointment of Mr. Hull as executor without bond, and another that the firm
name and business should be continued without change for three years succeeding his
decease before being closed up. Upon the organization of the firm of Roberts & Hull
in 1868 the yard business was discontinued and the firm devoted its attention to the
sale of their mill product by the cargo, their mill at Muskegon ranking among the
best appointed mills of the State. In the final settlement of the estate of Mr. Roberts
his interest in the mill property was, in 1878, purchased by Mr. A. B. Watson, of Grand
Rapids, Mich., and the firm of Hull & Watson was organized, Mr. Watson attending
to the manufacture at Muskegon and Mr. Hull to the disposition of the product at
Chicago by the vessel load. In 1882 the mill property was sold to D. A. Blodget, of
Grand Rapids, and the firm dissolved. Upon the death of Mr. Watson, in August,
1888, it was found that Mr. Hull had been named as his executor without bond, as in
the case of Mr. Roberts, complete evidence of the warm friendship and the unalloyed
confidence which Mr. Watson, as well as Mr. Roberts, reposed in his former partner.
In 1882 Mr. Hull formed an alliance with George C. Benton under the firm name
of M. B. Hull & Co. for the transaction of a wholesale commission lumber business,
and this continued until 1884, when, Mr. Benton retiring, Mr. Hull took a silent inter-
est in the wholesale yard of J. S. Vredenburg, and the firm of J. S. Vredenburg & Co.
continued until in 1886, when Mr. Vredenburg's health failing, the business was closed
out, and Mr. Hull associated himself with A. L. Ullrich and Joseph E. Quintal as general
partner of the house of Hull, Ullrich & Co., which continued until the close of 1888.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 361
This may be taken as the close of Mr. Hull's active connection with the lumber busi-
ness. Since which time he has been giving his attention to his private affairs
and the affairs of others confided to his care, among which is the management of the
large estate of the late Henry Witbeck, he being the managing executor and trustee.
Having been a director of the National Bank of America since 1885 he was in 1891,
upon the death of the vice-president, Henry Witbeck, elected to the vice-presidency,
and he has since devoted his time to the management of that sound financial institu-
tion, which his reputation as a conservative and able business man, has, and will con-
tinue to greatly strengthen.
That, as a lumberman, Mr. Hull has always' stood high among his fellow mer-
chants, is fully evidenced by the fact that he was from year to year reflected to the
important chairmanship of the arbitration committee of the Lumberman's Exchange,
a position which, in view of the fact that the decisions of the committee have the
binding power of a judgment of the Circuit Court, and could be enforced as such, was
the highest compliment which could be paid to the good judgment and judicial mind
of Mr. Hull, and the wisdom of this confidence is the more made manifest, in the
fact, that during a period of fifteen years, no case in which Mr. Hull had acted as one
of the arbitrators, was appealed by the defeated party. A further evidence is found
in the value which was from his earliest connection with the trade, attached to his
opinions upon all general subjects pertaining to the interests of the lumber business
or the general interests of the city of Chicago.
Mr. Hull was united in marriage in 1863 with Miss Eudora E. Denison, whose
ancestors like his own were among the early settlers of Rensselaer County, N. Y., and
whose family was counted among the neighbors and friends of his own family during
his youth. A son, Morton D., and a daughter, Eudora M., have blessed the union.
Mr. and Mrs. Hull are members of the First Unitarian Church, of Chicago.
As an interesting incident in Mr. Hull's experience, it may be related that the pur-
chase of an interest in the business and stock of George R. Roberts & Co. in 1865,
was made upon the basis of $12 for common lumber, while within thirty days from the
date of purchase lumber commenced advancing until it reached as high as $24 for
common. This, to those who had survived the panic of 1857, was in some degree an
offset to the rapid decline of lifmber in 1857 and 1858, which caused as wide spread
distress, as the advance of 1865 brought joy and prosperity.
In his present position as vice-president of an important banking institution, Mr.
Hull is esteemed to have found a position for which he is eminently fitted, and in
which his rare talent for reading men and judging of their various schemes for obtain-
ing money, cannot fail to redound to the best interests of the institution, and his own
credit.
Henry Harrison Getty. For more than a quarter of a century the name of Henry
H. Getty has been a familiar one to the Chicago lumbermen from its association with
362 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
that veteran of the trade, the late Martin Ryerson, from which it is inseparable in the
annals of the trade.
Mr. Getty was born at Batavia, N. Y., in 1836, his father, Adams Getty, having
removed from Washington County, N. Y., to Batavia about 1821, in pursuit of his
mercantile occupation. The family was numbered among the emigres from Ireland
who reached this country early in the seventeenth century. Henry H. attended the
common schools of Batavia until at the age of twelve he came West with his parents,
who in 1848 were numbered among the early settlers of Waukegan, 111. Continuing
his studies until 1856 he in that year went to Muskegon and entered the general store
of Wing & Davis, where he remained for three years. In 1859 he entered the
employ of Ryerson & Morris, then among the larger manufacturers of lumber at
Muskegon, with two saw mills, the "upper" one of which had capacity for sawing
about three and a half millions feet per year, and the "lower" mill suited to a
cut of six millions per year. Mr. Getty was soon placed in charge of the
upper mill in the capacity of superintendent and foreman, and continued in that
position for seven succeeding years, until in 1865, when he, with Charles T. Hills
and Ezra Stevens, purchased the Morris interest in the business and the firm of
Ryerson, Hills & Co. was organized. In 1867 Mr. Getty purchased an interest in
the Chicago business of Martin Ryerson and removed to this city to assume charge of
the yard business of the new firm of Martin Ryerson & Co., whose yards were located
at the corner of Fulton and Canal Streets, and also at Beach and De Koven Streets,
Mr. Ryerson retiring from the active management of the well-established business in
which he still retained an interest.
In 1880 Martin A. Ryerson, a son of the founder of the house, was admitted to a
partnership, but the firm name remained unchanged, and the manufacture of lumber
at Muskegon was continued as of yore. Mr. Ryerson, Sr., died in 1887, but the firm
designation continued until its dissolution in 1892, although the yard business had
been discontinued since 1875 a d the firm had since confined its operations to the
manufacture and wholesaling of the mill product. Since 1892 no business has been
undertaken beyond closing up the affairs of a long and eventful business experience.
As an evidence of the extent, growth, progress and decay of the great lumber inter-
est of the firm, it is interesting to note that in 1865 the cut of the mills in which Mr.
Getty was interested was 12,802,897 feet, which was increased by 1879 to 40,000,000
feet; in 1887 to 55,000,000 feet, and from this point its decadence is noted in a decrease
in 1888 to 44,000,000 feet; in 1889 to 36,000,000 feet, and in 1890 and 1891 to 39,000,-
OOO feet for each year, which, exhausting the timber supply available, ended one of
the most remarkable personal experiences connected with the lumber manufacture of
the Northwest, an experience which aggregated a lumber cut during a little more than
a quarter of a century, from 1865 to 1891, of 840,789,699 feet of lumber, 163,123,215
lath and 3,870,899 pickets. Making due allowance for the cut of the years preceding
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.
the connection of Mr. Getty with Martin Ryerson & Co., it is safe to say that from
first to last the mills of the company contributed i ,000,000,000 feet of lumber
toward the building of homes for the settlers of the great Northwest, and that Mr.
Getty was interested in the production of fully eight-tenths of this vast quantity of
lumber, which demanded the denudation of 200,000 acres of forest in its production.
Mr. Getty was married in 1864 to Miss Carrie E. Anderson, of Muskegon, and
has one daughter. He believes in the necessity for recreation for the earnest devotee
to business, and has found pleasure, profit and health in European travel, to an extent
which has given him a cosmopolitan view of life and the world. As a member of the
firm of Martin Ryerson & Co. he was for many years a member of the Lumberman's
Exchange, and is a member of various other organizations, including the Chicago,
Union League and Iroquois Clubs. He is also president of the Wright & Hills Lin-
seed Oil Company, one of the largest enterprises of its kind in the West.
James C. Brooks. In the marvelous growth of the great city of Chicago, spon-
taneous as it has been, it would indeed be strange if some illustrious examples of
self-made men could not be found; men whose history should prove an inspiration to
the rising generation. And when that history abounds in lessons of experience valu-
able to young men of the present and future generations as an incentive to industry
and integrity, no false conceptions of modesty should prevent its relation as an
encouragement to those whose business career is but in its morning. It is difficult to
find a better representative of this class than James C. Brooks, president of the Oconto
Lumber Company, and of the Bay De Noquet Lumber Company. He was born at *
Salem, Mass., August 25, 1837, an< ^ is a son of William H.and Sarah (Carter) Brooks,
both of whom were also natives of the Old Bay State, where they lived their lives and
passed away.
When James C. Brooks was a child he was taken by his parents to Cambridge, at
which place he was reared and educated. His parents were intelligent people and
knew the value of a good education to a young man starting out in life for himself.
Accordingly James C. was given good opportunities for acquiring an education, which
he improved and which he now believes'have contributed materially to his splendid
business success. The public schools of Cambridge furnished the basis of his edu-
cation, which was afterward supplemented in the famous private schools of Boston,
the center of culture in the United States.
In 1856, when he was nineteen years of age, he came to Chicago. At that time
this young city began first to feel the prodigious energy which was destined to make
it the foremost industrial mart of the world. He at once secured employment with
Artemas Carter, and was soon busy measuring lumber, etc., in the yards of the latter
continuing thus on a salary for two years and learning in the meantime much that was
afterward of great benefit to him. His education during this formative period fitted
him in every way for a comprehensive knowledge of the lumber business and for rapid
364 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
and sure promotion if he remained in the employ of others. Succeeding his three
years' service for Mr. Carter, he worked on a salary for one year with C. Mears &
Co., at the end of which time Mr. C. Mears retiring, the firm became Mears, Bates &
Co., composed of Nathan Mears, Eli Bates and James C. Brooks. The latter was
still young in years, but was ambitious and determined to push to the front. This
firm continued business w_ith great success until 1879, at which time Mr. Brooks
retired, and soon after took a trip to Europe, visiting many places of note and acquir-
ing much knowledge of the old world. After about a year's vacation he returned.
In 1866 he became interested as a stockholder in the Oconto and later the Bay
De Noquet Lumber Companies, and subsequently became a director in each, soon
finding himself called to a high degree of authority in their management and devel-
opment, contributing no little to their and his own profit through a wise direction and
careful study of those conditions which added to the efficiency and economy both of
manufacture and sale. On the retirement of Mr. George Farnsworth from the presi-
dency of the companies in 1880, Mr. Brooks was elected president of both companies,
a position in which the value and practical nature of Mr. Brooks' business qualities
were so manifest that he has been re-elected from year to year and still holds the
responsible position in each company.
In 1867 he was united in marriage with Miss Rose Hambleton, a native of Cincinnati,
Ohio, and the daughter of Samuel T. Hambleton, the latter before his death being
largely interested in the steamboat business on the Ohio River. To Mr. and Mrs.
Brooks have been born three children: Alice H., Edith G. and James H. Mr.
Brooks is a gentleman of high social qualities. He is a member of the Union League,
of the Marquette, Union and Athletic Clubs, is a strong Republican and a member of
Unity Church.
During his business career Mr. Brooks has been a hard worker. He has made a
study of his business and has achieved most flattering success. When he arrived in
Chicago in 1856 he had but one cent and this was used to purchase a single doughnut
of which alone his breakfast consisted. But he had plenty of pluck and on the day of
his arrival he secured work in the lumber yard of Mr. Carter. After that his advance-
ment and success were steady and merited, for his schooling had taught him the value
of method and system in labor as well as in intellectual pursuits. He is absolutely
self made and is a man of action, and his New England stock and training are guaran-
tees, without further question, of his intelligence, high character and integrity. He
has the highest appreciation of the benefits of a good education and believes it better
for parents to fit their children with superior schooling and training than with a
goodly sum of money. His position among the self-made, solid, substantial men of
influence in the city is one to be envied by all who are seeking to mount the ladder of
fame, or reach the topmost round of honor in mercantile or social circles.
Webster Batcheller is another member of the coterie of lumbermen who may be
CO
o
**
;
*j O t*.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 367
numbered among the " old operators," his connection with the Chicago trade dating
back to the year 1858. He, like a majority of the pioneers of the trade, comes of New
England stock, such as has left its impress upon the development and intelligence of
the entire Western section of our country.
Mr. Batcheller's father was engaged in the boot and shoe business at Adams,
Mass., and was descended from an old colonial family, his English ancestors having
been numbered among the earliest settlers of the Massachusetts colony. The subject
of our sketch first saw the light in 1834, and obtained his education in the common
schools of Adams, Mass., and of Glens Falls, N. Y., whither his parents had removed
in 1842. Here the boy graduated from the Glens Falls Academy, at the age of sixteen,
and coming West to Chicago entered the employ of Chapin, Marsh & Foss, on the
corner of Canal Street, near Monroe Street, where he remained until 1858, on the 1st
of January of which year he formed an alliance with James H. Pearson, and the firm
of Pearson & Batcheller continued until 1862, when, health failing, he spent a year in
California, and on his return he, in 1864, entered into partnership with Byron Rice,
and the firm of Batcheller & Rice continued in business until 1870, when the firm of
Batcheller & Benton (George C.) was formed with a yard at Throop Street bridge,
and this continued until 1872, at which time he purchased Mr. Benton's interest, and
in connection with Nathaniel Slaght, purchased the Ferry & Hopkins saw mill at
Ferrysburg, Mich., which was operated by Batcheller & Slaght until 1875, when, pur-
chasing the Slaght interest, Mr. Batcheller operated the mill until 1880, when he
disposed of it to the Akeley & Boyden Lumber Company, including the large quantity
of pine lands which had meantime been accumulated. Since disposing of the mill
property Mr. Batcheller has been engaged in the purchase and sale of real estate
located in Chicago and elsewhere. True to his name, Mr. Batcheller has remained a
single man throughout his busy life, which to his many friends gives rise to the
severest criticism which we hear expressed regarding one who is uniformly respected
as an upright merchant and a progressive and public-spirited citizen. During his long
connection with the lumber trade of Chicago Mr. Batcheller was an active and
esteemed member of the Lumberman's Exchange, in the formation of which in 1869
he took an active part.
E. H. Denison, was born at Norfolk, Litchfield County, Conn., December 25, 1822,
of parents who had for many years been residents of the Nutmeg State, descendants
of a colonial ancestry.
Mr. Denison received his education in the common schools, Connecticut having
a reputation in his boyhood for a greater advancement i* the matter of education
than many of her sister States, and her common schools sent forth graduates whose
good sense and practical knowledge of the three essentials to success in life, some-
times denominated as the "three R's," viz.: "reading, 'riting and "rithmetic," well fitted
them to cope with the practical business of life. Finishing his education in the com-
368 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
mon schools at LeRoy, N. Y., whither his parents had moved, he, at the age of four-
teen, found employment in a hat and fur store in Buffalo until October, 1851, when
he came to Chicago, and for a time engaged in book-selling, and in 1853 found employ-
ment in the lumber office of The N. Ludington Company, and in 1861 we find him
noted in the directory as a member of the firm of Denison & Calkins, and in that of
1862-63 as a yard dealer at the corner of Old and Lumber Streets, and later ( 1871 ), the
N. Ludington Company appreciating his character, availed itself of his services, and
he continued in connection with that house for the succeeding twenty-one years. For
several years past Mr. Denison has confined himself to local matters of trade distinct
from lumber, having done an extensive business in the contracting line, cement work
in sidewalks being his specialty. He has for many years been a resident of High-
land Park, a beautiful suburban city, twenty-two miles north of Chicago, of which city
he is now treasurer. Mr. Denison has long been regarded as one of the most upright
and intelligent members of a craft noted for the enterprise and public spirit of its mem-
bers, and as a citizen is held by his neighbors at Highland Park in the highest esteem.
He was married in 1855 to Miss Caroline Howard, of Cincinnati, Ohio. They
have two children, one son and one daughter, of whom the son, Henry Denison, is
taking a prominent position in the trade which his father has honored for so long a
period.
George Chester Benton. Among the many prominent operators in the develop-
ment of the lumber trade of Chicago and the Northwest must be included George C.
Benton, whose connection with it dates back to 1857. Mr. Benton was born in Cort-
land County, N. Y., in 1827, and spent his earlier years upon his father's farm in
that county. While in this country "A man's a man for a' that," and Mr. Benton is
by birth, education and experience a thorough American, it is no disgrace that he can
trace his lineage to the honored titles which a grateful monarch bestows upon his
faithful subjects, while it is no less to the credit of the descendants of Sir John Benton
that early in the seventeenth century they should be wise enough to abandon all
claims to the honors and emoluments of a titled aristocracy to cast in their lot with
the colonists who in New England were carving the destinies of what was ultimately to
be the greatest of nations, in which the title of manhood should outrank the most
honored favors which it is in the gift of royalty to bestow.
A native of the Nutmeg State, Mr. Benton's father early in the present century
emigrated from its rocky and sterile soil to the more favored region which was being
opened up in the wilderness of western New York, where George was born and where he
spent his earlier years in the enjoyment of the limited facilities for obtaining an edu-
cation, which were afforded by the district schools of that early period, assisting his
parents betimes in the routine of farm life, until he sought the more enlarged experi-
ence of business life as clerk in a country store. But measuring dry goods and
weighing out groceries were not to the liking of the ambitious youth, who in 1857
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS 369
turned his face westward as his father had done long years before, and pitching upon
Columbus, Wis., as a location suited to his aspirations, he established a retail lumber
yard for the accommodation of the rapidly increasing population of that section. For
the succeeding four years he obtained his lumber supply by team from Fond du Lac,
until by the building of the Chicago & St. Paul Railroad and the increased facilities
thereby presented to the neighborhood, he concluded to seek a more enlarged field of
operations and, associating himself with the brothers George G. and Royal Houghton,
of Milwaukee, came to Chicago and established the firm of Houghton Brothers &
Benton, with a yard on the corner of Beach and Sebor Streets. This partnership con-
tinued for the succeeding five years, when Mr. Benton purchased the interests of his
partners, and formed a business alliance with Webster Batcheller with a yard near the
Throop Street bridge, which continued for two years, when, selling out to Mr. Batch-
eller, he in 1872 opened a yard on the corner of Twenty-second and Union Streets,
and from 1874 to 1877 was associated at the same place with S. R. Fuller, the firm
being Benton & Fuller, after which he continued to operate until 1877, when he closed
out his yard business and in connection with M. B. Hull, under the designation of M.
B. Hull & Co., engaged in a commission lumber business on South Water Street.
Continuing in this branch of the trade until 1882, the connection was dissolved and
Mr. Benton commenced the business of purchasing Michigan stumpage, which he
continued, in connection with manufacturing the stock at Muskegon, until the decad-
ence of timber resources compelled him to stop, in common with a majority of the
operators who depended upon the, at one time, supposed limitless resources of
timber on the banks of, or tributary to, the Muskegon River. For several years past
Mr. Benton has turned his attention to the more enlarged field of operations afforded
in the development of Southern timber, and has engaged in the purchase and sale of
the valuable hardwood and cypress lands of Mississippi and Louisiana.
Mr. Benton was married in 1859 to Miss Harriet, daughter of Judge Henry
Stephens, a prominent lawyer and jurist, of Cortland, N. Y., and has one daughter
who continues to reside at home. Mrs. Benton died in 1879. In 1883 Mr. Benton was
united with Mrs. Susan D. Tuttle of Chicago, a native of New Jersey. Although
approaching closely to the limit of three score years and ten, Mr. Benton gives little
evidence of the deteriorating effects of a busy and useful life, and bids fair to remain
in the business harness long after many of his younger competitors shall have laid off
life's armor. He has been honored through life with many positions of usefulness
and responsibility, among which may be named many years in the eldership of the
Second Presbyterian Church. As a member of the Lumberman's Exchange, his opinions
have borne weight in the counsels of that body, and few if any of those who have been
active participants in the development of the great city of Chicago, have exercised a
more beneficent influence over its destinies.
Benjamin Luke Anderson. One of the most prominent and enterprising of the
370 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
many energetic men who have built up the Chicago lumber trade, is B. L. Ander-
son, who for thirty continuous years was a leading factor in its development. Mr.
Anderson was a native of England, having been born at Wisbech, September 23, 1833.
He was educated at what was known as a " middle " or non-conformist school,
answering to the common schools of this country. At the age of twelve he entered
his father's store and pursued the calling of a grocer and baker, until at the age of
fifteen he became book-keeper and subsequently manager of a spool cotton factory,
where he remained until he was twenty-one years of age, when he determined to come
to America. He reached New York in February, 1855, and in his search for employ-
ment reached Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where for several months he earned his living by
doing anything which offered, or, to use his own term as a "roustabout." In August
he found his way to Chicago, and reaching here on Tuesday was on Wednesday
employed as book-keeper for Jacob and Henry Beidler and remained with them until
1866, when he opened a yard on Fisk Street, near Twenty-second, under the firm
designation of B. L. Anderson & Co., the Messrs. Beidler being the company. In
1868 A. E. Cutler and John Oliver purchased the interests of the Beidlers and the
firm became Cutler, Anderson & Oliver, continuing thus for one year, when, Cutler
retiring, the firm became Oliver & Anderson, and thus continued until May I, 1870,
when Mr. Oliver withdrew and the house was again known as B. L. Anderson & Co.,
until in December of that year, when William Rutherford, of Muskegon, became an
associate member, and B. L. Anderson & Co., Chicago, was synonymous with William
Rutherford & Co., Muskegon, and the business included the manufacture of lumber
at Muskegon, Mr. Rutherford attending to the manufacturing branch. In 1872 it was
decided to incorporate the business under the title of the B. L. Anderson Company,
and in 1876 the yard was removed to Twenty-second and Laflin Streets, where it
remained until 1882. In 1881 the Michigan Lumber Company was incorporated and
in 1882 the B. L. Anderson Company removed to the Stock Yards district, at Thirty-
ninth and Laurel Streets, becoming the pioneers of this new district, which has since
become of great importance as a lumber center. At this time Mr. Anderson severed
his connection with his old partner, Rutherford, who continued the Michigan Lumber
Company in connection with T. R. Fleming. In 1885 Mr. Anderson decided to with-
draw from the lumber business and surrendered the charter of his lumber company to
engage in the manufacture of mirrors and beveled glass under the name of B. L.
Anderson & Co., at the corner of Clinton and Jackson Streets, removing from there
in 1890 to the corner of Canal and Jackson Streets, where (1890) he was joined
by his son, George H. Anderson. Although now in a dissimilar business from that
which for thirty years had made his name a household word, he is honored among
lumbermen for his enterprise and probity of character. Mr. Anderson was married
June 23, 1858, to Miss Eliza Cooke, of Wisbech, England, and three sons and two
daughters were the fruit of the happy union. Two sons and a daughter survive to
^- -w*
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THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 373
make glad the hearts of their parents and to enjoy the heritage of an upright and
intelligent ancestry.
Edwin Lewis Gillette. The family of Gillette is, as the name would suggest, of
French origin, its membership having descended from the French Huguenots who
emigrated from France shortly after the massacre on St. Bartholomew's day, August
24, 1 572, and settled within the southern boundaries of Scotland. The family remained
there for about fifty-seven years, and in 1630 Jonathan Gillette, the ancestor of the sub-
ject of this sketch, came to America with his brother Nathan and settled at Dorches-
ter, Mass., but removed, in 1635, to Windsor, Conn., where he found a more perma-
nent home. In 1791 the family removed to New York State and finally located at
Penn Yan, Yates County, where Edwin Lewis Gillette was born February 7, 1811, a
son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Hoyt) Gillette.
In that country, at that time, educational advantages were not many, nor of a very
high order, but such as there were, young Gillette availed himself of, and when of a
suitable age he acquired the trade of miller, one in those days of considerable impor-
tance, and he worked at it, either for others or for himself, until he came west and
located in the Saginaw Valley and became a partner of James Eraser's. Fraser was a
Scotchman who, with a Dr. Fitzhugh, had located the lands upon which Bay City, Mich.,
for many years known as Lower Saginaw, now stands. Messrs. Gillette & Fraser
built a mill on the Coqualin (Kawkawlin) River, seven miles west of Bay City, and
they had a mill also on the bank of the Saginaw River, near the boundary line between
Lower Saginaw and Portsmouth, which was later known as the Seth McLean mill, and
was destroyed by fire in 1893. Between 1849 an d l %54 tne fi fm sent occasional car-
goes of lumber to the Chicago market and realized prices which, while they w-ere sat-
isfactory at the time, would now be considered equivalent to a gift of the lumber to the
purchaser. The venture was successful enough, however, to convince the shippers that
their business would be facilitated by the opening of a yard in Chicago. Their office was
located on Sherman Street, just south of Taylor, near the Rock Island Railroad depot,
and in 1854 Mr. Gillette came to Chicago to assume the management of the enter-
prise. Four years later James Clark King succeeded to the interest of Mr. Fraser.
When the great fire of 1871 swept away their lumberyard, with between 5,000,000 and
6,000,000 feet of lumber, at Harrison Street and Fifth Avenue, the firm managed to
save their principal yard at 258 Sherman Street, and several million feet of lumber
stored there was utilized in rebuilding the city. The business of the house was most
successful, notwithstanding this heavy loss, and Mr. Gillette came to be most promi-
nent among the leading business men of the city in his day.
Mr. Gillette early saw the value of local real estate investments and In time
became a large owner of Chicago property. He conceived and built up the suburban
town of Fernwood, one of the most beautiful and in many ways one of the most
advantageous residence localities around Chicago. His judgment of real estate
17
374 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
values was good and he had such unbounded faith in the future of the city that he
ventured largely in down-town property, one of his most successful and profitable
investments having been that of 1872, in the Hawley building, Nos. 134 to 146 Dear-
born Street, and the lot upon which it stood. This property he leased in 1892 on
most advantageous terms for a period of ninety-nine years to the Hartford Deposit
Company, and the Hartford building a modern fourteen story fire-proof building of
the famous Chicago construction, has been erected upon the lot to replace the old
Hawley block.
Mr. Gillette was a resident of Chicago continuously from 1854 until the day of
his death, October 8, 1892, and during that long period saw a goodly city grow up,
to be swallowed in the flames like the grass on the prairies. He saw, too, the new
Chicago, and was one of its builders and one of its promoters until the end of his busy
and useful life, for in and through everything he had the development and fair fame
of the city ever at heart, and was a typical Chicagoan of his generation. From time
to time he was called to positions of importance in commercial circles, among others
to the directorate of the Postal Telegraph Company. He was a religious man and a
member of the Unitarian Church. In politics he was a Republican, earnest and
unswerving, but not practically active in the ordinary sense.
In 1860 Mr. Gillette married Miss Josephine M. Perley, whose ancestors were
New Englanders in the old colonial days. Her paternal great-great-grandmother was
Huldah Putnam, a sister of Gen. Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary fame. Miss Perley
was herself a native of the city of New York. Of their children, their son, Edwin
Fraser Gillette, and their daughter, Delphine May, now the wife of William Shippen
Jenks, of the N. K. Fairbank Company, are living. The family home was first estab-
lished at what is now 1223 Michigan Avenue. Seven years later Mr. Gillette bought
the William Sturgis residence at No. 306 Michigan Avenue, where the family has
since lived.
William Edwin Frost. Reference to the directory of 1862 discloses the firm of
Hall & Frost as in the planing-mill business at that time. One of the partners, W. E.
Frost, had for five years previous been connected with the business of the city, but his
name had not appeared in the published records.
Mr. Frost was born at Lewiston, Me., August i, 1831. His father, George D.
Frost, like most of the farmers of that day in the Pine Tree State, was a farmer in
summer and a lumberman in winter. The State had not at that time lost its prestige
as the main supply point of the lumber industry, which formed the principal occupation
of its citizens. Mr. Frost, Sr., died in 1856. Upon the maternal side, as well as pater-
nal, Mr. Frost was descended from old colonial and Revolutionary stock. His mother
was Deborah Davis, whose family was of the Quaker faith and consequently among
the non-combatants of the day, but we may fairly assume that the loyal heart of Mr.
Frost's grandfather was filled with joy as, watching the contest between the United
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 375
States brig "Enterprise" and the British brig "Boxer," off Portland Harbor on the 5th
of September, 1813, he saw the union jack succumb to the stars and stripes.
Mr. Frost left the academy at Lisbon, Me., (to which place his parents removed
in 1835) at tne a S e f eighteen, and, going to Manchester, Mass., he spent a year in a
small furniture factory at that place. A year later he went to Worcester, Mass., where
for two years he was employed in the woodworking department of a large machine
shop, and from here he went into the repair shop of the Boston & Worcester (now
Boston & Albany) Railroad, where he remained for two years. In the spring of 1854
he went to California, via the San Juan-Nicaragua route (which involved twelve miles
of mule-back riding), where he spent two years and a half, part of the period in saw
mills at Eureka, and a portion in the mines near Sacramento. Returning east in the
fall of 1856, he, a few months later, came to Chicago and entered the employ of
Simeon Mayo, who at that time had a planing mill and sash, door and blind factory
on the corner of Twelfth and Lumber Streets, and remained with him as foreman of
the mill for the next five years. In 1862 he joined William E. Hall in establishing the
firm of Hall & Frost, with planing, sash, door and blind manufactory at Sixteenth and
Clark Streets. The beginning was a small one, embracing the use of but two planers,
one surfacer and matcher, a siding saw and a fair complement of the machinery requi-
site for the sash and door manufacture. Before the expiration of the first year their
factory was destroyed by fire, but the enterprising firm at once proceeded to rebuild
and occupied the same premises for the next five years, when, their lease expiring,
they purchased an adjoining property fronting on Sixteenth Street and occu-
pied it with increased facilities until 1873, when Mr. Hall disposed of his interest to
three young men, Albert H. Larned, August M. Schilling and Henry H. Drew,
employes of the old firm, and retired, the firm now taking the designation of W. E.
Frost & Co. Fire again visited them in 18/7, and they removed back to or near the
first location on Twelfth Street, where they leased the factory built some years pre-
vious by Hearson & Payn, which was now the property of Barton & Jones. Here
they had peaceable possession for about eighteen months with a constantly increasing
business, when again they were driven into the streets by the ravages of a fire which
destroyed the factory. The firm now purchased a large property on the corner of
Twelfth and Canal Streets, in which Heany & Campbell had for some time carried on
a similar business to their own, and were again at home in a well-equipped mill of
fifty machines suitable for their business. In the year 1878 it was decided to incor-
porate the company, W. E. Frost becoming president and remaining in that capacity
to this day. With a constantly expanding business the firm prospered, and in 1884
added general carpenter contracting to the business hitherto confined to the factory,
and, recognized as one of the leading and reliable firms in the business, continued to
prosper until January 24, 1893, when for the fourth time a disastrous fire visited and
destroyed their thoroughly equipped manufactory. The company now leased the
376 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
factory of Steinmetz & Eilenberger, on Throop near Hinman Streets, where they
remained until February, 1894, when they decided to relinquish the manufacturing
business, and confine operations to carpenter contracting, which they continue with
office at 100 Washington Street.
Mr. W. E. Frost was married in November, 1868, to Miss Emma L. Wright, a
Wisconsin lady, who belonged to a Massachusetts family. Three daughters are the
fruit of this union. The family are connected with Plymouth Congregational Church,
and Mr. Frost is a member of the Union League Club. Growing with Chicago's
growth, the business career of Mr. Frost has been one which has not only established
a fine financial credit, but has won for him a reputation as one of the most useful,
reliable and substantial citizens of the city.
Augustus Ferdinand Fisher. To be included among those who have in some
capacity been connected with the lumber business of Chicago for a long term of
years, and acquired not only a competency but a most honorable reputation as a man
and a merchant, must be named A. F. Fisher.
Born near Berlin, Prussia, October 4, 1838, of parents whose love of country had
led his father in his youth to enlist in the Napoleonic wars, and to form one of the
gallant band which, under Blucher, gave check at Waterloo to the aspiration of the
" Little Corporal," Mr. Fisher enjoyed the advantages of the thorough courses of the
common school, until, at the age of sixteen, in April, 1855, a mere boy, he displayed
the unusual courage of undertaking the journey alone, to join his brother Henry, who
had two years before come to the United States and settled in Chicago, having taken a
clerkship in a hardware store, subsequently engaging in lumbering in northern Michi-
gan and later in this city. On reaching Chicago, Augustus spent two years in learn-
ing the trade of a wagon maker, but in the fall of 1857 entered the lumber office of
Mantz & Co., in which his brother had become interested.
Here, during another like period, he learned a good deal about the lumber busi-
ness. At the same time he made himself a true Chicagoan, by connecting himself with
old Illinois Hose Company No. 3, of the then popular volunteer fire department. In
April, 1858, Augustus entered the employ of William Ellis, a lumber dealer of Pontiac,
111., and was made manager of the yard at that place, Mr. Ellis becoming a resident of
Chicago. Here he remained until 1862, when the war of the Rebellion enlisted his
sympathies in behalf of the land of his adoption, and the patriotic spirit of his
ancestors prompted him to enlist in August of that year in Company G, One Hundred
and Twenty-ninth Illinois Volunteers, with which he served until the close of the
war, under Gen. Buell, in his Kentucky campaign against Gen. Bragg, and later at
Nashville, Tenn., and its vicinity, until the spring of 1864, when the regiment was
assigned to the Twentieth Army Corps, under Gen. Hooker, and took part in the
campaign under Gen. Sherman from Chattanooga to Atlanta. He participated in the
historic campaign of Gen. Sherman from "Atlanta to the Sea" and in the closing cam-
I
i*
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 377
paign of the war through the Carolinas. He was honorably discharged and mustered
out at Washington, D. C., June 8, 1865.
One of his most interesting reminiscences of the war is connected with the battle
of Resaca, May 15, 1864. The One Hundred and Twenty-ninth was in the hottest of
the fight. The First Brigade of the Third Division, of which it was a part, charged and
captured the enemy's battery of four guns which was protecting the fort. On the
charge, Ex-President Benjamin Harrison commanded the Seventieth Indiana Volun-
teers and was afterward placed in command of the brigade, Gen. Ward having been
wounded. It was this charge that brought forth the remark from "Fighting Gen.
Joe Hooker," who witnessed the assault from a neighboring hill: "There's another
brigade gone to annihilation." At the close of the war Mr. Fisher returned to Pon-
tiac, and in the fall of that year formed a partnership with Joseph P. Turner, and the
firm of Fisher & Turner opened a retail lumber yard at Pontiac, 111. Mr. Fisher suc-
ceeded the firm in 1866, continuing and establishing, by his unaided efforts, a large
and profitable business. While a resident of Pontiac he was one of its most influen-
tial and enterprising citizens, serving two terms as alderman, and in 1877 was elected
mayor of the city. He sold out his business in 1877 and began a system of extensive
travel throughout the United States and the continent of Europe, and in November,
1878, he removed to Chicago. In 1880, in company with Thomas Walkup, he formed
the firm of Walkup, Fisher & Co., in the wholesale lumber business of Chicago, locat-
ing on Robey Street, south of Blue Island Avenue. This firm extended its operations
to the manufacture of lumber at its own mills at Troy, Newaygo County, Mich., until
its dissolution in 1883, when Mr. Walkup took the manufacturing interests, and Mr.
Fisher continued in the yard business at Chicago. In 1894 the business was incorpo-
rated under the name of the A. F. Fisher Lumber Company, with Mr. Fisher as pres-
ident. At this time the business had reached a volume of 32,000,000 feet of lumber
per year, and was located in the "new" district at Thirty-fifth and Iron Streets.
Mr. Fisher was married in 1878 to Josephine F. Schneider, of Pontiac, 111., to
whom three sons have been born, of whom but one, Harold A., survives. His is a
history of enterprise, patriotism and success in business which well marks Mr. Fisher
as a man honored by all who have been brought within the scope of his influence and
acquaintance.
Henry King Elkins may be classed among the pioneers of the Chicago lumber
trade. Mr. Elkins was born at Peacham, Vt., November 2, 1818. He received the
advantages of a common-school education, and from an early age engaged in
merchandising of some nature. His parents moved to Albion, N. Y., in 1837, anc ' ' in
1843 we find the young man in business at Kenosha, Wis., still pursuing a commercial
career, combining therewith a little politics, being appointed United States marshal
for the State of Wisconsin by President Millard Fillmore, and holding the office to
the close of that administration, when he decided to come to Chicago (1855). On
378 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
August 9, 1852, he was married to Hetta M., daughter of Obadiah and Nancy (Merrill)
Swasey, of North Haverhill, N. H., who is spared to enjoy with him the pleasures
which are the reward of a well-spent life and a happy old age.
In 1855, in connection with Theodore Holbrook, of Boston, Mr. Elkins built a saw
mill at Big Bay De Noquet. This was a mulay mill, with a siding machine for cutting
cants, a machine which in those days was a favorite among manufacturers, but which
was long since relegated to an undeserved obscurity. The firm with which he was
connected was known as Holbrook, Elkins & Co., Aaron Beidler and Joseph P. Merrill
being connected with it. The mill capacity was about 10,000 feet per day of twelve
hours. The mill product was shipped to Chicago and sold by the cargo, one of the
partners coming along with it to find a customer, there being no established commis-
sion lumber dealers doing business at that time. In 1856 the firm decided to open a
yard in this city, and located on the corner of Sixteenth and Clark Streets, where they
remained for many years. The first railroad switch entering a Chicago lumber yard
for the especial use of that yard was obtained by Mr. Elkins. The story is interesting
as an illustration of the limited appreciation of railroad men at that time of the
economies of business and the importance of the railroad in its relations to general
transportation. The Illinois Central Railroad, the Michigan Central, Chicago &
Galena (now the North-Western), the Rock Island, Michigan Southern, and the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy roads were in operation, and all the exchange freight
was carted across the city at an expense of from 50 cents to $i a load. The
tracks of the Illinois Central, then as now, ran west on Sixteenth Street to a crossing
of the river, but in building it, it was desirable to go across the land occupied by Mr.
Elkins, and he was approached upon the subject. He consented to the use of the
needed ground, provided a loading switch was run through his yard, in which case he
would bind himself to handle all the transfer freight at one-half the price it was then
costing the roads, they to deliver the freight on his switch, and the companies to
allow him the 10 cents per thousand feet for loading his own lumber, which they were
in the habit of charging for the loading, which it was then customary for them to do.
The president of the road, to whom the proposition was made, held up his hands in
righteous indignation that any man should take him to be foolish enough to accept
such a proposition; they did not want the ground bad enough to give any man an
individual switch, and as for allowing him to load his own lumber, much less to allow
him for the cost of it, was not to be thought of for a single moment. However, on
thinking the matter over and consulting some friends about the audacity of the man
who could make such an outrageous proposition, and finding that it did not strike his
friends as so particularly outrageous, the official condescended to talk the matter over
with Mr. Elkins, and finally came to the conclusion that perhaps it was not so foolish
a proposition after all.
In 1860 the firm became Elkins & Merrill (Joseph P. Merrill) and continued at
Tffh MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 379
the same location until 1861, when they removed to the corner of Canal and Lum-
ber Streets, where they remained until 1864, when they dissolved, Mr. Merrill
taking the lumber business and Mr. Elkins the five vessels which in the course
of time had become a portion of the assets of the firm. Mr. Elkins was a mem-
ber of the Board of Trade and continued for several years in trading and the care
of his vessels, until in 1871, after the fire, he, in connection with George Cook (later
a member of the firm of Pardec, Cook & Co.), opened a yard on Canal Street, near
Lumber, where they continued to operate for the next five years. On separating
from Mr. Cook Mr. Elkins withdrew from the lumber business. From that time
Mr. Elkins has been interested in several branches of business. From 1875 * 1880
he was interested with Ezra Wheeler in the handling of salt, and, during a por-
tion of the same period, with Bickford & Bausher and (1878) Peck & Bausher in
lard and lard oil, and subsequently in a carriage manufactory. About 1879 he purchased
an interest in the Keith & Co. elevator, of which he held the management for several
years and of which he disposed in December, 1893. From 1881 to 1885 Mr. Elkins
had an interest in the coal business with Ed F. Daniels and H. E. Weaver, with a yard
on the corner of South Halsted Street and the river. Thus it will be seen that from
early manhood Mr. Elkins has been busy, but it is now his boast that he never did a
hard day's work until he was over seventy years of age. Always of a mechanical
turn of mind, Mr. Elkins is enjoying a vigorous old age in furniture-making, and his
handsome parlor bears witness that his hand has lost none of its cunning and that his
little shop in the barn is often favored with his company, while the product of his
labor would do no discredit to a professional mechanic.
Mr. Elkins is also an antiquarian and takes an honest pride in exhibiting to his
guest the results of many years of research. Among his valued treasures may be
noted a collection of old Vermont copper coins of the period when, as an independent
colony, she coined her own pennies and issued her own scrip, which, in connection
with a valuable collection of scrip issued both by the North and the South during
the Rebellion, is of great interest not alone to the numismatist, but as well to every
patriot, and to all who delight in contrasting the present with the past.
But perhaps the most interesting relic in the possession of Mr. Elkins is a time-
worn quire or more of foolscap paper, with a brown paper cover somewhat torn, but
still enclosing the mathematical calculations made by Mr. Elkins' father while a pris-
oner at the Mill prison, near Plymouth, England, during the Revolutionary War.
Johnathan, father of the subject of our sketch, was a resident of Peacham and a
stanch supporter of the American side of the controversy, and the tory neighbors, of
whom there were a few, took pains to see that the rebel was made a prisoner. He
was captured at his father's house on the 8th of March, 1781, and taken to Quebec
and thence to England, and in June, 1782, was exchanged for some of Cornwallis'
troops who had been captured by the Americans. His time while in prison was
380 tt INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
deprived of some of its ennui by a study of mathematics, and the valued volume was
smuggled out of the prison concealed under his coat. No wonder that it constitutes a
valued heirloom in the family of one who to-day can boast, and with pride, that his
father was a Revolutionary soldier.
Allen Craig Calkins. Almost forty years ago Allen C. Calkins became identified
with the Chicago lumber trade. He was born at Waterbury, Washington County, Vt.,
in 1823, of what was then an old New England family, his father, William Calkins,
being a lawyer by profession, after having been for some years in his young manhood
principal of the Burlington Academy. His wife, mother of Allen C., was Roselind
Craig, a distant connection of Ethan Allen, of Revolutionary fame. About 1828 the
parents removed to Whitehall, N. Y., and a couple of years later to Ticonderoga,
where the father died in 1866.
Allen C. was educated at the common schools of Ticonderoga until about thirteen
years of age, when he was employed in a general store, where, realizing the need of a
better education, he, at the age of fifteen, took a course at the academy of Poultney,
Vt., and then returned to the same employers and continued in general trade until
about the age of twenty-eight. From 1848 to 1852 he was in the employ of a com-
mission firm at Albany, N. Y., and we next find him at Lock Haven, Penn., in the
service of a large saw mill and lumber house, having an interest during a portion
of the time until 1855 in a general store of that place. About this time his own
health and that of his wife failing he decided to go further West and December 21,
1855, found him in Chicago, where in the following May (1856) he entered the
employ of Holt & Mason, whose yard was on Market near Monroe Street, in the
capacity of superintendent and salesman. Here he remained for three years and in
1861 formed a partnership with E. H. Denison, book-keeper for Holt & Mason, and
the firm of Denison & Calkins continued for the two subsequent years, when, finding
their combined capital rather small for a competitive business, they decided to dis-
solve, and so great was the confidence in and respect of each partner for the other,
that Mr. Denison was permitted to purchase the stock on his own inventory. Mr.
Calkins then opened a small yard on Twelfth Street, near the river, until his old
employer, D. R. Holt, told him that if "he saw anything with money in it to pitch
in." About this time S. C. Clark being in financial difficulties Mr. Calkins was
appointed appraiser of his lumber stock and on sealed bids being asked, was urged
by the assignee to make one, which, proving a better one for the estate than any of
the others, he completed the purchase, in which Mr. Holt became interested, and the
firm of Holt & Calkins was formed. During this season Mrs. Jane Balcom came into the
firm, which soon after purchased mills and timber lands at and near Oconto, Wis. After
about three years the firm dissolved by limitation, Holt & Balcom ( Mrs. Jane) retaining
the mills and lands at Oconto and Mr. Calkins entered into partnership with R. B.
Stone, under the designation of Calkins & Stone, with yards on Grove Street. Mr. Stone
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 381
being soon after disabled in a railroad wreck, the partnership was dissolved and in
1873 Mr. Calkins associated with him Mr. H. D. Fisher, and Calkins & Fisher con-
tinued until in 1877, when, having made a gallant fight during the financial depres-
sion which had continued during the entire period of their partnership, they at last
succumbed from too extended credits East and West and were compelled to go out
of business, in which Mr. Calkins had achieved an honorable name as a man of integ-
rity, push and public spirit.
As a member of the Lumberman's Exchange in its earlier history, Mr. Calkins
exercised a strong and healthy influence. Becoming a member of the organization
which operated from 1859 to 1869 under the general law of 1849, but which laid dor-
mant from 1861 to 1865, Mr. Calkins took an active part in reviving its work, and in
1866 was elected president, to which office he was reflected in 1867. Again, after the
big fire of 1871, the Exchange work was virtually dropped, although, in order to keep
the charter alive, the farce of a yearly election was enacted for a couple of years, but
without material result to the advantage of trade, and in 1873 Mr. Calkins became an
active advocate of the formation of a "Lumberman's Association," which was organ-
ized among the yard dealers to the exclusion of the commission and purely manu-
facturing element of the trade, which was thought to exercise too great an influence
in the Exchange, and one injurious to the interests of the dealers. Of this " Associa-
tion " (later changed to "Lumberman's Board of Trade) Mr. Calkins became the
first president, and when a year later (1874) an amalgamation of the two bodies was
effected, a resolution was adopted by the " Association," recommending, and virtually
making it a condition of the union, that Mr. Calkins should be elected to the first presi-
dency of the amalgamated bodies, and at the first meeting of the now consolidated
organization Mr. William Blanchard, who had a short time before been elected to
the presidency of the Lumberman's Exchange, tendered his resignation, and Mr.
Calkins was elected to this honorable position, and was re-elected at the annual meet-
ing of the succeeding year (1875), being the only lumberman who has since its incep-
tion held the presidency for more than two terms, with the exception of three terms
to Mr. Thaddeus Dean, who was elected in 1876 and also in 1878 and again in 1879.
But not alone in the estimation of the fraternity of lumbermen was Mr. Calkins
recognized as an energetic and public-spirited citizen, as shown in his election to the
aldermanic board of the city from 1866 to 1870, and as a member of the Board of
Education for the years 1870 and 1871. He also helped to organize the Christ Epis-
copal Church of this city, and to erect its first edifice, serving for many years as a ves-
tryman, and as an able adherent of Bishop Cheney in the establishment of the church.
Mr. Calkins was married in 1847 to Miss Sophia J. Larrabee, of Ticonderoga, N.
Y., daughter of Capt. Lucius Larrabee, a pioneer in the steam navigation of Lake
George, a man of pronounced literary tastes and interested deeply in educational
matters of those days, who died at Chicago in 1858 at an advanced age. Of the fruits
382 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
of this union, four sons and one daughter are living. At the advanced age of seventy-
one years Mr. Calkins still enjoys good health and is active in his interest in matters
of public import, and in all matters which concern the growth and welfare of the great
city to whose advancement his life has been devoted.
Winslow Bushnell. Few men were longer intimately connected with the lumber
trade of Chicago than Winslow Bushnell, who was born in Greene County, N. Y., in
1830, his father, Alanson Bushnell, having moved thither from Connecticut some years
before the birth of Winslow, where he married Miss Betsey Dewey, a native of
Columbia County, N. Y. His father dying when the boy was only six years of age, the
widow returned with her young son to her father's residence, and here the boy was put
to school, assisting his grandfather in the work of the farm as his years progressed.
At the age of sixteen he took charge of the farm, managing it for the next seven
years. In 1855 he became a clerk in a grocery store at Rondout and the following year
was employed as clerk of a steamboat on the Hudson River, until November, 1856,
when, coming to Chicago, he was for two years book-keeper for Henry Howland & Co.,
lumber dealers at Sixteenth and Clark Streets. In 1859 he formed a partnership with
Horatio Reed under the name of Reed & Bushnell, which shortly after was changed
to Bushnell & Reed, through the admission to the firm of Edward H. Reed, son of
Horatio, who retired, and the business was removed to the corner of Laflin and
Twenty-second Streets. In 1871 Col. N. H. Walworth became a member of the firm,
which was now changed to "Bushnell, Walworth & Reed." In 1874 Mr. Bushnell pur-
chased a large tract of pine land at Cedar Springs, Mich., and built a saw mill at that
place, which in 1875 became the property of the firm of Bushnell, Walworth & Reed,
who increased it by the addition of dry kilns and planing mills and established a lum-
ber yard at Cedar Springs on the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad, with a view to
building up a shipping trade with the dealers tributary to the railroad lines of the
country. In 1876 Mr. Bushnell disposed of his interests in the mill and Chicago yard
to his partners, Walworth & Reed, and in 1882 associated with Edgar A. Lord, under
the firm name of Lord & Bushnell, which firm continued, with yards on the Illinois
Central Railroad pier, on the south side of the Chicago River, until the death of Mr.
Bushnell November IO, 1889, since which time the business has been continued by
Mr. Lord at Fisk Street, south of Twenty-second, without change in the firm name.
Mr. Bushnell was married in 1864 to Miss Kate Van Winkle, daughter of Daniel
Van Winkle, an old citizen who came to Illinois in 1841, settling in Chicago in 1849.
Mr. Bushnell's widow survives, together with three sons: Edward A. (who was for
some years connected with his father in business, and now of the Bushnell Mill and
Lumber Company, 165 Clybourn Avenue), James F. and Augustus T. Winslow Bush-
nell was a quiet and unassuming man who was considered the soul of honor and
enjoyed to the fullest extent the respect and confidence of the fraternity of lumber-
men with whom he was associated for fully forty years of his busy life.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.
Samuel George Dana Howard. Among the prominent lumbermen of a bygone
day S. G. D. Howard occupied an enviable position for probity, business acumen and
public spirit. Mr. Howard was the son of Thomas Howard, a farmer of Preble, N. Y.,
where the subject of this sketch was born in 1818, and where his time was divided
between work on the farm and at the public school, supplemented by a season at
Homer College, until he reached the age of fourteen, when he joined his brother at
Akron, Ohio, and became a clerk with the latter in a mercantile and forwarding busi-
ness. Feeling the need of a better education, he spent much of his spare time in
study, thus increasing his capacity for entering upon the serious business of life, and
attaining the goal of his hopes for the future. Being of a bright, vivacious, nature,
the young man made friends and rapidly acquired those business traits which later
made him the successful merchant and honored citizen. At about the age of twenty
years he came west to Naperville, where from 1838 to 1842, he, in connection with his
brother Charles, carried on a general mercantile business, which a year or two later
was transferred to St. Charles.
About 1843 he came to Chicago, and became connected in some manner with the
lumber trade of the city, but we find no record of him in the directories of those days,
until in that of 1847, when we find the firm of Hilliard & Howard, which is repeated in
that of 1851 and again in that of 1853-54, with yard on the corner of Market and Adams
Streets. During these years he was in company with Laurin P. Hilliard, and in 1855
we find that by the addition of George C. Morton the firm was still continued as Hil-
liard, Howard & Morton, the latter being a brother-in-law of Mr. Howard and men-
tioned elsewhere as a partner (1854) with Gilbert Ashley under the firm name of Mor-
ton & Ashley. In 1858-59 we find the firm of Howard & Barton, and a few years
later (1861) that of S. G. D. Howard, which is repeated in the directory for 1862,
while in that of 1863 we find the firm of Howard & Chase mentioned (David F. Chase),
with yard on West Charles Street, south of the Van Buren Street bridge, and this was
probably his last business connection, as we do not find his name subsequently
recorded in connection with any other partner, up to the fall of 1866, in which year he
died (September 15) of softening of the brain, induced by overwork and anxiety, dur-
ing the momentous period of the Civil War, which strained the nerves of many busi-
ness men. Mr. Howard is mentioned by his cotemporaries as a man of fine, nervous
temperament, active and alert in business and possessing an enviable reputation for
probity and uprightness. He was one of the founders and for several years a director
in the First National Bank. He was married in January, 1852, to Miss Caroline D.
Morton, of Benton Harbor, Mich., a sister of George C. Morton, one of his former
partners, elsewhere mentioned, two sons and two daughters being the fruit of the
union. Of these, one son, Frank E., and one daughter, Mrs. Henry A. Keith, reside with
their widowed mother at Evanston.
Anson A. Bigelow. It is a common experience of the historical investigator to
find that the wealthiest and most successful business men of Chicago, in many
384 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
' instances', were born in the country and raised on the farm. This western country is
not an urban community except to the younger generations. It is an unusual event
to find an elderly business man who has passed his entire life thus far in any western
city. The cities are full of country-bred boys who, with enterprising and adventurous
spirits and restless intellects and praiseworthy ambitions, have plunged into the tur-
bulent pool of business for themselves, won both wealth and fame and shed upon their
family names the luster of a high renown. Such a boy and such a man is Anson A.
Bigelow. On November 7, 1833, almost the exact date of the great fall of meteorites,
he was born on a farm in Washington County, N. Y. His parents were Anson and
Eliza (Moores) Bigelow, both of whom were natives of the Empire State, and of
English ancestry. The Bigelovvs came from England to the United States in 1620,
settling in the New England States, the grandfather of our subject coming with his
bride to Washington County on horseback from Connecticut, being pioneers of that
section. There were six children in his father's family four boys and two girls, only
himself and brother now surviving. He was educated at Cambridge Academy in
Washington County, and at the age of nineteen years, with a good education, for those
days, and with plenty of pluck, intelligence and determination, he left home and started
out for himself. He first accepted a clerkship in the office of a linen manufacturer at
Troy, N. Y., but one year later went to Albany, where he became book-keeper and
general office manager for Griffen & Buel, commission merchants. After a time his
health began to fail him, and when told by'his doctor that he had consumption and
that unless he changed his work and his climate he could not expect to live long, he
came out West with that restless throng who have since made the upper Mississippi
Valley so rich and populous. In March, 1855, he arrived in Chicago, but a week later
went to Racine, Wis., and accepted a position on a salary with N. Pendleton, who was
engaged in the lumber business. He superintended the yards, kept the books and
had charge of the office, in which various and arduous duties he proved his fitness for
leadership in business and the value of his services to his employer. At the end of
three years, so indispensable had become his management of affairs, Mr. Pendleton
offered him a position as partner, which he accepted, and the firm of Pendleton &
Bigelow was established. They conducted a successful lumber business for three
years, when Mr. Bigelow, who had long believed that Chicago was the most promis-
ing lumber city of the West, and had been wanting to come here for some time, sold
his interest to his partner in 1862 and arrived in this city in September of that year
and immediately organized the firm of Bigelow Brothers, composed of himself and
his brother Charles H. The latter, with the exception of one year passed in this city,
has resided in St. Paul, Minn., though still retaining his interest in the business here.
William H., the oldest of the brothers, was also associated with his brothers from 1864
until his death in August, 1882.
In 1866 the firm purchased a saw mill and a valuable tract of timber land at Mus-
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 385
kegon, Mich., where Peter Walker was employed to superintend the interests of the
brothers, and was continued on a salary until 1878, when he was admitted to the part-
nership, of which he remained a member until his death in March, 1892. During the
first year of business which closed with September, 1863, they sold 5,400,000 feet of
lumber. Twenty years afterward their sales had climbed up to the enormous sum of
nearly 40,000,000 feet. They owned at one time vessels on the lakes with which to
carry their lumber from the smaller ports, where it is cut and prepared, to Chicago.
In 1886 the firm purchased 37,000 acres of heavily timbered land on Lake Superior at
Washburn, Wis., where they have mills in steady operation. Since 1887 they have
done a large wholesale and manufacturing lumber business exclusively. From 1862
to 1887 their yards were located in Chicago, first at the corner of Eighteenth and
Canal Streets, subsequently removed to Twenty-second and Fisk Streets, and in 1882
to the new stock yards district, but were sold in 1887, when the firm began an exclu-
sive wholesale business. The firm since the start has been known as Bigelow Bros.,
and Anson A. has been the general director and manager of the large concern in all
its details. He is strictly a business man, whole-souled, genial, of commanding pres-
ence and enjoys life notwithstanding the predictions of the doctors. While delicate
when he came here in 1862, the splendid climate of Chicago acted as a tonic on his
enfeebled system until now he weighs 225 pounds and is a perfect picture of robust
manhood. Is it any wonder that the residents of Chicago, including Mr. Bigelow,
declare the city to be a great health resort? He has been engaged in the lumber
business for thirty-seven years, and no man in the city has a broader view of the sub-
ject or a brighter memory of its eventful history. He assisted in the organization
of the Lumberman's Exchange, took great interest in its prosperity and served as its
president in 1881. He was united in marriage December 13, 1859, to Miss Emma W.
Ullmann, daughter of Maj. Isaac J. Ullmann, of Racine, Wis., who was for many years
collector of the port of that city. They have two children, Nelson P. and Emelie S.
Mr. Bigelow is a member of the Chicago and Calumet Clubs, and himself and family
are members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Bigelow is a Republican, but he has
never sought political preferment, being entirely engrossed in his own business.
At the time of the formation of the firm Charles H. Bigelow was engaged in the
linen manufacturing business at Troy, N. Y., but, his health failing, he came to Chicago,
though after a residence here of a year he removed to St. Paul, Minn., where he has
since lived. He is still associated with his brother here in the lumber business. He
is now the president of the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company. William
H. Bigelow was also a member of the firm from 1864 to August, 1882, at which latter
date he died. He was a graduate of Williams College, class of 1851, and after he had
begun the study of medicine was compelled to give it up, owing to failing health. He
came West and engaged in civil engineering at Anamosa, Iowa, and assisted in the
construction of the railroad in Jackson and Clinton Counties of that State. In 1855
386 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
he removed to Sioux City, where he built the first Government land office and two
years later was appointed by President Lincoln receiver of the same, holding the
office until 1861. He was then engaged in the real estate business, until he became
associated with Bigelow Brothers in this city. His wife was formerly Miss Mary A.
Hayes, a cousin of Ex-President Hayes, who presented him with three children: Rus-
sell A., William H. and Hayes.
Nelson P. Bigelow, only son of Anson A., was born in Racine, Wis., July 19, 1862,
and the following September was brought to Chicago by his parents. Therefore,
while not born here, he is essentially a Chicagoan, having been raised and educated
here. The public schools gave him the rudiments and foundation of his education
and fitted him for a course at Yale College, from which institution he graduated in
1884. Since 1887 he has been a partner in the concern. He is a member of the
Calumet, University and Athletic Clubs.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 387
CHAPTER IV.
BIOGRf\FHIES OF LUMBERMEN
From 1860 to 1870.
&\ urlington Walker Harvey. Few men deserve a more extended notice, because
ej_ few have done more for the lumber trade and general interests of Chicago than
Turlington W. Harvey. Born in 1835, at Durhamville, N. Y., he was educated in the
common schools of that village, supplemented with a course at Oneida Seminary,
whither his parents removed during his early boyhood. His father, Johnson Harvey,
was a native of New York State, a farmer in his earlier days, but later engaged in the
trade of carpenter and builder. His mother (Paulina Walker) was a native of Massa-
chusetts. Turlington, from eleven to fourteen years of age, was employed betimes in
a grocery store at Durhamville and on leaving school began learning the carpenter's
trade in his father's shop. Between the grocery and the shop the boy's educational
advantages were of a limited nature, but he was disposed to make the most of them,
and when, at the age of nineteen (1854), he came to Chicago he had not only acquired
a fair education, but had learned the carpenter's trade and had served his time so
well in the sash, blind and door factory of his father at Oneida, that he at once, on his
arrival here, obtained employment as foreman in the small sash, blind and door manu-
factory of James McFall, and soon after in the larger concern of Abbott & Kingman,
with whom he remained for five years. Here he had ample opportunity to acquaint
himself with the needs of the rapidly developing country in the line of his business,
and was not slow to appreciate the business opportunities opening to an active and
ambitious youth. In 1859 he effected an arrangement with Peter B. Lamb and the
firm of Lamb & Harvey operated a planing mill at 329 South Canal Street. The
firm prospered to such extent that in 1861 it became requisite to build and equip
a much larger establishment. Mr. Harvey's religious convictions were at this
time so firmly grounded that finding his partner engaged in repair work on the
Sabbath, he at once notified him that if this was to continue, the partnership must
terminate, and no argument as to the loss of business consequent upon shutting down
of the machinery for repairs during the week, could convince Mr. Harvey of its pro-
priety or necessity. After forty years of experience Mr. Harvey remains uncon-
vinced of the necessity for Sunday work in the needful repairs to the machinery of a
manufacturing plant. In 1865 Mr. Harvey purchased his partner's interest in a busi-
388 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
ness which had again outgrown the facilities hitherto provided, and obtained property
on the corner of Twenty-second and Morgan Street, upon which to erect a large and
commodious planing mill, the first building in the city which was thought worthy of
being considered fireproof. On the opposite side of the street he bought property
which was fitted up for dockage and piling yards, and here commenced the develop-
ment of what but a few years later was conceded to be the largest lumber business
conducted by any one house in the world, the amount handled in 1883 reaching 140,-
000,000 feet. Mr. Harvey also became interested in saw mills at Muskegon, Mich.,
and Marinette, Wis., the latter being still retained by him. In so great a volume
of business it became necessary to employ every known device and improvement
for expediting work and economizing cost, and Mr. Harvey was soon known as
the patron of every new invention which led to these ends. Among the most
important and far-reaching of these was the adoption of the railroad for reaching
distant tracts of timber, giving to that growing in the interior a value hitherto
monopolized by that which bordered the streams within easy distance for han-
dling by ox or horse team, thus opening up vast tracts which had been con-
sidered of little value. Mr. Harvey was the first to undertake this railroad lumber-
ing, which has now to a large extent superseded other methods and eliminated the
fear of unfavorable winters for hauling logs, as well as rendered much valuable
timber available. The first road to demonstrate the feasibility of this method of
lumbering was built by Mr. Harvey from Lake George, Mich., to the Muskegon
River in 1878.
Not least among the notable events connecting Mr. Harvey with Chicago and its
business interests must be mentioned his connection with the Relief and Aid Society,
his directorship in which, dating from 1866, rendered him a most valuable member of
that organization in the days of gloom, affliction and sorrow which succeeded the
great fire of October, 1871. In that year, as by special providence, he had been
elected a member of the executive committee, and when the dire calamity enshrouded
our city as a pall, it was found that its field of operations demanded just such
experience and just such talent as was combined in T. W. Harvey, who was at once
assigned to duty on the shelter committee, and its chairman being incapacitated for
duty, Mr. Harvey filled the position in a way to win the grateful encomiums of his
fellow-citizens. During the six months succeeding the great catastrophe Mr. Har-
vey did not spend a single hour in his own office in attention to his own business
affairs. Not to derogate one whit from the credit due to each member of that gallant
band who, during the long months succeeding the fire, lost sight of self in their
endeavors to assuage the sorrows of their fellows, and to lift the desponding from the
ashes of their grief, T. W. Harvey stands conspicuous as well deserving of a people's
gratitude. In the need of providing shelter for more than 40,000 people who had
lost their all, the practical education of Mr. Harvey became of the highest value.
The Carfjjy FuDhsJuiU -5-. LX*rav:r4 L
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 889
No sooner was he apprised of his appointment, in connection with Thomas M. Avery,
as the head of the shelter committee, than with wise forethought he made contracts
for all the lumber he could secure, knowing that a legitimate advance in price must
result from the forest fires in the producing regions, and at manufacturing points, as
well as in the abnormal demand upon the resources of the Chicago dealers, and he
succeeded in securing 35,000,000 feet at $14 per thousand, yard prices during the
following month, advancing to $21.
Figuring out the arrangement, material to erect, and cost of two classes of houses,
one of which was 12x16 feet, containing one room, the other 16x20 feet with two
rooms, he arranged the details in his mind as he drove from one locality to another
in search of information as to the needs of the people, and the best methods of relief.
These cheap dwellings, constructed with 2x4 studding and 2x6 joist, were sheathed on
the outside with matched lumber, or battened, while the inside was lined with build-
ing paper and the floors laid with matched flooring, which, when provided by the com-
mittee with a cook stove and utensils, several chairs and a table, bedstead and bed-
ding, with a stock of crockery adequate to the needs of the family, cost an average
of $125 each, and sufficed to tide the helpless over the rigors of a coming winter.
Some idea of the extraordinary results accomplished may be formed from the state-
ment that from October 18 to November 17 no less than 5,226 of these houses were
erected, which number was later increased to 8,000. Mr. Harvey's energy and fore-
sight were abnormal even for Chicago. A heavy snow storm occurring a few days
after the fire, incoming trains were blockaded and great suffering was entailed upon
those whose fuel was exhausted. What did arrive was side-tracked outside the city,
and it seemed impossible to hire teams and wagons to distribute it. On Sunday
morning Mr. Harvey realizing the great extent of the suffering which prevailed,
began the purchase of teams, wagons and harness, employed teamsters and shovelers,
and personally superintended the work of delivering 700 tons of coal during the day,
making glad the hearts of suffering thousands. The good accomplished by Mr.
Harvey is recorded by the angel who makes no mistakes, while his name is grate-
fully reverenced by thousands who knew of, if they were not the recipients of his
untiring endeavors to alleviate the distresses of his fellows.
Few men have been more prominently connected with the religious activities of
Chicago. From 1871 to 1873, and from 187610 1879 he was president of the Young Men's
Christian Association, and for many years he was one of the most active workers and
most ardent supporters of that praiseworthy organization. He was for twenty-six
years of his most active business life superintendent of a Sabbath-school. He is vice-
president of the Chicago Evangelical Society, which sustains schools and does a great
amount of evangelical work. D. L. Moody is president, and in his absence Mr.
Harvey officiates in his stead. In the project for building the Moody Tabernacle on
Monroe Street in 1876 Mr. Harvey was chairman of the executive committee. It was
18
390 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
largely, if not chiefly, owing to his efforts that the vast sum of Si 10,000 was raised to
clear the Young Men's Christian Association of debt, and to place it on a good finan-
cial basis. Mr. Harvey's religious conviction brings the whole world into a common
brotherhood, which to elevate and bring into a higher and nobler conception of its
relationship to its Creator, is the highest aim of an intelligent being.
Mr. Harvey is of a buoyant and cheerful disposition, or he had long since sunk
under the pressure of his enormous business cares. One of his means of recreation
was the purchase of 2,000 acres of land in Nebraska, on which he established a stock
farm, one of the most famous in the land. This was named "Turlington," which is
Mr. Harvey's Christian name. From this farm has come to him a plentiful supply
of farm products, while it is noted for raising the finest cattle in the nation. At this
farm Mr. Harvey spends some weeks each summer with his family. But not alone to
the planing mill, the lumber yard or to the farm is the attention of Mr. Harvey con-
fined. He some years ago purchased a large tract of land south of the city and
organized the Harvey Land Association to build a city to be called " Harvey," which
is settling in a manner worthy a Chicago suburb and worthy its founder. Mr. Harvey
is president of the Harvey Steel Car Works, which is located in the young city, also
of the Automatic Mower and Manufacturing Company of that city, owning much of
the stock. He is also president of the National Lumber Company (with yards in
many sections of Nebraska and Iowa), and of the Marinette Saw Mill Company,
Marinette, Wis. He is a director in the American Trust and Savings Bank and in
the Metropolitan National Bank. He has large holdings of timber land in Wisconsin
and also in Louisiana. To enumerate all his activities and business interests would
fill a volume. He is a busy man with but little leisure at any time, yet withal he finds
time for church work, and to few men is the success of the Chicago Y. M. C. A. work
to be more fully credited. In his family relations Mr. Harvey has been peculiarly
blessed, and the pressure of business is never permitted to interfere with the duties
and pleasures of home and its endearments. In 1859 he was married to Miss Maria
Hardman, of Louisville, Ky., who bore him four sons: Charles A., John R., George
L. and Robert H. Mrs. Harvey died in 1871, mourned by all who knew her, as a
loving wife, a tender mother and a woman of many Christian graces. In May, 1873,
Mr. Harvey was married to Miss Belle S. Badger, of Chicago, and this union has been
blessed with the coming of three boys and three girls, two of the daughters being
taken from the happy circle during the summer of 1894. In his present home Mr.
Harvey enjoys the society of a refined and educated Christian wife, whose virtues and
intelligence endear her to a vast circle of friends ; and he finds at his fireside relief from
the exhausting cares of his large business interests, and, surrounded by his interesting
family, obtains that rest which comes from a forgetfulness of business cares in the rich
enjoyment of the family circle, the companionship of wife and children. Mr. Harvey
is recognized as a man of forceful character, and of independent thought, having the
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 391
courage of his opinions. Such a man will always move in direct lines according to
the dictates of an intelligent conscience, and it is such men who make the world
better for their contact with it. With such a character, it is needless to say that Mr.
Harvey stands for a force in this community, respected for upright dealing, and exer-
cising an enviable influence in religious, social and business circles.
Jesse Spalding. Although not a pioneer, strictly speaking, in the lumber trade of
Chicago, few men have been more closely identified with its growth than Jesse
Spalding, who was born at Bradford County, Penn., April 15, 1837. His earlier
education in the common schools was supplemented by that afforded by the Academy
at Athens, Penn. His father was a farmer, and Jesse was called upon, as were all
young men of the day, to assist in the work which engaged the attention of his parents.
About the time of reaching his majority, Jesse found employment first on the north
and afterward on the west branch of the Susquehanna River and Pine Creek, in rafting
lumber down the river to Middletown, Marietta and Fort Deposit, where it was dis-
tributed to all sections of the East and South, to Baltimore, Georgetown, Norfolk and
Richmond, the forests of central New York and northern Pennsylvania disputing with
those of Maine and Canada for the honor of supplying the Eastern and Southern
markets with necessary lumber for building. Being apt in the handling and selling of
lumber, he was soon permitted to purchase for his employers, and as well he was
entrusted with the sale of the lumber on reaching its destination, and at the age of
twenty-three he began buying, shipping and selling for himself. In 1860 he was led
to visit the West, and at once comprehended that Chicago was to become the great
lumber market of the world, and after visiting Green Bay and Little Suamico he returned
East to settle up his affairs there, and returned to purchase a saw-mill at Mene-
kaunee, Wis., at the mouth of the Menominee River. The mill contained a circular
and two mulay saws, and while the burned and rebuilt mill is still in operation, it has
been remodeled and rebuilt until scarce a vestige of the old frame remains to carry
the gang, band saw, circular saw and modern edgers, with which 30,00x3,000 feet of
lumber is now manufactured yearly.
Succeeding fully up to his expectations, he, a few years later, purchased a mill at
the mouth of Cedar River, thirty miles north of Menominee, which also in its
modernized condition turns out from 25,000,000 to 30,000,000 feet yearly, in addition
to the manufacture of the Menekaunee mill. For the supply of these mills Mr.
Spalding has first and last purchased about 120,000 acres of pine lands for the Mene-
kaunee mill, and about 140,000 acres for the Cedar River mill.
Soon after taking hold of the Menekaunee mill in 1860, Mr. Spalding established
a sales yard at Chicago, selecting a site at the corner of Lumber and Twelfth Streets,
and was afterward one of the first to take a location in the " New " district at Twenty-
second Street, being approached by the late Col. R. B. Mason, representing a syndi-
cate, with a very liberal proposition if he would go himself and induce three others to
' 392 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
go into the new district, which at the time lacked office buildings and planing mill
facilities, and was not even planked in roads or docks. There were no improvements
worth mentioning south of Eighteenth Street, the whole country being practically a
common, or cow pasture, a favorite resort for pigs and geese. The opening of this
section had been undertaken as a speculation by Eastern parties, who did some dock-
ing and dredging in 1856-57, but the panic of the latter year so crippled them finan-
cially, that they discontinued operations until they could make sale of a portion of the
property. Mr. Spalding went on to the north side of Mason's slip, H. Witbeck taking
the south side, with N. Ludington on what is known as the " Burlington slip," and
James Farr on trie slip next south. Col. R. B. Mason, agent for the owners, agreed to
connect the yards with the various railroads entering the city, so that car shipments
could be made, and in order to do this, donated 1,000 feet of slip frontage to the
C. B. & Q. R. R., and secured switching facilities connecting these yards with every
railroad entering the city. The planking of Canalport Avenue to the new district was
completed and maintained by private subscription supplemented by light city
appropriations, until 1879, when it was paved with cedar blocks, at the cost of the
property holders, by special assessment.
For many years no street cars ran in that direction, and omnibuses were kept
running by Messrs. Spalding, Witbeck, N. Ludington and others, between the court
house and the new lumber district, for the convenience of patrons and employes.
Soon after locating in the new district a joint stock company was formed by
Messrs. Spalding, Witbeck, Ludington and one or two others, and the first planing
mill in the district was located on the corner of Fisk and Twenty-second Streets;
progress was the order of the day, and a steam fire engine was located in the district,
and shortly after an ordinance was secured for the planking of Twenty-second Street,
which was later supplemented by the cedar block as before mentioned.
As a reminiscence of 1861 Mr. Spalding relates the sale by N. Ludington, of Flat
Rock lumber, and by himself of Menominee stock at $6 per thousand, freight being
$1.37^, sailors' wages $18 and $20, and tow bills $5 each way in and out of Chicago
River. He retired from the yard business in 1880, but continues in the manufacturing
department, selling the product by the cargo.
About this time the heavy loss of life and property through the dangers of nav-
igation in passing "Death's Door," the entrance to Green Bay, attracted much atten-
tion, and William B. Ogden, of the Peshtigo Company, together with Mr. Spalding,
the N. Ludington Company, of Menominee, and H. B. Gardner, of Pensaukee, insti-
tuted an examination into the feasibility and advisability of opening a canal across
the peninsula from Sturgeon Bay to Lake Michigan, making a short cut and sav-
ing 150 miles of dangerous navigation on a round trip. Its feasibility being deter-
mined by surveys, the Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan Ship Canal and Harbor Com-
pany was organized in 1880, and dug the canal, inducing the Government to assist with
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 393
a grant of 200,000 acres of land, and to build a harbor of refuge at the Lake Michigan
end of the canal, establishing steam fog signal and life-saving stations, with coast and
range lights (the former of the third order).
The company was well rewarded in the success which led to the passage of as
high as 3,500 vessels through the canal in one year. In the spring of 1892 Congress
made an appropriation for purchasing the canal, and with the opening season of 1893
it was made free to the shipping interests of the country. William B. Ogden was the
first president of the company, serving for five years, Jesse Spalding succeeding him
and serving for eight years. This canal greatly lessened the dangers of navigation as
well as freight rates.
On the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion Mr. Spalding was telegraphed to
a conference with the adjutant-general of the State of Illinois, by whom he was
directed to build camps for the accommodation of the soldiers enlisted in this State.
The camps were located in the south part of the city and named Camp Douglas,
and Mr. Spalding's contract called for their completion ready for occupancy. There
was no State fund at hand for that purpose, and payment to Mr. Spalding for the lum-
ber and labor was made in- warrants issued by the State auditor, until such time as the
Government began to issue national currency, when it took possession of and paid
for the property.
Mr. Spalding has always held a prominent position in the counsels of the
Republican party in this State, and was appointed collector of customs of the port
of Chicago in 1883 by President Arthur. In 1889 he was appointed by President
Harrison as one of the commissioners of the Government in the matter of the Union
Pacific Railroad, to which large advances of public money had been made. Few men
have exercised an equal influence over the political, social or mercantile interests of
Chicago and the Northwest, and few have done more for their advancement. Mr.
Spalding was for three years a member of the city council under Mayor Colvin, at a
time when the finances of the city were at the lowest ebb, and the intervention of
leading business men who were good financiers, was thought necessary to save the
city from bankruptcy, as its warrants were selling at a heavy discount and its credit
suffering severely. Mr. Spalding was placed in the chairmanship of the finance com-
mittee, the good management of which was soon manifest in the restoration of the
city's credit.
Mr. Spalding was married in 18 to Adelphia Moody, of Athens, Bradford
County, Penn., the fruits of the union being three daughters and two sons, who are
married and live in Chicago, besides one son, John, who died at the age of twenty-
four, the other sons, Charles F. and Robert L., being associated with their father in
the management of his extensive business interests.
Perley Lowe. Very few of those who have made the Chicago lumber trade
famous, and have raised it to a position excelling all its competitors in the extent of
394 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O ;
its business, have started in life with silver spoons in their mouths. Few indeed of the
many hundreds who first and last have been numbered among its prominent dealers
and wealthy men, but commenced their career in subordinate and humble positions.
Perley Lowe was one of Maine's contributions to the lumber trade of Chicago.
He was born at Levant, Me., in 1845, an< ^ spent his early days in alternating between
the common schools of the neighborhood and the prolific crop of stones which covered
his father's farm, the latter probably occupying more of his time than the former, and
giving him a reputation for skill in the construction of those stone fences which surround
the farms, and are the pride of the life of a Yankee farmer, excelled in his work by none
of his companions or elders. At the age of eighteen his patriotism could brook no
longer delay, and in 1863 he enlisted in the First Maine Cavalry, with which he par-
ticipated in all the battles under the gallant Phil Sheridan until the surrender. This
contact with a world beyond the boundaries of his father's farm taught the young
man the value of education, and on his return home, while still the rocky fields wooed
him to the labor of building stone fences, a higher call demanded such division of his
time with books as speedily to fit him for a teacher; and handling the birch rod
proved his first initiation into the lumber business. One year of teaching, however,
sufficed, and his footsteps were turned toward the setting sun, where a bow of promise
shone out of the West, one end of which had footing at Chicago. His army life had
not removed that bashfulness for which as a country boy he was at the time noted,
nor had his year of school teaching in the country district embrazened him to seek
employment where he would come into contact with ladies, so, on reaching Chicago, he
did not seek a situation in a dry goods store nor yet in the grocery business, but an
odor which reminded him of the pine woods of his native State drove his unresisting
feet toward the lumber yards, where his brawn and muscle, combined with intelligence,
enabled him to become a first-class "dock wolloper;" for only one year, however, for
employers were not slow to discover that good material was going to waste, while this
young man was doing work for which a lesser degree of intelligence might be avail-
able, and Spalding & Porter were the first, then the Garden City Planing Mill Com-
pany, and Thompson Henry & Co., successively inducted the young man into higher
positions, more suited to his talents, until the Thompson Brothers (J. B. and C. F.)
saw developments of a character which marked him as a most desirable associate, and
for four years the firm of Thompson Bros. & Lowe was a force in the lumber trade of
the city. In 1889 David Kelley secured him as a partner, and the firm of Kelley,
Lowe & Co. was organized and continued for four years, when, Mr. Kelley retiring, the
present firm of Perley Lowe & Co. was organized, of which his brother-in-law, Will-
iam Templeton, is a party in interest.
As a boy on his father's farm picking up stones, Mr. Lowe had an ambition to be
the best stone-fence builder in his township; as a soldier he aimed to know the
details of a soldier's life and duty; as a teacher he proposed to be a safe guide to his
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 395
scholars, by himself knowing what he sought to teach others; as a lumber shover he
threw his best muscle and brawn into the mechanical branch of the lumber business;
as a foreman and salesman he allowed nothing to interfere with his purpose to under-
stand the principles of finance and trade; as a lumber merchant he set out to master
the business in all the details of inspection and grading; so that while conservative
and somewhat slow in arriving at a conclusion, when he has once made purchase of
a cargo or a mill cut, it is safe to assert that his judgment will be fully justified by the
results in pile upon his yard.
It is a high compliment to his judicial cast of mind and recognized honesty of
purpose and clearness of perception, that, in cases of dispute between other members
of the trade, no man is more often selected as an arbitrator, and no man's decision is
more frequently accepted as final and conclusive.
Socially Mr. Lowe is rather retiring, he is not of the kind that seeks companion-
ship in balls, parties or routs. A gorgeous palace with the richest furnishings and
an army of servants, would have no charm for this rugged scion of the Pine Tree State,
but in the company of congenial friends, in the discussion of economic, social or
scientific questions, the retiring disposition, which would shun the simply gay and
thoughtless throng, gives place to an animated countenance and an intelligent con-
versation upon themes which ennoble and enrich the mind.
As an active member of the Methodist Church Mr. Lowe believes that the life
speaks louder of a man's character than the most sanctimonious garb or speech. Fond
of sports of the field, he is a noted member of a small coterie of lumbermen to whom
the gun and a week upon the duck ponds is a yearly, much enjoyed, recreation, which
Mr. Lowe appreciates as highly as if it could not be said that he neither uses intoxi-
cants, plays cards nor uses tobacco, and it is to his credit that the Sabbath is to him
as sacred when on these expeditions, as when at home in the enjoyment of church
privileges, while yet he is far from the bigotry which would dictate to his companions
the adoption of his personal views, believing that example is often of more effect upon
one's fellows than argument and preaching.
Mr. Lowe has repeatedly been elected a director of the Lumberman's Exchange,
and in 1885 was elected to the vice-presidency, succeeding in 1886 to the presidency
of the institution.
There is in Mr. Lowe's history a lesson worthy of the attention of every young
man who may read these pages, a lesson of faithfulness in the discharge of duty to
parents; to country and to himself; whether in picking up stones in the field; in car-
rying a musket in the upholding of the institutions and ensuring the perpetuity of his
beloved country, in shoving lumber on the dock, in sweeping out the office, or in
holding positions of authority and trust, in seeking in each department of life to
acquaint himself with all the details of the business in its every branch, in a consecra-
tion of all the powers and knowledge thus acquired to the service of a higher power
396 IXDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
whose preeminent claims to service are the mainspring of life, all but conduce to
that broadening of intellect and perception which mark not only the successful mer-
chant, but the happy head of a cultivated home, the useful citizen, the Christian gen-
tlemen, and the man of unbounded influence among his associates.
The yard of Perley Lowe & Co. has for many years been located on Paulina
Street, south of Twenty-second Street, where the firm has become one of the heaviest
in extent of its yearly trade among the many large concerns in the lumber business of
Chicago. In the spring of 1894, larger grounds being requisite, the business was
removed to Wood Street, south of Blue Island Avenue.
Mr. Lowe was married in 1873 to Miss Elizabeth Templeton, of Chicago, the
happy union being blessed with four daughters.
Prof. F. O. Marsh, who is a brother of the late George A. Marsh, was born in Brat-
tleboro, Windham County, Vt., in 1818, and for some years enjoyed the distinction of
being the oldest living graduate of that historic educational institution, Michigan Uni-
versity, at Ann Arbor, Mich. A man of the finest literary attainments and a teacher
by training and choice, he had been an educator all his active life, except during about
eight years, when he was engaged in the timber trade in Chicago.
For twenty years he was a professor at Denison University, at Granville, Ohio,
until, in 1879, when he came to Chicago and established the well-remembered timber
firm of F. O. Marsh & Co., which later consolidated with the firm of George A. Marsh
& Co., under the style of Marsh Bros. & Ransom.
In' 1888 Prof. Marsh accepted the chair of professor of mathematics in the
Leland University, at New Orleans, which he held with a degree of credit to himself
exceeded only by the benefit accruing from his connection with the famous institution
previously mentioned. He died at New Orleans March 23, 1893.
Mrs. Jennie E. Allen (Mrs. F. O. Marsh) was born in New York in 1828, and
removed when a child to Ann Arbor, Mich., with her parents, and was there reared,
educated and married. She is still living, sound in health, bright in intellect, loved
and honored as such a woman must be by those to whom she has endeared herself
through long years.
P. Wohler. To its German-American citizens as much as to any other class,
Chicago owes her growth and greatness. Almost from the first they have been in the
van of the march of progress, and their frugality, their industry, their amiable help-
fulness have made them useful above many of their fellow- men. Especially large
has been the German representation in the department of lumber dealing and manu-
facture, woodworking and carpentry, and conspicuous in it during all the period since
the fire has been Mr. P. Wohler, of the firm of P. Wohler & Co. (P. Wohler and Charles
Weinholz), carpenters, contractors, stairbuilders, and manufacturers of sash, doors,
blinds, mouldings, etc.
Born in Germany in 1844, a son of Henry and Margaretta Wohler, he received his
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 397
initiatory training in the schools of his native place, and there also served a five years'
apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade. He was only seventeen when he came to
Chicago, but even at that age the town impressed him with a prophecy of its future
greatness. Of an active and enterprising disposition, he at once began to work at his
trade and soon began contracting on his own account, and until 1866 did quite an
extensive business in that line, for the time, and for one of his years. In 1871 he put
in operation a sash, door and blind factory, and since that time a large quantity of his
product has been used annually in the buildings of this city, until it is a fact that there
is scarcely a block that in some of its parts is not constructed of material of some sort
which has at some time passed through his hands. Since he engaged in it, this busi-
ness has been almost revolutionized. In times not remote, mill work, including sash,
doors, blinds, moldings, etc., was all made by hand, consequently, while they may
have been as good and well made as machine work, the process was slow, and the
construction of buildings measurably prolonged and tedious; more hands were
required, and more economy and less elaboration rendered necessary in the use of
these indispensable requisites. The introduction of machinery revolutionized the
business. Sash, doors and frames were no longer a part of the carpenter's trade.
Steam machinery turned out work so rapidly and with such perfection that hand work
could not compete. The perfect machinery with which inventive genius has provided
the workers in wood, has insured such rapid work and reduced the price of prepared
lumber to such a minimum figure that contractors, builders and those engaged or
interested in the construction of buildings, have almost universally adopted the com-
paratively modern methods of placing their orders for such material with firms who
are specially prepared to do that character of work. This accounts for the vast
importance of the sash, door and blind manufactories that have become so numerous
and extensive in the country of late years. With this rapid improvement in methods
and great advance in demand, Mr. Wohler kept pace, and in 1886 he once more began
contracting on a large scale, and since then some of the leading buildings of Chicago
have been erected by him. He is doing at this time a business of upward of 8140,000 a
year and gives constant employment to about 150 men.
As truly as of any other man in Chicago it may be said of Mr. Wohler that he is
a thoroughly self-made man, for he has achieved his present property, success and
reputation, by his own exertions. His large establishment at 521 to 529 Twenty-first
Street, near Blue Island Avenue, is one of the largest and most completely equipped
in the city, and he has a comfortable home at 901 Ashland Avenue. He is a member
of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of the National Turner Society. In
his political views he is a Republican, but being in no sense a politician he has not
sought nor accepted office of any kind. He was married in 1870 to Miss Mary
Ubechel, who has borne him five daughters (Lena, Lucy, Sophia, Emma and Annie),
and he and his family are members of the Lutheran Church. Toward the support of
398 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
that religious body, as well as to various other institutions and movements tending to
the betterment of the moral and material condition of his fellow-men, he has always
been a liberal contributor, and it may be said of him, in conclusion, that he is in every
way a public-spirited citizen, with the good of mankind at heart and the prosperity of
Chicago always uppermost in mind.
Harrison Ludington, of the well-known company of Ludington, Wells & Van
Schaick, was born at Ludingtonville, Putnam County, N. Y., July 30, 1812, where his
father, Frederick Ludington, was for many years a merchant. His grandfather, Col.
Drury Ludington, was, during the Revolutionary War, appointed captain by Gov.
Tryon, and later, in 1778, received a colonel's commission in a New York regiment
from Gov. Clinton. That a price was fixed upon his head by the British during the
Revolutionary War, evidences important services to the American cause.
Harrison Ludington was educated at the common schools of his native village, and
at the age of twenty-six decided to accompany his uncle, Louis Ludington, to the now
developing west, and began the business career which subsequently made him a noted
man among the lumber manufacturers and merchants of Wisconsin and Chicago, and
no less a prominent figure in the politics of Wisconsin. In 1838 he became the suc-
cessor in business of Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee's first white settler, and carried on
general merchandising for the next thirteen years in company with his uncles, Louis
and Harvey Burchard. In 1851 he withdrew from merchandising to engage with Daniel
Wells, Jr., and Robert Stephenson in the manufacture of lumber, their mills being
located at Menominee, Mich. In 1866 the firm began business in Chicago, and in
1867, Augustus G. Van Schaick becoming a member, the firm became Ludington,
Wells & Van Schaick, which was soon after incorporated as the Ludington, Wells &
Van Schaick Company, and has continued in business under the same designation to
the present time, the venerable Daniel Wells, of Milwaukee, being the only surviving
(original) partner, while the stock of the company is continued in the estates left by
the deceased members. Few of the lumber concerns of the Northwest can point to a
larger business than that which was by this company developed, in the acquisition of
pine lands and the manufacture and sale of lumber, the results of more than a quarter
of a century showing a record of fully 750,000,000 feet of manufacture and sale. Mr.
Ludington had not for many years taken an active interest in the affairs of the com-
pany, which were handled by A.G. Van Schaick until the death of the latter in 1892.
In later years Mr. Ludington had figured more prominently in politics than in
business activities. Originally a Whig, he, on the decadence of that party, became a
Republican, and while not desiring office, his acknowledged business abilities, good
sense and courage to boldly express his sentiments, even in a city that was over-
whelmingly Democratic, led to his election as alderman in 1861, and his reelection for
a second term, and in 1871 to his election as mayor, and reelection in 1873, holding
the office until 1876, when he resigned to assume the duties of governor of the State,
3
JO
o
on
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 399
to which office he was elected in November, 1875. His personal popularity is
evidenced by the defeat of every Republican associate upon the State ticket in that
campaign. His administration was marked by the same business ability which char-
acterized his personal affairs, and declining a second nomination, he retired from
political life with an unstained reputation, and the plaudit of political foes and friends
alike. Subsequent to his political retirement, his time was employed in the construc-
tion of business blocks in Milwaukee and the care of his valuable city property, with
but a casual attention to his extended business interests in the lumber line, leaving
these to the management of Mr. Van Schaick and others. The personal and moral
courage of Mr. Ludington, combined with energy, integrity, honesty, firmness and
good judgment were the strong factors which contributed to his success in all his
undertakings. He was averse to speculation, believing that strict business methods
would best promote his interests, and the same convictions were manifest in his
political career, his methods being only such as were legitimate and conducive to
good citizenship.
He brought the first seed wheat from the East to Milwaukee, and purchased the
first load of grain sold in that city, carrying the sacks which contained it upon his
shoulders to the upper story of his warehouse, where he stored it. He had unbounded
faith in the region which he had selected as the arena of his life's activities, and was
foremost, whether as merchant, manufacturer or politician in advocating and advanc-
ing all measures looking to its advancement. Although personally at no time a resi-
dent of Chicago, his name is indissolubly connected with the development and prog-
ress of the city and its lumber business.
Mr. Ludington was married March 25, 1838, to Miss Frances White, of Louisville,
Ky , who bore him several children. His second wife was Mrs. E. M. Tobey, to, whom
he was married June 7, 1875. His two sons, Frederick and Harrison, and four
daughters, Mrs. James E. Patton, Mrs. Edward Elliott and Mrs. F. H. White, all of
Milwaukee, and Mrs. A. G. Van Schaick, of Chicago, were present when he peacefully
passed from earth. He left twenty-two grandchildren and one great-grandchild to
share the heritage of an honored name. Mr. Ludington died at Milwaukee, June 16,
1893, aged eighty-three years.
George Ellery Wood. For the past forty years the name of George E. Wood
has been familiar to the lumbermen of the Northwest. Mr. Wood was born in East
Douglas, Worcester County, Mass., January 11, 1837, of an ancestry dating to the
earlier settlement of the country, his great-grandfather being one of the first to settle
at Grafton, Mass., where he held important positions in the town councils, and was
for several terms a member of the State Legislature. George E. Wood spent his
boyhood days in Worcester, Mass., graduating from its high school. In 1855 his
parents removed to Moline, 111., and George soon after entered the employ of Bur-
nell, Gillette & Co., lumber manufacturers at Davenport, Iowa, opposite Moline.
400 IND US TRIA L CHIC A G O .
His father dying in 1856 the young man was thrown upon his own resources, but his
apprenticeship with Burnell, Gillette & Co. well fitted him in 1859 to engage in the
lumber business on his own account, and, success attending his efforts, it is not sur-
prising that we should find him in 1865 as one of the organizers of the Citizens'
National Bank of Davenport, of which institution he remained a member of the board
of directors, until his removal to Chicago in 1869, in which year he became a member
of the firm of Kelley, Wood & Co., with a yard on West Twenty-second Street and
Center Avenue. This firm operated saw mills at Muskegon, and for the succeeding
eight years carried on an extensive manufacturing and wholesale lumber business,
until 1877, when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Wood taking the Muskegon mill
and the large body of pine lands which the firm had acquired, and, relinquishing the
yard business, turned his attention to manufacturing until 1890, when, his own timber
supply being exhausted and the resources of the Muskegon district so diminished as
to prevent the acquirement of adequate supplies for further operations, he decided to
seek other fields. In 1891 he commenced the erection of a saw and planing mill of
the most modern type at Woodboro, Oneida County, Wis., upon a large tract of tim-
ber land acquired upon the line of the "Soo" Railroad, incorporating the George V..
Wood Lumber Company, of which George E. Wood is president, and William F.
Wood, his son, is secretary and treasurer. The principal office of the company
remains at Chicago, which has been the headquarters and business location of Mr.
Wood from the time of the acquirement of the Muskegon property. Mr. Wood has
been known as one of the most reliable, clear-headed and active among the lumber-
men of Chicago, and none have commanded higher respect as merchant or citizen.
He has occupied the position of director of the American Trust and Savings Bank
since its organization in 1887, and his counsels in this and various other organizations
with which he has been connected, have but increased the confidence and esteem of
his fellows. Although never taking an active part in the affairs of the Lumberman's
Exchange, he was for many years a member, contributing as best he could to its
prosperity and advancement.
Mr. Wood was married in 1860 to Miss Harriet L., daughter of Lund Lovejoy,
Esq., of Lowell, Mass. Mrs. Wood died in 1886, leaving one son, William V. (men-
tioned above as the secretary and treasurer of the George E. Wood Lumber Com-
pany), and one daughter, Annie L., the wife of Frank R. Meadowcroft, a banker of
Chicago. In 1889 Mr. Wood was married for the second time, his bride being Mrs. Car-
oline M. Kelley, daughter of the late Hon. Seth Marshall, of Painesville, Ohio. He
has for some years been a member of the Union League and Calumet Clubs of this
city, although never taking an active part in political or club matters.
Charles Byron Flinn. Charles B. Flinn can scarcely be numbered among the
pioneers of the Chicago lumber trade, while yet for so many years connected with it
as to have left his impress upon its more radical development. Like many others
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 401
who, having inhaled the pungent fragrance of the pine, are drawn with an irresistible
force to points where it is found in more plentiful profusion, Mr. Flinn is a native of
the old "Pine Tree" State, where he was born in the town of Levant in 1847, receiving
a good common-school education, supplemented by a course at Levant Academy. In
1869, at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Flinn came to Chicago and entered the employ of
C. C. Thompson & Co., where he remained in the capacity of book-keeper and sales-
man for many years. In 1880 Mr. Flinn, in connection with Jesse Embree, formed
the firm of C. B. Flinn & Co., located in the new stock yard district, Thirty-ninth and
Halsted Streets, and the firm still continues, with yards at Riverdale on the Calumet
River and at several points throughout the West. The firm is also engaged in the
manufacture of lumber at Merrill, Wis., under the corporate name of the Illinois &
Wisconsin Lumber Company, with headquarters in the Rookery building, this city.
George Guy Wilcox. Among the active business men who have grown up with
the industries and institutions of the city is George G. Wilcox, former president of
the O'Brien-Green Lumber Company. He was born at the corner of Western Avenue
and Madison Street, April 23, 1848, and is the child of Erastus and Jane (Newell)
Wilcox, who were very early settlers of Chicago and among its most distinguished
citizens. The father was a native of Stockbridge, Mass., and came West in 1837, and
first settled at Muskegon, Mich., where he built and operated the first saw mill ever
erected there. At that date the Michigan peninsula was an utter wilderness; in fact,
the whole country toward the West was sparsely settled by white people and was
filled with Indians and wild animals, a veritable paradise for the hunter and trapper,
but a poor place for the farmer or merchant to make a comfortable living. It was
the pioneer period, destined to wear away soon before the Western rush for homes by
a people of restless energy, hardihood and determination. The elder Wilcox was
o ne of the pioneers and possessed in a marked degree the simple habits and honest
purposes of that sturdy class. His judgment in locating at Muskegon was 'sound,
because that city has since become one of the largest single lumber manufacturing
points in the world. He was soon turning out large quantities of lumber, and, in addi-
tion to this business, established there a general store, in which Martin Ryerson (now
deceased) was at one time a clerk. Two years were sufficient to satisfy Mr. Wilcox
that, while Muskegon was destined to become a great lumber center, owing to the
proximity of the immense pine forests, it could never become a great distributing
center. He saw at once that Chicago, at the head of the lake and on its western side,
was likely to become the distributing point for the great lakes, and, accordingly, in
1839, he sold all his business interests at Muskegon to his brother-in-law, Judge Theo-
dore Newell, and came to Chicago, then a little village in the mud at the mouth of
the Chicago River. He at once opened a small lumber yard and a coopershop and
was soon as prosperous as the rest of the inhabitants of that time. From 1839 to
1890 he was a resident of Chicago, a witness of the development of this metropolis
402 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
one of the wonders of the modern world. He was a man of such quiet habits, just
principles, strict ideas of personal honor, and, withal, so kind-hearted and generous,
that he never succeeded in amassing a fortune, although the opportunity was con-
stantly before him. He was satisfied to be in easy circumstances, for such a life com-
ported with his ideas of the methods of making money. He was so pure-minded that
the advantages taken in sharp competition were considered by him unjust. He could
not bear to witness the financial ruin of rival traders, and hence would never accept
advantages that would result in their discomfiture. His word was as good as a bond,
and his long life of ninety-two years was without a stain. He was a member of the
Presbyterian Church from his boyhood. He passed away in 1890, leaving a heritage
of honor to his descendants.
His son, George G. Wilcox, is the youngest of eight children, of whom four are yet
living. He was educated at the public schools of the city, but at the age of thirteen
years entered the dry goods house of J. B. Shay & Co., in the capacity of a clerk,
at a salary of $2 per week. Succeeding this, and previous to his becoming eighteen
years old, he clerked in various stores, earning small though increasing salaries.
When eighteen he entered the employ of his brother, S. N. Wilcox, who was engaged
in the lumber business, with whom he remained continuously until the death of the
brother June 17, 1881. He was steadily advanced until he secured a large interest and
a prominent place in the establishment. His capacity for handling a large and com-
plicated business manifested itself from the start and led to his rapid advancement
and in the end to his fortune. It was a wonderful era the hard times of the recon-
struction period, the great fire, the panic of 1873, the depreciation of values, the
resumption of specie payments all were trials for his business sagacity, schools for the
development both of skill and character. He steadily broadened under the instruc-
tion taught by stern experience among keen and ambitious business competitors, until
his management of the gigantic interests of the company produced large profits and a
splendid commercial standing. With large tracts of timber land in Michigan, Minne-
sota and Wisconsin, and with millsof immense capacity, an enormous and complicated
business was transacted, largely through the wisdom of his advice and the practical
nature of his management.
In 1879 his brother, S. N. Wilcox, practically retired from the active conduct of
the company's affairs, whereupon George G. was elected president and general man-
ager, though he has, in fact, officiated as manager since 1875. Much of his success
is due to the careful hints and suggestions given him by his brother, but, above all,
the influence of their father, has in no small degree strengthened the already excel-
lent reputation of the company. Since his brother's death in 1881 George G. has con-
ducted the business successfully and profitably and on a gigantic scale. He has
shown exceptional fitness for the business, is an excellent judge of investments and
markets and is one of the most prominent citizens of the city. After his brother's
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 403
death he was appointed administrator and trustee of his large estate and closed it up
to the satisfaction of all concerned. In 1887 he became a member of the lumber firm
of O'Brien, Green & Co. and a little later was made president. Their yards are now
located at 2428 Main Street (near the bridge). In 1891 Mr. Wilcox, associated with
others, purchased a large redwood tract at Albion, Cal., and was elected president of
the company then organized. This company alone manufactures annually about
25,000,000 feet of lumber. Mr. Wilcox is handling extensively at the present time large
and valuable tracts of pine timber land in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. He
also owns and manages valuable real estate interests in this city. He is one of the
wealthiest and one of the most influential business men of Chicago. He is a hard
worker and both physically and mentally is capable of conducting immense business
interests. In short, he is a typical Chicagoan, full of the pluck, energy and enterprise
that have made the business men of the city famous, and have, in half a century, made
it the metropolis of the West and the wonder of the commercial world.
On the 8th of December, 1870, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Church,
daughter of Hon. Gaylord Church, of Meadville, Pa., and by her has two living chil-
dren: Alia J. and Gaylord Sextus. Gaylord Church was for many years one of the
most prominent public men of Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Supreme
bench for ten or twelve years and for ten years was presiding judge of Crawford
County and one of the ablest and most prominent lawyers of the State. Mr.
Wilcox is a member of Evans Lodge No. 524, F. & A. M., of Evanston, and of St.
Mark's Episcopal Church. He is a stanch Republican and a prominent member of
the Union League Club, in which he takes great interest and at which his genial
presence is often found.
Charles B. White. Few men have been more prominent in the development of the
lumber trade of Chicago than Charles B. White, whose connection with the trade
dates continually from 1863 to 1893.
Mr. White was born in Jefferson County, N. Y., in March, 1816, but was raised in
Genesee County of that State, until in 1837 when he removed to Homer, Calhoun
County, Mich., where he engaged in farming and general merchandising. In 1854 he
came to Illinois, and to Chicago in 1861. In 1863 Mr. White associated himself with
AlvaTrowbridge, who at that time had a saw mill at Muskegon, Mich., with a Chicago
yard for the sale of his mill product, on Lumber Street, near Twelfth. This partner-
ship continued for two years, when Mr. James H. Swan, a son-in-law and former
partner of Mr. Trowbridge, returning from a brief service in the army, was admitted
to the partnership and the firm became White, Trowbridge & Co. After one year,
Mr. Trowbridge retiring, the firm became White & Swan, with saw mill at Muskegon
and yard on Ogden slip, Archer Road, Chicago. This firm continued in the yard
trade until 1871, when Ira O. Smith, being admitted to partnership, the firm name was
changed to White, Swan & Co., Mr. Smith taking charge of the manufacture at the
404 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Muskegon mills, while Messrs. White & Swan took an office on the lumber market at
the foot of Franklin Street, for the sale of their mill product by cargo and at whole-
sale.
In 1888 the timber holdings of the company in Michigan having been lessened to
an extent approaching exhaustion, and no more being available, the partnership was
dissolved, and Mr. White retired from active business to round out a busy life amid
the comforts of a handsome competency and in the enjoyment of the esteem of a
large circle of friends, both in the social and business world.
Mr. White was married in March, 1840, at Homer, Mich., to Miss Betsey E. Rose-
crantz, who died in November of the following year. Remaining a widower for six
years Mr. White on December 26, 1847, was married to Miss Mary Jane Prior, a grand-
daughter of Col. Amos Roberts, of Grand Rapids, Mich. The union, consummated
nearly half a century ago, has proved a happy one, but of its issue of four children
only one, Mrs. J. R. Custer, of this city, survives.
Thomas H. Sheppard was born in Cumberland County, N.J., March 14, 1844. His
parents, Thomas C. and Mary Marr Sheppard were both natives of that State and his
grandparents were among the pioneers. All were engaged in agriculture, sturdy, hon-
est citizens, who aided in clearing the way for progress so that their children could
travel over it. The boyhood of Thomas H. was passed on his father's homestead in
Cumberland County, much in the fashion of the period. In winter he attended
school, nor did after-school hours present an opportunity for loafing. Boyhood then
was manly and self-reliant. In 1863 he completed his studies at the State Military
Academy, Trenton, N. J., and the same year came to Chicago. His first position in
the West was that of reporter for the Chicago Tribune. After a little while he
obtained a position in the railroad postal service under Gen. Armstrong, and has
the honor of being among the first to take a mail car out of this city, the trip being
over the Galena Division of the North-Western Railroad. Two years later he accepted
a position as traveling salesman for the drug house of Fuller & Fuller. Two years
after this he accepted a position in the office of Bradley & Mather, who were engaged
in the lumber trade, but soon after, when Mr. Mather retired, he purchased an interest
in the business and the firm became Bradley, Sheppard & Smith. After five years'
connection with the firm he joined A. R. Gray, under the name of A. R. Gray & Co.,
which partnership continued until 1883. 1 th a * year he established his own yards
on Twenty-second Street. During the past decade he had built up a large and con-
stantly increasing business in the manufacture and wholesaling of lumber, with mills
at Ashland, Wis., and Menominee, Mich., his trade being wholly in pine lumber and
embracing an extent of 60,000,000 feet annually, distributed from Maine to the Pacific
coast. In this vast business he was associated with Mr. C. P. Miller, who, having an
interest in the same, filled the responsible position of secretary of the company. Mr.
Sheppard was for many years a member of the Lumberman's Exchange, being fre-
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 405
quently elected to the directorate, and was, at the annual meeting, March, 1893, elected
president of the Lumbermen's Association (a reorganization of the Lumberman's
Exchange). In 1881 and 1882 he was secretary and treasurer of the Ontonagon Lum-
ber Company, and was a director in the American Trust & Savings Bank, and an hon-
ored and valuable member of other social and commercial organizations.
His marriage in December, 1870, to Miss M. Louise, daughter of Stephen G.
Clark, and the birth of a daughter (named after its mother) proved a perpetual well
spring of happiness during his future life. His father-in-law, Stephen G. Clark, was
the first managing agent of the Western Union Telegraph Company at Chicago, and,
although not a pioneer of the city, his name is enrolled among the best known and
most enterprising of its old settlers.
In politics Mr. Sheppard was a Republican, entering the arena of real life at
Chicago, when his party put forth its power to save the country from dissolution or a
monarchy, he continued to uphold its principles, although never accepting office, or
assuming a bigoted partisanship.
In his business affairs he was conservative, yet enterprising, weighing well the
bearings of each new venture of commercial life before entering upon it. As a citizen
he was broad and liberal, while earnestly favoring those policies which he esteemed
wisest for the interest of the city, State or nation, while yet modest in advancing his
opinions.
Few men have left a deeper impress upon the affections of all who have asso-
ciated with him in commercial and social life, and few are followed to the grave with
greater sense of personal loss or by an equal number of sincere mourners.
Mr. Sheppard died June 10, 1893, after a brief illness from peritonitis, leaving a
memory fragrant with home affection, commercial honor and social respect. His life
was no failure in all that marks true manhood. He was borne to the grave by
members of his favorite hunting club and associates in business, leaving a memory
fragrant with manly virtues as a rich heritage to a large concourse of stricken friends.
But a few months previous to his death Mr. Sheppard was, in March, 1893,
elected to the presidency of the " Lumbermen's Association," having for many years
been a member of the former Lumberman's Exchange and serving it in the capacity
of director and member of its standing committees, in each capacity exhibiting those
traits of character which marked him a wise, judicious and useful officer, and in his
death the association felt the loss of a capable and efficient executiv an honored mer-
chant and a faithful friend.
James Bruner Goodman was born in Potter County, Penn., in the pine woods "along-
side a saw mill," about fifty years ago. He was the son of Owen Bruner Goodman, a
lumberman at Pike Mills. His father died when James B. was about seven years of
age, and his mother removed to Columbia with her three children, and there the boy
was afforded the advantages of private schools and the academy, until he was fourteen
19
406 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
years of age. In these youthful years he spent much time in the sawmills and lumber
yards of the town, and learned the rudiments of the lumber business. On leaving the
academy he entered a newspaper office and was for some time engaged as a reporter
and general writer, for which he had developed aptitude. He next entered the em-
ploy of his uncle, Gen. Horace Williston, a lumber manufacturer at Athens, Penn., but
again returned to journalistic work as assistant editor of the Steuben Courier. At the
breaking out of the war in 1861 he was editor of the Williamsport Bulletin. He then
enlisted as a private in a Pennsylvania regiment. Serving in the Army of the Potomac,
he was several times promoted, and was honorably discharged with his regiment in
1864. On being mustered out he assisted in raising a new regiment, but had some
misunderstanding about his official position and returned to civil life at Athens. He
had flattering offers of command in other new regiments, but, having made business
contracts, he declined further commissions. He served for a time as auditor of the
North Pennsylvania Canal Company and with its successor, the Lehigh Valley Rail-
road, but lumber had the greater charm, and in 1867 he went to Chicago to represent
the interest of Charles F. Welles in the firm of Welles & Spalding. The following
winter Mr. Welles sold to H. H. Porter, who, after some years' successful lumbering,
sold to Spalding, Houghteling & Johnson, the predecessors of the Menominee River
Lumber Company. Before this Mr. Goodman had become associated with Mr. Porter
in the firm of Porter & Co., lumber manufacturers, with a mill at Onekama, Mich., and
continued the business until in 1873, when the mill and remaining timber was sold to
A. W. Farr&Co. Meantime, in 1869, Mr. Goodman became associated with his brother,
W. O. Goodman, and C. H. Bogue, in the firms of C. H. Bogue & Co. and Goodman,
Bogue & Co., who for many years ran lumber yards at many points in Illinois, Iowa,
and Nebraska. This continued until in 1878, when the Goodmans withdrew from the
Illinois yards, but retained their interest in Nebraska until 1887, when they sold all their
retail yards to C. H. Bogue & Co. In 1878 the Sawyer-Goodman Company was estab-
lished in Chicago by Philetus Sawyer, James B. Goodman, William O. Goodman and
Edgar P. Sawyer, with mills at Menekaunee, Wis. In 1881 the firm became incorpor-
ated under the laws of Wisconsin: Philetus Sawyer, president; Edgar P. Sawyer,
vice-president; James B. Goodman, secretary, and William O. Goodman, treasurer,
and so continues. In 1882 the Marinette Lumber Company was organized, with James
B. Goodman president and William O. Goodman secretary and treasurer. In 1891
the Quinnesec Logging Company was organized with James B. Goodman president,
and built about twenty-five miles of railroad from the Menominee River opposite Iron
Mountain, southwest, to three townships of timber lands, the property of the Mari-
nette Lumber Company. Because of his business interests Mr. Goodman removed his
personal residence from Chicago to Marinette some years ago, and is still a resident
of that city, but spends much of his time in the Chicago office, where, in connection
with his lumber interests, the firm of Jas. B. Goodman & Co. does a large business in
.a
2
; 30
ft It,
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 407
real estate, the accumulation of which began in 1871, and includes many tracts in
Michigan and Wisconsin, besides Chicago city and suburban property. Mr. Goodman
is interested in the Menominee River Boom Company, which he helped to reorganize
in 1889. He is secretary and manager of the Wisconsin & Michigan Construction &
Manufacturing Company, and is president of the Peninsula Iron & Lumber Company.
Both these companies are large owners and operators of timber lands; Sawyer-Good-
man Company and Marinette Lumber Company are timber land owners and lumber
manufacturers; Jas. B. Goodman & Co. are operators in timber, mineral, and farm
lands. These, with other interests, make an aggregate of affiliated business which Mr.
Goodman never neglects, though the organization is so complete that he can leave it
to run on while he travels to the ends of the earth. He claims to be a Presbyterian,
is known to be a club man, and, in the words of Dana's celebrated description, " is a
good man weighing two hundred pounds."
John Oliver. No history of the lumber trade of Chicago would be complete with-
out mention of John Oliver, who was born September 30, 1835, a t Riccaton, near Kilmar-
nock, Ayrshire, Scotland, where he received all the advantages of a common-school
education, until at the age of fifteen he, in 1851, decided to emigrate to the new world
of America, of which he had heard so much and formed so favorable opinion. Reach-
ing this country, he at once turned his face westward, and at Buffalo found
the steamer "Globe" ready to take him around the lakes to Kenosha, Wis., where, find-
ing no encouragement for a lad of broad speech and modest mein, he swung the bun-
dle which constituted his earthly possessions over his shoulder, and walked all the
way to Chicago, where he could not hope to find a single soul who knew him, or could
befriend him.
Chicago, even as late as that, did not extend, to any degree, beyond the dwelling
of the Felkers, which was located near Indiana Street, and the river. Beyond, to the
north and west, tall cottonwoods were still standing, and beyond Chicago Avenue was
a virgin forest. A few lumber yards had gone as far south as Van Buren street, and
as far north as the edge of the forest at Indiana Street. The lad was fortunate in the
spring of 1852 in finding employment as a tally boy in the yard of Norton Brothers,
" Chris " Johnson being the tallyman. The average sales of a prosperous yard at that
time were about 5,000,000 feet, but in 1855 Mr. Norton thought to outstrip his neigh-
bors, and ran his sales up to 17,000,000 feet, largely a canal trade, and in order to
gain the eclat of the big record, sold lumber on very small margins, one large sale to
John Hosick, of Peoria, being made at an advance of but one shilling per thousand
feet above cost.
Taking rapidly to his new occupation, the boy was soon advanced to a position
in the yard, and three years later we find him occupying the position of foreman in
the yard of Ryerson, Miller & Co., where he remained until the spring of 1858. The
panic which struck the country with the force of a cyclone in September, 1857, was
408 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
particularly hard upon the lumbermen of Chicago. Fencing and common boards
which had sold during 1856 and the spring and summer of 1857 at $17 per thousand feet,
dropped in the autumn and winter of 1857 to $12, with a steadily downward tendency.
One morning in the spring of 1858 Mr. Oliver on his way to the office saw a sign at
the office of Edwin Canfield which read, " Common Lumber $8." On reaching the
office he mentioned the fact to his employer, Miller, who was incredulous and was
sure it could be only for culls or very coarse common. It was soon ascertained, how-
ever, that it was for good common, and the price fell yet another dollar, and good sound
common sold at retail for $7 per thousand feet, while cargoes of good Muskegon
"mill run" sold as low as $5 from the vessel. These times tried (lumber) men's souls,
and it is little wonder that, characteristic of the man, he left a business which could not
afford a foreman, and opened a wood yard, for people must keep warm, if they did
stop building, or improving their dwellings. Mr. Oliver's yard was at the foot of Car-
roll Avenue, and he retailed good body maple at 82.75 per cord, which in these days
of the coal combine, makes one sigh for the "good old days of our fathers."
In i860 Mr. Oliver was married to Miss Mary McLaren, of Dubuque, Iowa, a sis-
ter of John McLaren, elsewhere frequently mentioned. In 1863 Mr. Oliver entered
the employ of Beidler Bros, in the capacity of book-keeper, and about this time
became interested in the vessel business in connection with his other business, and it
continued to command his attention up to the time of his decease. About 1868 the
firm of Cutler (A. E.), Oliver (John) & Anderson (B. L.) was formed (with a yard on
Mason slip, near the corner of Fisk and Twenty-second Streets), which a year later,
by the retirement of Mr. Cutler, became Oliver & Anderson. In 1870 Mr. Oliver
became connected with George H. Ambrose, under the firm name of Ambrose & Oliver,
doing a general logging and manufacturing business in Michigan under the supervis-
ion of Mr. Ambrose, Mr. Oliver handling the Chicago end in disposing of the lumber,
furnishing the means, etc., and this continued for several years, when Mr. Oliver was
satisfied to gradually retire except from the care of his real estate interests.
We have mentioned that Mr. Oliver reached Chicago a poor boy, yet so full of
energy and enterprise that abundant success crowned his efforts. He had become
wealthy, but he left to his family what is of higher value than riches, the heritage of
an honored name. He was ever ready to give advice when asked for it, and many an
older than he, sought his counsel. He was one of whom the lumbermen of Chicago,
as well as his compatriots of old Scotia, might well feel proud. He was a self-made
man and an honor to the lumber history of Chicago.
Mr. Oliver died very suddenly on the evening of August 3, 1894, and in such man-
ner as he would have chosen to leave the scenes of life's activities. Residing opposite
Garfield Park, it was his favorite custom to enjoy his pipe under the shade of its beau-
tiful trees. On the evening named he had taken his favorite seat and watched the
progress of the most extensive conflagration which had ever visited the distant lumber
district. Not returning home as expected he was sought for at his favorite seat, and
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 409
was found sitting in an upright position, but the spark of life had fled, presumably
from heart disease. So, quietly, evidently painlessly, passed away one of nature's
noblemen, a man who enjoyed the respect and was mourned by all who knew him.
As might be judged from the foregoing sketch, Mr. Oliver was strong in his
friendship and happy in his family ties. He left behind him his wife, three sons and
a daughter, Mary Grace, just budding into womanhood, a son and a daughter having
died at a tender age. Two sons, John Jr. and William G., who commenced a lumber
business in 1888 (the third son Albert being now in the employ of his brothers), are
mentioned farther on.
Oliver Brothers. " Worthy scions of an honored parentage " is no far-fetched
appellation to be employed in speaking of John Oliver, Jr., and his brother, William
George Oliver, sons of the late John Oliver, and who now comprise the firm of Oliver
Brothers. John Oliver, Jr., was born in 1861, receiving his education in the schools of
this city. At the age of fifteen he entered the office of William Meglade, one of the
earliest commission dealers in the lumber trade of the city, as office boy and collector,
and a year later was employed by the firm of John Mason Loomis & Co. in the same
capacity, meantime perfecting his education at a commercial college, fitting him to
spend the succeeding five years as book-keeper for a hardware firm. In 1885 he
formed a partnership with L. W. Pick in the lumber business, and Pick & Oliver con-
tinued at Blue Island Avenue and Leavitt Street until the death of Mr. Pick in the
fall of 1887, when, the affairs of the firm being settled, Mr. Oliver was joined by his
brother William G., in the spring of 1888, in the formation of the firm of Oliver
Brothers, which soon after located on Ullman Street, south of Thirty-fifth Street,
where, with 1,200 feet of dock front, they have since remained in the enjoyment of a
reasonable share of the city's trade. Mr. Oliver was, December 21, 1892, married to
Miss Ella Richardson, of this city.
William George Oliver, second son of John Oliver, Sr., was born in 1863, and
received his education in Chicago schools until in 1875, when, after taking a course in
the Metropolitan Business College, he took a position for two years in a hardware
store in this city, supplemented by several years' service in the employ of John J.
Bryant, of the Board of Trade, and a subsequent membership in the Board, and as rep-
resentative of George Knowles, Esq., of Milwaukee, when he entered into partnership
with his brother John, as above related. William was married in 1890 to Miss Louisa
Eizner, of this city.
The Soper Lumber Company. The youth of Albert Soper. the founder of the
Soper Lumber Company, was spent in hard work upon a farm, like that of thousands
of other American boys who afterward rose to distinction in special pursuits. Such
boys are fitted by nature for higher duties and responsibilities; they have the penetra-
tion, industry, ambition, and capacity, no matter what walk in life they select, to rise
above their companions by sheer force of character and ability. Fate or destiny did
410 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
not sentence Abraham Lincoln to a task of splitting rails during the whole period
of his life, notwithstanding the fact that he could split more and better rails than any
other man in Coles County. He was fitted to excel in whatever he undertook. Neither
could poverty and hardship bind James A. Garfield to the tow-path for life. He had
the capabilities of greatness, and so had Albert Soper. Had any other pursuit than
the lumber interests been adopted by Mr. Soper he would have made his mark just the
same. Think of it! What can be predicted of the future of a young man who will
walk fifteen miles, work all day, and return fifteen miles to his home at night. Such
pluck, industry, and determination are rare even among the most successful men.
And yet Albert Soper started in life with just such pent-up force. Like a piece
of tempered rubber, the harder you threw him down the higher he bounded. He
possessed the elasticity of an ivory ball. He had physically wonderful powers
of endurance, trained properly on a farm away from degenerating city vices, and pos-
sessed a mind strong, alert, and discriminating; in short he was both a logical thinker
and a trained athlete. Where is the young man to-day who would seek work if he had
to walk thirty miles a day to find it? And yet this is a more enterprising age than
the one which looked frowningly upon the youthful determination of Albert Soper.
He was born in Rome, N. Y., in February, 1812, seeing the world for the first time
the year that Great Britain, undertook, by force, a second time, to override the Amer-
ican people. His ancestors were English, early settlers on Long Island, whence they
removed to Rome in the beginning of the present century. He grew to manhood on the
farm of his father, Philander Soper, near Rome, receiving a good common school edu-
cation, and when eighteen years of age learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed
for several years. A little later he engaged in the lumber trade, and while thus employed
built the first planing mill erected in the Mohawk Valley. He steadily pursued this
occupation at Rome, lumbering and manufacturing sash, doors, blinds, etc., until 1865,
when he came to Chicago to enlarge his field of action. It was then at the close of
the war, when Chicago began to exhibit the remarkable commercial energy which has
made her the Queen of the West and the pride of the Union. Mr. Soper, with character-
istic energy and thrift, threw himself into the flood of lumber development here, and
was soon on top. He formed a partnership with George H. Park, under the firm
name of Park & Soper, with yards at Canal and Lumber Streets, and the firm con-
ducted very successfully a wholesale lumber business until 1878, when Mr. Park sold
his interest in the plant to James Soper, a brother of Albert. The two brothers then
took as a partner James P. Soper, a son of Albert, and the firm thus constituted con-
tinued the business under the title of Soper Bros. & Co., which association existed
until 1884, when another plant The Soper & Pond Company was absorbed and the
entire business reorganized and incorporated under the name of The Soper Lumber
Company, with a capital of $300,000. Albert Soper, by reason of his age, experience
and ability, was made president; James Soper, vice-president; Alexander C. Soper,
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 411
treasurer, and James P. Soper, secretary. The business of the company previously
had been confined to an extensive wholesale trade which extended over all the North-
ern States and as far south as Tennessee, but upon the absorption of the Soper &
Pond plant, the firm succeeded to the manufacturing branch of that company then
located at Muskegon, Mich. These mills were continued up to 1890. In 1886, how-
ever, the company bought extensive timber lands at Menominee, Mich., where their
mills have since been located. These mills have an annual capacity of 30,000,000 feet
of lumber, with shingles and lath in proportion, and are among the most extensive in
Michigan.
Mr. Albert Soper died in May, 1890, and his wife in January, 1894, and James
Soper became president and continued in that position up to his death in October,
1891. The present officers of the company are Alexander C. Soper, president; James
P. Soper, vice-president; Charles G. Poggi, secretary, and Charles Rudderham, assistant
secretary, the last two members having been connected with the firm for a number of
years in clerical positions. The yards, planing mills and docks of the company have
been located at Laflin and Twenty-second Streets since 1868, and are among the most
extensive in the city. The firm has confined its trade exclusively to pine and dressed
lumber and has sold annually from 40,000,000 to 50,000,000 feet.
Albert Soper, the head and founder of the house, was pre-eminently a business man,
and devoted his entire attention and superior ability to the development of his firm.
He was an excellent citizen, with correct and comprehensive views on law and life
and established a most honorable name in the business world in the development of
which he was an important factor. He was for a number of years a director in the
Hide & Leather Bank and a member of the Lumberman's Exchange. He was married
in 1836, to Miss Esther Farquharson, also a native of Cherry Valley, New York State.
His widow and five children survive him: Arthur W., formerly a prominent railroad
man, is now president of the Safety Heating and Lighting Company of New York
City; Mrs. Adelaide M., wife of George Merrill; Alexander C., James P., and Etta
A., wife of William P. Smith, the last three residing in Chicago.
Alexander C. Soper, who is now president of the above firm, was born in Rome, N.
Y., January 5, 1846. He received superior educational advantages, attending the
schools and academy of his native town, finishing with a collegiate education at
Hamilton College from which institution he graduated in the class of 1867. He then
joined his father's family, who had removed to Chicago, and entered the old Mer-
chants Loan & Trust Company Bank and was employed in a clerical position for a
short period. He then entered his father's firm and commenced to learn the lumber
trade, to which he has since devoted his entire time and attention. He remained with
the old company until 1870, when he embarked in business for himself in an associa-
tion with Mr. W. M. Pond, forming the Soper & Pond Company. This firm rapidly
acquired a large trade and was in a prosperous condition when it was merged into the
412 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
present company in 1884. Mr. Soper has a thorough knowledge of the lumber trade,
and is a superior business man, genial and polished, having all the requisite attributes
to conduct to a successful conclusion large interests and corporations. He has been
a prominent figure in the development of the gigantic lumber trade here and has
served as president of the Lumberman's Exchange. He was also the president of the
Michigan Shingle Company for a number of years, operating one of the largest mills
at Muskegon. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Illinois & Georgia Improve-
ment Company, a railroad construction company, building a railroad between Macon
and Savannah, Ga. Mr. Soper is a man of progressive ideas and an honored and
esteemed citizen. In politics he is an Independent Republican, but being a man of
business and culture has never sought office. He has large and valuable business
interests, and devotes his time to their management exclusively. He was married in
1871, to Miss Mary E. Pope, also a native of Rome, N. Y., and daughter of Dr. G. W.
Pope, of the same city. They have two children: Alexander C.,Jr.,a student at Ham-
ilton College, and Edward Huntington. His family are members of the First Presby-
terian Church. Mr. Soper is one of the young, active and successful business men who
have made Chicago famous for its industrial enterprise.'
James P. Soper, the youngest son of Albert Soper, founder of this company, was
born in Rome, N. Y., September 28, 1851. He attended the schools of his native town
until the removal of the family to this city in 1865, after which he graduated from the
high schools here. At the age of eighteen years he entered the lumber business as
book-keeper for his father, who was then associated with Mr. Park under the firm name
of Park & Soper, and so well did he apply himself and so rapidly did his services
become valuable to the company that two years later he became a partner, and the
firm took the name of Park, Soper & Co., James P. being the company. Under this
name the firm continued business for six years, James P. having general management
of the yards and mills. At the expiration of the six years James P. and his uncle,
James bought the interest of Mr. Park in the concern, whereupon the firm became
Soper Bros. & Co., and continued business as such until October, 1884, when it was
incorporated as the Soper Lumber Company, as already related. At this time James
P. was made secretary, but in October, 1891, he was elected vice-president. He now
has charge of the yards and mills. He is a thoroughly practical business man, pro-
gressive and active, full of expedients to widen and improve the trade of the company,
and stands high in business circles. He is a member of the Union League and Illi-
nois Clubs, and for two years has been treasurer of the Lumbermen's Association. He
is vice-president of the Menominee Bay Shore Lumber Company. He is yet young
and his excellent business ability and large experience in the lumber trade, having
been engaged in it all his adult life, qualify him in the highest degree for a successful
business career.
On November 16, 1882, he was united in marriage with Miss Henrietta H. Hill, a
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 413
lady he had known from childhood. She was also born in Rome, N. Y., and is the
daughter of Henry S. and Mary D. (Draper) Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Soper have two
children: Geraldine D. and James P., Jr. The family are members of the Third Pres-
byterian Church.
Charles Arthur Street, senior member of the firm of Street, Chatfield & Keep, was
born at Newmarket, near Toronto, Canada, in 1842. While Charles was yet of tender
age, his father, who was a clergyman of the Church of England, removed to the
States, and, connecting himself with the Episcopal Church of the United States,
settled in Davenport, Iowa, in 1850, subsequently ministering to the parishes of
Bellevue, Iowa, Tiskilwa, 111., and other localities. Under the tuition of his father and
in the public schools, Charles received his education, until, at the age of eighteen
years, he entered the office of Thomas Basnett, secretary of the " Caton Telegraph
Company," at Ottawa, III., to learn the science of telegraphy. Remaining there but a
few months, he came to Chicago and entered the employ of George Dunbar, who dealt
in railroad supplies at 19-21 Dearborn Street, receiving a salary of $15 per month,
and was with him when news arrived that Fort Sumter was fired upon. After the
battle of Fort Donelson, telegraph operators being required at Cairo, 111., Mr. Street
went to that place in the employ of the telegraph company, remaining for about a
year, when, being taken sick, he returned to his father's home at Dixon, 111. On his
recovery, he for a time had charge of the railroad telegraph office at Dixon, then,
coming to Chicago found employment as cashier of the business department of the
Chicago Times, and was with that paper at the time of its suppression. He soon after
entered Government service as chief clerk in quartermaster's department for transpor-
tation of troops at Chicago, which position he filled until the war closed. He then
engaged in the book and stationery business at 101 Washington Street, and sold out in
1868, to form a partnership with Richard Mason in the lumber business, which he has
continued to follow until the present day. The firm of Mason, Street & Co. continued
but one year, when Wayne B. Chatfield bought Mason's interest, and the firm of Street
& Chatfield was organized, with a yard on Roberts Street, near Chicago Avenue
bridge. The fire of 1871 wiped out their yard, but failed to affect the enterprise
and courage of the members of the firm, who in less than a week were buying cargoes
and retailing lumber for the rebuilding of the city, with as much heart and faith in its
future as though misfortune had not well nigh swept away their entire capital. The
firm, in 1877, purchased the yard and business of the old-time firm of Avery, Murphy
& Co., and instituted the firm of Street & Chatfield, in the lumber district connected
with, but with interests varying from the North Side house, and in 1878 admitted Marcus
M. Darr to the partnership, which now took the name of Street, Chatfield & Darr. In
1880 Mr. Darr withdrew, Frederic A. Keep taking his place, and the firm of Street,
Chatfield & Keep continued the yard at Twenty-second and Fisk Streets until 1890,
when it was discontinued, and the business consolidated with that of the North
414 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Side, which, after occupying one location for twenty-five years, was removed to
North Avenue, corner of Fleetwood Street. Mr. Street, who has through all the
passing years been the ruling mind and guiding hand of the extensive operations of
the various companies, still retains that position, Mr. Chatfield having been somewhat
delicate in health, and seeking comfort and pleasure in travel, through the willingness
of his more robust partner to assume the care of their extended business. Mr. Chat-
field died October 31, 1892. In 1888 the Interior Lumber Company was organized,
with extensive mills at Interior (Upper Peninsula) Mich., of which Mr. Street is
president; Frederic A. Keep, treasurer; and, at the time of his death, Wayne B. Chatfield
was secretary. This company has an office at No. 700 Temple building, corner of
La Salle and Monroe Streets, and manufactures about 25,000,00x2 feet of lumber per
year. The firm has from its organization been a member of the Lumberman's
Exchange of Chicago, Mr. Street having filled the office of secretary of the Lumber-
man's Board of Trade from its reorganization in February, 1874, to the election of a
paid secretary a month later, the records showing daily meetings during the interim,
Mr. Street being elected one of the directors. During this time Mr. Street was a
member of a delegation to visit the Legislature at Springfield and secure the passage
of lien laws, so successfully fulfilling their task that the law then adopted was not
again amended until during the session of 1891, when the changed conditions
demanded modifications. When a year later (1875) the Lumberman's Board of Trade
and the Lumberman's Exchange were consolidated under the charter of the latter
organization, Mr. Street was again elected to the board of directors, and was seldom
omitted from that position during the continuance of the Exchange.
Mr. Street has been married twice; his first wife, Emily Kate McReynolds, of Detroit,
to whom he was married in Chicago in 1870, dying in 1885, leaving two sons, both of
whom survive, the eldest being in his senior year at Yale College, while the younger is
a freshman in the same university. Mr. Street's second marriage was in 1890, to
Miss Rosalind C., daughter of Charles R. Larrabee, of Chicago, by whom he has a son
and a daughter.
Mr. Street was one of the early members of the Union Club, and still continues
his membership. Few men have exerted a greater influence upon the business
interests of Chicago than Charles A. Street, and none have labored with purer
desire or more energetic effort for the advancement of its every interest, moral,
political or social. After the fire of 1871 Mr. Street was one of the first to realize
that the city could not be permanently wiped out, even by so great a calamity. The
firm had acquired a reputation for honesty and integrity, combined with personal
industry, and the loss of their lumber yard filled with excellent stock, combined
with the loss of dwelling and household furniture, with uncertain insurance, which
finally realized less than twenty cents on the dollar, failed to daunt the cour-
age of Mr. Street, who, before the embers ceased to smoke, had purchased a cargo
GoodspeadBrotltBraBiHiahera, Chicago.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 415
of lumber and begun his business life anew. Not only was all outstanding indebt-
edness paid without question, but the firm's credit on the lumber market was unques-
tioned, and with indomitable energy, each partner joining in the needful manual labor,
Mr. Street purchasing, and attending to the sorting and selling of stock, Mr. Chatfield
handling the books and accounts, and assisting in the yard as might be needful, it is
little wonder that in a few months the losses by the great fire had been fully recouped,
and the firm had entered upon an era of prosperity which to-day marks it as one of the
solid houses of the city, and Charles A. Street as its worthy representative and principal.
Gilbert B. Shaw. While the Western forests have been largely attacked by the
brawn and muscle of men from the State of Maine, the yard business has been exten-
sively developed by men from the lumber districts of Pennsylvania and New York.
Gilbert B. Shaw first saw the light in Ontario, N. Y., in 1837. He was educated
at Genesee College, Lima, N. Y., graduating in 1860. Meantime his parents had
moved to Illinois, settling at Moline to engage in the manufacture of lumber. In
1865 he engaged in logging and manufacturing in Wood County, Wis., rafting to the
Mississippi River, this continuing for about three years. In 1869 Mr. Shaw came to
Chicago and engaged as book-keeper with Kelley, Wood & Co., where he remained
for five years. During this time, in 1870, he opened a retail yard at Kankakee, 111.,
in connection with S. A. Brown, which, after about a year, was disposed of, and in
1871, the connection still continuing, a yard was started at Burlington, Kan., on the
advance line of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, then in course of construction.
This was the beginning of a policy of establishing a chain of retail yards through-
out the rapidly developing West, and especially in Kansas, Nebraska and western
Iowa, which subsequently became " a fad " among Chicago wholesale dealers. Extend-
ing their Burlington venture, Messrs. Shaw & Brown followed the lines of the Missouri,
Kansas & Texas Railroad, and also that of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston
Railroad, establishing yards in advance of settlement, and thus became pioneers in
the policy of an extended line of yards in this new territory, their operations
extending through Kansas. The firm of S. A. Brown & Co. and its operations
continued for about ten years, when, upon its dissolution, a division of yards and ter-
ritory took place, each party taking one-half of the sixty yards then under the control
of the firm. In 1881 Mr. Shaw associated with him Mr. F. C. Jocelyn, and the firm of
G. B. Shaw & Co. continued for about six years, during which time their Western
yards were increased to the number of seventy-five, while Mr. Brown, who had con-
tinued in business, probably had increased his yards to an equal extent. In 1887 Mr.
Shaw, discovering that the days of such widely diffused interests had passed their
prime, decided to close up the business, and the time of the next year was devoted to
disposing of the yards, which being accomplished, the active interest of Mr. Shaw in
the lumber business came to an end. During the progress of the work thus detailed,
in 1883, Mr. Shaw was elected vice-president of the Metropolitan National Bank
416 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
and devoted a considerable portion of his time to the interests of that institution until
the spring of 1888, when he undertook the organization of the American Trust and
Savings Bank, of which he was elected president, a position which he still holds.
Throughout his entire business career Mr. Shaw has possessed the respect and
confidence of his fellow-merchants, and of the public to a pre-eminent degree, and no
enterprise lacked of abundant support and pronounced success, with which he has been
connected. So, too, in the financial world he has exerted a well-recognized influence
which has placed him among the trusted and reliable financiers of the West, and
particularly of Chicago. The mind which could conceive, and which combined with
the conception, the nerve, to establish seventy-five lumber yards in a new country,
rapidly settling with, in the main, a poverty-stricken people, who depended upon a
year's industry to pay the bills of present living, argues the possession of no ordinary
intellect, especially when the conception and nerve are directed to a successful issue, as
in this case. Mr. Shaw is a notable type of the men who have secured for Chicago its
reputation for that boldness of conception, and nerve and push in execution, which is
the envy of the world.
Augustus Reynolds Gray. Mr. Gray was born in Morris County, N. J., in 1837,
his father being a farmer, who inducted his young son during his earlier years into
the mysteries of farm life, to which he did not take so kindly as his parents desired,
and in 1851 he was sent west to Racine, Wis., where he was given two years of school-
ing at the seminary of that town. Leaving school, he was for several months engaged
as a clerk in a drug store, and in 1855 was offered the position of chief clerk in the
postoffice at Newark, N. J. His taste of Western life, however, had but created
a strong desire to return, and in 1856 he came back to Racine, and, with H. L. Norton
as a partner, opened a lumber yard under the firm designation of A. R. Gray & Co.,
a cognomen which has never been changed, and under which his business transactions
are still conducted. In 1860 the firm removed its yards to Chicago, and located on the
corner of Clark and North (now Sixteenth) Streets, subsequently removing to Laflin
Street, south of Twenty-second, where they remained until 1880, when Thomas H.
Sheppard purchased Mr. Norton's interest in the business, but the firm name remained
unchanged, and the business was continued until 1889, when Mr. Gray purchased the
interest of Mr. Sheppard and went out of the yard business, in which he had been
actively engaged for thirty-three years. But, while relinquishing active connection,
Mr. Gray is still interested in the trade in various ways, and the old designation
of A. R. Gray & Co. is still retained.
In 1891 Mr. Gray became interested in the purchase of 500 acres of land south of
the city, and was one of the original fifteen stockholders in the West Pullman Land
Association, of which organization he is a director and holds the position of treasurer.
The beautiful and thriving city of West Pullman, with its well-paved and sewered
streets and general appearance of thrift and prosperity, bears witness to the foresight,
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 417
enterprise and public spirit of the association, which instituted and perfected many of
the improvements before attempting to induce an influx of population.
Mr. Gray, from his earliest connection with the Chicago trade, was a member of
the Lumberman's Exchange, and was for several years a member of its board of
directors and of its important committees. He was married in 1854 to Miss Mary R.
Norton, of Racine. One son and one daughter, (the latter deceased) have blessed the
union. He is a member and warm adherent of the Second Presbyterian Church of
Chicago.
George Henry Park. On a farm in the town of Millbury, Worcester County,
Mass., in the year 1833, George H. Park first saw the light of day. His ancestry
entitled him to the honorable cognomen of First Families of Massachusetts, for his
paternal grandfather was a corporal in the gallant band whose sufferings at Valley
Forge form one of the noblest pictures of heroic endurance which the many thrilling
incidents of the Revolutionary War present. On the maternal side, his great-uncle,
Gen. Ward, held important commands in the army, which, under the revered Washing-
ton, gained the freedom of the Confederated Colonies, which, though weak in numbers,
were strong in that courage and patriotism which is still inherent in the 65,000,000 of
their countrymen who are now enjoying the fruits of their valor.
George H. received such education as was afforded by the common schools of
Millbury and betimes in the work of his father's farm. At the age of twenty he, in
1853, entered the employ of Armsby, Morse & Co., of Millbury, and learned the prac-
tical work in the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds, remaining with the firm for
five years.
In June, 1858, he came to Chicago and secured a position as foreman in the fac-
tory of Hall, Merry & Co., sash, door and blind manufacturers on State Street, near
North (now Sixteenth Street), until, in February, 1860, he bought an interest in the
business and organized the firm of Fenner, Park & Co., which continued until 1864,
when he removed to 775 South Canal Street, and in June of that year organized the firm
of Edwards, Park & Co., continuing until June, 1866, when Albert Soper became con-
nected with him and the firm of Park & Soper continued until 1880, when Mr. Park
sold his interest to James P. Soper and withdrew. In the same year the firm of Park
& Page established a planing mill on the corner of Twenty-second and Laflin Streets,
which, after operating for two years, was sold to Hinckley & Co. In 1880 Mr. Park
had formed a connection with W. S. Babcock, and the firm of Babcock & Park opened
a lumber yard at 2IOO Grove Street, where the business was continued until May, 1885,
when Mr. Park bought the interest of Mr. Babcock, and for two years longer continued
simply as George H. Park. In the spring of 1887 he sold out to Louis Hutt and retired
from active yard business. Since that time he has bought and sold a few million feet
of lumber each year, but has devoted his time more especially to real estate and money
loaning. He resides at Austin, one of Chicago's pleasantest suburbs, where he is
418 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
recognized as a public-spirited and progressive citizen. He was married in 1860 to
Miss Elvira J. Willard, daughter of Josiah and Mary B. Willard, of Fitchburg, Mass.
Charles A. Paltzer. Charles A. Paltzer, son of Jacob P. and Mary C. ( Faber)
Paltzer, was born in Prussia, November 5, 1845. The family came to the United States
in the fall of 1857, resided in New York the succeeding winter, moved to Terre Haute,
Ind., in 1858, and in 1860 established themselves at St. Louis, Mo. Jacob P. Paltzer
died in that city in 1866 and Mrs. Paltzer, his widow, in 1890.
Charles A. Paltzer received a very liberal education. In Prussia he attended
school until his twelfth summer; was at Terre Haute, Ind., for two years, and again at
St. Louis, Mo., where he graduated from the St. Louis University in 1866. The next
year he obtained the position of book-keeper for the steam-pipe and brass-goods
house of James O. Alter. Two years later he accepted a similar position with the
lumber firm of Thompson Bros. & Co., later Thompson, Henry & Co., of St. Louis,
Mo. In 1871 Thompson, Henry & Co. opened yards at Chicago, and, aware of the
probity and business qualifications of Mr. Paltzer, placed him in charge of their office
here in January, 1873. That firm dissolved partnership in 1874, and Mr. Paltzer became
a member of the new firm of C. C. Thompson & Co. For ten years this firm carried
on an immense business here, and conducted also a branch house at Kansas City during
part of the time. In April, 1884, the firm of C. C. Thompson & Co. dissolved and Mr.
Paltzer formed a partnership with Messrs. H. W. Chase and D. S. Pate, and continued
the lumber business on the premises theretofore occupied by C. C. Thompson & Co.,
under the firm name of C. A. Paltzer & Co. The entire management of this business
has rested with Mr. Paltzer, the yards of Chase & Pate, on the West Side, claiming the
time and attention of his partners. In May, 1892, Mr. Pate retired from the firm. The
appearance of C. A. Paltzer & Co.'s great lumber depot, at Archer Avenue and Quarry
Street, speaks at once of business-like methods and tells the visitor plainer than words
that the man who directs this business understands it thoroughly. The dry-kilns are
capacious and the intramural transit system is perfect. Every device conceivable for
the safe and prompt handling of great quantities of lumber is found here, and a large
stock is continually on hand.
When the Lumber Dealers' Association was organized, in March, 1886, Mr.
Paltzer was elected president and re-elected in 1887. Meantime he was a director in
the Lumberman's Exchange, its president in 1890-91, and active in all affairs in which
lumber interests were concerned. It was during his term as president of the Exchange
that the new organization of 1886 was merged into, or consolidated with, the Lumber-
man's Exchange and the name changed to Lumbermen's Association. The change
was made February 28, 1891, and acknowledged, March 6, by Charles A. Paltzer as
president and Edward E. Hooper as secretary.
Mr. Paltzer married Miss Clara C. Woodruff, daughter of Walter N. Woodruff, of
Chicago, December 5, 1878. The lady's father built the Woodruff Hotel, on Wabash
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 419
Avenue and Twenty-first Street, at a time when a majority of citizens calculated that
Twelfth Street would be the extreme limit of the hotel district at the close of the cent-
ury; but Mr. Woodruff, had faith in the city, and the Woodruff Hotel stands to-day a
testimony of this faith. To the marriage just noted, three children were born, namely:
Catherine W., Susan E. and Charles W. Mr. Paltzer is a member of the Washington
Park Club and many other organizations whose aim it is to raise the commercial and
social standing of this city to the highest plane. His education, his home training, and
his wide experience in the lumber trade, added to a disposition to suffer rather than
perpetrate an injustice, render him an admirable citizen.
D. S. Pate. From the earliest times the English Government has been the colon-
izer of many of the wildest portions of the world. Resting, itself, upon an island of
limited extent, but with a rapidly increasing population, her people have found it
necessary and very advantageous to leave the island and seek homes in distant quarters
of the earth. The continent of Europe was thickly populated and no schemes of
colonization could find a footing there. So America first took the surplus population
although later, strong tides were directed toward the luxuriant island of Australia
and the ancient peninsula of India. But the tide of English emigration continued to
pour its resolute stream into the United States and Canada, and continues to do so to
this day.
On March 24, 1839, there was born in Devonshire, England, a boy who was des-
tined in 1842 to be taken across the wide Atlantic ocean in a sailing vessel, by his
parents, Thomas P. and Temperance (Davey) Pate. That boy was Davey S. Pate, now
one of the most prominent and successful lumber merchants of this city. But the
jump from the sailing vessel of 1842 to the large lumber yard of to-day is too far, and
the span must be bridged by the trials and labors of half a century. That half century,
so full of trying experiences and so replete with successive victories over countless
obstacles, sums up the youth, early manhood and middle age of Mr. Pate. In short,
it comprises the better and greater part of his life, though the years have dealt kindly
with him and left him at the age of fifty-three with an erect form and a clear mind.
Back in 1842, when the parents with their little flock landed in the United States,
they came West and located at Galena, 111., which was then a wild place in a wilder
prairie country. Nothing but trials, hardships and self-denials awaited the family
when they took up their abode in this Western town. But they came of a race that
neither knew nor would acknowledge defeat, and so they went to work. They were
still struggling to get a start, when, in 1856, almost the greatest calamity that could
have happened to them occurred, for the father unfortunately died, leaving his widow
with five children, the oldest of whom was D. S., aged seventeen years. At this time
the widow had her little home, worth probably 8500, but had nothing else upon which
to depend for support save her eldest son, an intelligent, resolute lad. Upon his
young shoulders was cast the burden of supporting the family. This he faithfully
420 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
and bravely did, alone and unaided, until his brother Alexander became old enough
to share the burden. These were trying times to the boys, but it was the school
of experience which cast them early on their own resources, taught them the worth
of money and gave them their first severe lessons in the problem of life. Indeed, much
of their later success has been due to their experience in those early years in that
prairie town. The younger brother, Alexander, is now a prosperous merchant, banker
and grain dealer in Wellington, 111.
D. S. managed to secure a fair education in the public schools of Galena, and after
his father's death he began to work at the carpenter's trade, which he followed stead-
ily until 1861, all his earnings going to the support of his mother and the younger
children. In 1861, the younger children having become old enough to take care of
themselves, D. S. determined to branch out for himself, and accordingly came to Chi-
cago, where he secured work at handling lumber on the docks as a common laborer
in the yard of Stouffer & Trego, for whom he worked for about six months. During
this period, feeling his need of a business education, he had managed to secure a good
knowledge of book-keeping by studying at night the books he had bought of Bryant
& Stratton. At this time the firm established a branch yard at Watseka, 111., and
placed Mr. Pate in charge of the same. His knowledge of book-keeping now enabled
him to conduct the business of the yards correctly, and to the satisfaction of his
employers. Here he remained until the autumn of 1866, faithfully carrying on the
business of the firm and learning a great deal about the lumber business. He built up
a large trade for his firm and was their trusted and confidential representative. He
remained with the company there until they abandoned the yard in 1866, when he
returned to Chicago and accepted a position with the lumber firm of Greene & Lowe
as book-keeper and salesman, and remained steadily in their service until the spring
of 1870. It was during this active period that he improved himself greatly by his
varied services in the lumber trade. From 1870 to 1873 he served as book-keeper
for the lumber firm of D. F. Chase & Bro., and here again proved the value of his ser-
vices. By this time he thoroughly understood the lumber business in all its complex
details and felt himself fully able to branch out for himself. Accordingly, in 1873 he
with H. W. Chase purchased the interest of U. F. Chase in the business, whereupon
the firm became Chase & Pate, and so continued down to May I, 1892. During this
long period they steadily expanded their trade and improved their credit as reputable
dealers, handling large quantities of lumber. Favored by the extraordinary growth of
the city and by the country west and northwest tributary to it, and being themselves
active, practical and skillful business men, they could not fail to come to the front and
top. Mr. Pate has come up by slow degrees, step by step, from a poor boy, improving
himself by self-study, and by the constant application of the ideas which practice had
shown were wise, and conservative, yet bold and successful. He is one of the few
absolutely self-made business men of the city, and his name and credit are high and
above reproach.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 421
The yards of Chase & Pate were first located at the corner of Cologne Street and
Archer Avenue, but in the spring of 1876 they were removed to Throop and Twenty-
second Streets, and there remained until the dissolution of the firm May i, 1892. In
1884 the firm of Chase & Pate became associated with that of C. A. Paltzer & Co. as
the company of that large concern, and so remained until June i, 1892, when Mr. Pate
sold his interest in this firm to Mr. Chase and retired from the partnership which had
continued so long and so successfully. His activity, experience, intelligence and hon-
orable dealings, combined with the same qualities in his partners, had been instrumental
in making comfortable fortunes for each of them. Soon after his retirement from the
old partnership, Mr. Pate established a new and extensive yard, equipped with a large
credit and valuable stock, at the corner of Fisk and Twenty-second Streets, where he
is now busy with a large patronage.
Mr. Pate's active mind and body has led him into other enterprises. In August,
1890, he was instrumental in organizing the Chicago & Tampa Improvement Company,
incorporated with a capital of $500,000, of which he was elected president and still
officiates in that capacity. This company owns 120,000 acres of valuable land in
Hillsboro County, Fla., where they are opening up many beautiful homes. It is a
great resort for wealthy Northern families who wish a winter home in a warmer
climate, and the company offers special inducements to all such home-seekers. The
orange groves in the company's district have already become extensive, and the future
will show the importance of this locality as an orange harvest field.
In 1889 Mr. Pate was elected president of the Lumberman's Exchange, a mark of
high respect from his fellow-lumbermen for his ability and distinguished character.
He filled the position much to his credit and to the satisfaction of his fellow-members of
the Exchange. He assisted in organizing the Industrial Bank at Twentieth Street and
Blue Island Avenue, and is one of the stockholders. He is unquestionably one of
Chicago's most prominent and honorable business men. He is sociable, and there-
fore a pleasant companion. His life has been a busy one, but he has shown the pre-
vailing characteristics of the English race in fighting his way forward, and with a
praiseworthy ambition to aim at the highest mark. Starting in life a poor boy, with
little education and with his mother and his younger brothers and sisters dependent
upon him for support, he bent all his energies to the task and steadily rose, through
all opposition, until he now occupies one of the most conspicuous and reputable
positions in this great city of eminent self-made men. He worked only a few years
ago on the river docks as a common laborer, studied only a short time ago, at night,
in order to fit himself for book-keeping and business, but all these trials brought out
the best that was in him, and he became thoroughly practical, self-reliant, thought-
ful, observant, and soon was a master of the lumber trade. He deserves high credit
for his fine success in life, the legitimate result of honest effort faithfully applied, in a
conscientious regard for the rights of his fellow-man, while asking no more from them
20
422 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
than he was willing to accord as their due, and while never failing to read the signs of
the times, and to shape his business with a wise perception of the many changes
through which the lumber trade has passed since his first connection with it, and for
his upright career as a citizen and a business man.
S. K. Martin. For strict adherence to business and the maintenance of business
rules, for well-known and unswerving integrity, for thoughtful investigation and
praiseworthy and persistent industry, for the fact of his being purely and absolutely self-
made, and for having accumulated a large fortune by honorable methods in less than
half a lifetime, S. K. Martin, of the S. K. Martin Lumber Company, deserves as much
credit as any other business man of the city. However, no one but the thoughtless
person will conclude that this can be accomplished except by long and persistent
study, with the addition, maybe, of many a sleepless night. In a city like Chicago,
where all has been bustle and rush since the commencement where rival dealers were
crowding each other to the wall in the effort to outwit their fellows and gain the lead-
ing trade and thereby make the largest fortune a man who could come here and face
this restless crowd of bread-winners and money-getters, who could calmly and delib-
erately, without particular excitement or stir, meet all rivals and, by sheer steadiness
and force of character, will, and unflinching determination, rise steadily above all the
others and amass the largest fortune, deserves and should receive the greatest dis-
tinction. This is just the kind of a business man S. K. Martin has been. Always
steady and cool under perplexing business situations, studying the surroundings with
unperturbed demeanor, watchful and wary lest some ambitious rival should capture
the trade upon which he had fixed his attention, he has been unquestionably the
shrewdest and most conservative dealer the great lumber trade of Chicago has yet
produced. Whether as the manager of a new and small concern he was endeavoring
to place on a safe and firm foundation, or as the director of a gigantic and complex
business with an enormous trade scattered over a score of States, he has shown the
same keen insight, the same breadth of mind, the same force of character, the same
industry, and the same honesty and conservatism.
Like hundreds of Chicago's greatest and most successful business men, he had a
humble beginning, for he was born and reared upon a farm in Ulster County, N. Y.
His birth occurred in the year 1837, n ' s parents being James and Rebecca (Klump)
Martin, respected citizens of the Empire State. As a youth he spent his summers at
hard work upon the farm and his winters in attending the district school near his
father's residence. At the age of eighteen years he was permitted to begin the battle
of life for himself, and accordingly came out West and began to teach school in Rock
County, Wis., near Beloit, his object being to secure money with which to complete
his education. After teaching several terms and carefully saving his money, he took
the full course at Beloit College, graduating with honor, succeeding which he con-
tinued to teach for three years. In 1865 he came to Chicago and accepted a position
THE MANUFACTURING .INTERESTS. 423
as book-keeper for Houghton Bros. & Benton, lumber dealers, with whom he remained
for one year. By this time, with what he had saved from his wages as teacher, he had
accumulated several hundred dollars, and now he determined to make a brave attempt
to better his condition, and accordingly he entered into the lumber business as one of
the firm of Babcock, Martin & Co., composed of W. S. Babcock, S. K. Martin, and S.
V. Babcock, with yards at Twenty-second and Lumber Streets. This firm continued
to do a large, successful and steadily increasing business until 1870, when Mr. Martin
established a yard of his own at the old stand, the Babcocks continuing at an adjoin-
ing yard as Babcock Brothers. Mr. Martin's trade, from the start, was large and
profitable, due mainly to his energy, industry, and sterling honesty. In 1875 he
removed to Throop Street, and, in 1879, when he removed to his present quarters,
his trade had grown to enormous proportions and spread over many States. This was
an important period for Mr. Martin, for it gave him his greatest and most valuable
experience and laid the foundation of his fortune and his reputable name. In 1879 he
removed his yards to Lincoln Street and Blue Island Avenue, and here he has since
remained. In 1884 his firm was incorporated as The S. K. Martin Lumber Company,
with Mr. Martin as president, Arthur Gourley, vice-president, Edward Mines, secretary
and treasurer. Mr. Gourley had been a faithful employe of Mr. Martin for fourteen
years and Mr. Hines for eight years, and they were rewarded by this promotion. At
present the company is known under the same name the S. K. Martin Lumber Com-
pany with S. K. Martin president and treasurer, Wilton B. Martin, vice-president, and
Elmer B. Martin, secretary. They handle enormous quantities of dry lumber, lath,
kiln-dried shingles, sash, doors, blinds, etc., and are one of the largest lumber houses
in this city. The high success of the house is directly attributable to the excellent
business qualifications of S. K. Martin. He started with nothing save a determination
to succeed, and, having ever been on the watch for business openings of promise, he
has never waited for opportunity or fortune to knock the second time at his door, but
has promptly taken advantage of every chance to rise higher in wealth and reputable
citizenship. In many respects he is a unique figure among Chicago's business men,
but his high character and honesty are never questioned. A fire (incendiary), the
most destructive with which the lumber yards of Chicago have ever been afflicted,
broke out in the company's yard on August 19, 1894, involving a loss of half a million
of dollars, but the company, nothing daunted, at once began the accumulation of
stock, and were soon in position again to compete with their neighbors in the trade.
As an index to the firm, unyielding, independent character which has ever marked his
career, it is related of Mr. Martin that while employed as a book-keeper he was one
day ordered by his employer to go upon the dock and assist in shoving lumber. His
reply was characteristic of the man : " When I am obliged to seek employ as a laborer
I will try faithfully to perform my duty as a laborer; when employed as a book-keeper
my proper place is at the desk. My position in your office is at your disposal, sir. I have
424 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
aspirations higher than those of a dock walloper." And to his credit be it said that
in his dealings with employes, Mr. Martin has always enjoyed the reputation of one
who encouraged young men to seek the higher, rather than the lower level of their
occupation. Mr. Martin's earlier aspirations would have led him into the legal pro-
fession, but the preliminary studies convinced him that it would not be to his taste,
and he wisely concluded that success in life lay only in the choice of an occupation
into which he could throw all the energy and interest of a vigorous mind and a
healthy body. His success in the lumber business, the position of influence and the
honorable name which he enjoys, attest the wisdom of his final choice.
He is a director in the Union National Bank, one of the strongest moneyed institu-
tions of the city, and is a member of the Calumet Club and of the Lumberman's
Exchange. He resides at 2600 Michigan Avenue, where he has a comfortable home.
He was united in marriage in 1866 to Miss Hattie A. Babcock, and by her has five liv-
ing children, viz.: Elmer B., Wilton B., Mariam Eloise, Walter I., and S. K., Jr.
Francis Henry Markham. Among the healthiest results of the establishment of
religious and political liberty in these United States has been the ready adaptation
of the oppressed and down-trodden of other lands to assimilation with American ideas
and American enterprise, calling out the powers of mind, and the latent energies, which
had under monarchical forms of government met with naught but repression. Some
of the brightest and best minds to be found in the political, legal, manufacturing and
mercantile circles of the nation, are found among the naturalized citizens of the land,
and more particularly among their immediate descendants, who, educated in Ameri-
can schools, have imbibed American ideas and are forward in American enterprise.
The subject of this sketch was the son of an intelligent Irishman who emigrated
from that down-trodden land in which the suppression of individuality and the
domination of the landlord class, forbade the possibility of rising above a condition
of serfdom. Reaching America in the early " forties," he settled at Lewistown,
N. Y., where Francis Henry was born in 1847. 1 '852 the family removed to Chicago,
and here the boy was given the advantages of the common and parochial schools of this
city, graduating at St. Patrick's School, then located on Randolph Street, between
Desplaines and Halsted Streets. At the age of fourteen Francis took a notion to try
the world for himself, and, being large for his age, found employ for a few months
on the railroad, but, this not being to his liking, he learned the printer's trade, acting
as " devil " and press hand and finally at the case, but in 1864 he was offered a position
in the lumber yard of Martin Ryerson (then under the management of Read A. Will-
iams), on Beach Street, foot of DeKoven, where he made himself useful in the various
requirements of the office and yard until the business was purchased (1867) by Porter,
Fuller & Co., with which firm he remained until 1874, when it was succeeded by
Benton & Fuller, with whom he continued for the succeeding three years and until
its dissolution in 1877. When Mr. Fuller removed to Lock Street, in 1879, Mr. Mark-
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 425
ham was taken into partnership, and the firm of S. R. Fuller & Co. then established,
and which in 1887 removed to Thirty-eighth andUllman Streets, still continues at the
latter location. Mr. Markham has filled every position in the yard business of Chicago
with the exception of book-keeper, and his long continuance with Mr. Fuller (since
1867) is proof positive of his proficiency and reliability as one of the stanch and
standard lumbermen of the city.
Mr. Markham was married in 1869 to Miss Harriet J. Bell, of Chicago, and has
two sons, Robert and Frank, the former of whom is in the employ of the firm.
Gen. Milo S. Hascall was born in Le Roy, Genesee County, N. Y., August 5, 1829,
a son of Amasa and Phcebe (Smith) Hascall, natives of Massachusetts. His father
occupied various official positions. Emigrating to New York, he located at Canan-
daigua and subsequently at Le Roy, Genesee County. The boyhood of Gen. Hascall
was passed on the farm and in the common schools. At the age of sixteen he
attended an academy and at seventeen, early in 1847, came West to Goshen, Ind.,
where three of his brothers then resided. Chauncey S. Hascall was then engaged in
trade in Goshen and the General entered his store as a clerk. This engagement
lasted but three months, when he taught school for one term. He went to West
Point in June, 1848, and remained there four years, graduating June 16, 1852, four-
teenth in a class that entered ninety-six and graduated forty-three, a record of which
any West Point student might well be proud. His class embraced Gen. Sheridan,
Gen. Henry W. Slocum (of Brooklyn), Gen. D. S. Stanley, Jerome N, Bonaparte (the
Baltimore member of that illustrious family), George L. Hartsuff, Gen. Charles R.
Woods, Marshall T. Polk, Alex. D. McCook, Gen. William Myers, Gen. A. V. Kautz
and Gen. George A. Crook. After his graduation Gen. Hascall was brevetted second
lieutenant in the Third Artillery and stationed at Fort Adams, R. I., where he
remained about one year. He was then promoted to a second lieutenancy in the
Second Artillery and stationed at Old Point Comfort, Va., where he remained until
1853, when he resigned. He returned to Goshen (Ind.) after leaving the army, and
traveled for some time thereafter. For one year he was a contractor on the Northern
Indiana & Michigan Southern Railroad, after which he studied and eventually began
the practice of law. During his law practice he was elected prosecuting attorney for
the Court of Common Pleas. In the fall of 1859 he was elected clerk of the Elkhart
Circuit Court, which office he retained till the spring of 1861, when the war of the
Rebellion broke out and called him to his country's defense. Gen. Hascall was one
of the first volunteers to respond to the call for troops and was elected captain of the
first company raised in Goshen. This company arrived at Indianapolis too late, how-
ever, to be mustered into either of the six regiments required by the State, and was
obliged to disband, but, having learned that Capt. Hascall was a West Pointer, Gov.
Morton appointed him captain and aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Thomas A.
Morris, in which capacity he organized and drilled six regiments in Camp Morton,
preparatory to their taking the field.
426 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
In June, 1861, he accompanied Gen. Morris to West Virginia upon the first active
movement of the war, and was in the fight at Philippi, the first engagement of the war
after that at Fort Sumter. The next day after that event he was appointed colonel
of the Seventeenth Indiana Regiment. Returning to Indianapolis, he bore, on the
way, Gen. Morris' report to Gen. McClellan, and bore also the flag captured at
Philippi. His regiment, mustered for three years, arrived at Parkersburg, W. Va.,
about the time of the first battle of Bull Run. After some service in western Mary-
land the regiment was ordered to Grafton, W. Va., and thence, via Philippi and Beverly,
to Elkwater and Cheat Mountain, where it remained until the winter of 1861, partici-
pating in all the engagements about Elkwater, Huttonville, and Cheat Mountain.
When the body of John A. Washington of Mount Vernon fame, who was killed by Col.
Hascall's regiment at Elkwater, was borne back to the enemy, Col. Hascall received
the first flag of truce sent during the war by Gen. Robert E. Lee. In December, 1861,
at Louisville, Ky., he was placed in command of a brigade consisting of the Fif-
teenth and Seventeenth Indiana Regiments and the Sixth and Forty-third Ohio Regi-
ments, and assigned to Nelson's division. Three months later he was transferred
to a brigade in Gen. Wood's division, and commanded it at Nashville and Shiloh.
In April, 1862, he participated in the battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing, and at the
close of the engagement, when Gen. Beauregard requested permission to bury the
Confederate dead on the field, received the first flag of truce sent during the war
by that general.
April 20, 1862, he was without solicitation promoted to brigadier-general of volun-
teers, and thereafter, until the fall of 1864, was actively engaged in all the operations
of the armies of the West, most of the time in command of a division, and at times
temporarily in command of an army corps. At the battle of Stone River he com-
manded the forces on the left after 10 o'clock of the first day, and was more instru-
mental than any other officer present in preventing the defeat on the right from
becoming an utter rout of the Union army. After this battle he was sent to Indian-
apolis to superintend the work of returning deserters from the army in the States of
Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. While so engaged he was transferred from the Army of
the Cumberland to the Army of the Ohio, and placed in command of the district of
Indiana; during his command there Vallandigham was arrested, the Chicago Times and
numerous "Copperhead" papers in Indiana were suppressed, and the great meeting of
rebel sympathizers in Indianapolis, organized to seize the State arms and turn the
State over to John Morgan, was foiled in its design. Later, in command of a division
of the Twenty-third Army Corps, Gen. Hascall went with the army into east Tennessee
and took an active part in the capture of Knoxville, and afterward in the siege of that
city when Longstreet was attempting its capture. When Sherman moved upon
Atlanta, after Longstreet's repulse, Gen. Hascall marched at the head of his division,
conspicuous in all the engagements that resulted in the capture of that city, his divis-
-s
*!
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THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 427
ion planting the first batteries around the doomed town and delivering the first shot
and shell into the city of Atlanta. At the close of the war Gen. Hascall, in connection
with John W. Irwin, Esq., engaged in the banking business at Goshen, Ind., under the
name of the "Salem Bank," and became one of the most active and successful men in
that city. In 1879 Messrs. Hascall & Irwin began the manufacture of hardwood
lumber on a large scale with John H. Lesh, under the firm name of John H. Lesh &
Co. Since 1889 the business has been conducted under the firm name of Irwin &
Hascall. It comprehends the manufacture of large amounts of black walnut and other
hardwood lumber, which is sold extensively in Germany, Great Britain, France,
Australia and other foreign countries. In 1890 Gen. Hascall withdrew his interest in
the bank at Goshen and took up his residence in Chicago. Besides attending to the
lumber industries at East Chicago, already referred to, he has, since locating in the
World's Fair City, been actively interested in real estate matters, having been one of
the projectors of the New Lexington Hotel and other important real estate interests.
In politics Gen. Hascall is an ardent Republican, and during some campaigns has
made numerous telling speeches in behalf of his party. In 1884 he was one of the
electors-at-large for Mr. Blaine. He is a member of the Illinois Commandery of the
Loyal Legion, and takes an active interest in its meetings and the conduct of its
affairs. In 1886 he was married to Mrs. Rose S. Miller, of Canton, Ohio, who was
formerly Miss Rose Schwartz, of that city.
Joseph Badenoch, Jr. In the southeastern part of Inverness Shire, Scotland, is an
extensive Highland district of unsurpassed loveliness, which from time immemorial
has been known as Badenoch. Under what circumstances the name was first applied to
this beautiful woodland range cannot now be determined, for the term itself appears
far back in the mists of ancient legendary history, before the removal of the seat of
government from the upper country resulted in the division of Scotland into High-
lands and Lowlands. The Scottish succession had already involved the barons in
many bloody contests for power, which the English monarchs had long vainly
endeavored permanently and satisfactorily to settle. In the " Barons' War " during
the reign of Alexander III. (1249 and 1285), John Comyn, of Badenoch, Robert
Bruce and John Baliol, barons of great prominence and influence, bore a conspicuous
part, and at the battle of Lewes the first-named was taken prisoner. John Comyn was
early buchan and justiciary of Scotland, and, for his distinguished services, the great
Highland district of Badenoch was given to his son Walter. In 1302, when Edward I.
of England was engaged in the conquest of Scotland, his general, Sir John Segrave,
fought a bloody battle of doubtful issue with John (The Red) Comyn, of Badenoch,
who was a nephew of Baliol, later the successful claimant for the Scottish succession.
John Baliol, though successful through the favor of Edward I., proved impotent, and
Robert Bruce forcibly assumed the reins of power, but in his way stood Minor John (The
Red) Comyn, of Badenoch, nephew of Baliol, and thus in the direct line of succession.
428 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Accordingly, on February 10, 1306, in the Church of Friars, at Dumfries, Robert met
Minor John, and slew him before the high altar. The owners, therefore, of the dis-
trict of Badenoch were royal claimants for the throne of Scotland. At a little later
period a prominent figure in history was Alexander the Wolf, of Badenoch, fourth
son of Robert II. and brother of Robert III. the reigning king. This much of Scot-
tish history is given to show the probable origin of the surname of Badenoch, now so
well known to the people of Chicago in the persons of Joseph, Jr., and John J.
Unquestionably this family derives its name from the district of Badenoch, in
the county of Inverness, where its ancestors were members of one or more of the
clans of that rugged region, and it is not improbable that it is directly descended from
the ancient owners of the district, for surnames were often acquired from that source.
If this be true, it is more than probable that the family has a noble, if not a royal,
ancestry. Joseph Badenoch, Sr., a blacksmith by trade, first came to the United
States in 1855, and two years later brought his family over, locating in New York City,
until 1866. His wife was formerly Helen Tough, and each was born in Scotland, the
ancient abiding-place of both families. Upon his arrival in Chicago in 1866, Joseph
Badenoch, Sr., resumed his trade of blacksmithing and has continued the same down
to the present day. He is a member of the firm of Badenoch & Jaffray, horseshoers,
at No. 49 North Desplaines Street, and has acquired a comfortable fortune and an
honored name. He has retired from active duty, and himself and wife, now well
advanced in years, live with their son Joseph, Jr. Their family consisted of three
children: Jennie, wife of David S. Jaffray, junior member of the firm of Badenoch &
Jaffray; Joseph, Jr., and John J.
Joseph Badenoch, Jr., was born in Banff shire, Scotland, June 2, 1849, a d was
brought by his parents to the United States in 1857, and came to Chicago in 1866.
Much of his education was received in New York City, extending from his eighth to
his seventeenth year, save his period of service for the Government. When the war
broke out in 1861, being then nearly twelve years of age, he tried to enlist in the
Federal army, but, of course, was too young and was refused admission to the ranks,
though, being still determined, he went to Port Royal, S. C., where he served three
years in the quartermaster's department. This one act is the key to the subsequent
success of Mr. Badenoch. Though but a child it showed his bravery, determination
and intelligence, qualities of character stamped upon him by centuries of renowned
and sturdy Scottish ancestry and since brought out by his career thus far as a busi-
ness man and citizen in this city. In 1866 he came to Chicago and joined his
father's family, which had preceded him here a few months.
On April 5, 1867, he secured employment at $1.50 per day in the shingle mill of
C. Mears & Co. at the foot of West Harrison Street, and was assigned the task
of loading wagons with shingles for the city yards and for shipment from the depots,
and the further duty of keeping an account of the quantity of shingles thus transferred
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 429
or shipped. Thus he remained faithfully at hard work until the spring of 1871, receiv-
ing in the meantime several promotions for intelligent and conscientious service,
after the first year being put in charge of the large yards of the company at Twenty-
second and Morgan Streets. For two years succeeding this he occupied a similar
position with S. K. Martin. In 1873, for about six months, he conducted a feed and
grain store at the corner of Washington and Desplaines Streets, but was forced to give
it up on account of his wife's ill health, whereupon he went to Waterman, DeKalb
County, 111., and opened a general lumber, hay and grain business. Here he handled
large quantities of hay (which he baled) and grain, all of which was shipped to Chi-
cago. He bought large quantities of lumber in Chicago and retailed it in Waterman
and vicinity. He did a highly profitable business for three years, and would have
continued longer but for the misfortunes of destructive wind-storms, which wrecked
his plant three successive times, entailing the loss of all he had and leaving him
several thousand dollars in debt. During this period he was not discouraged, for each
time except the last, when he was impoverished, he promptly rebuilt and continued
the business. Without any capital he entered Chicago and accepted a position as trav-
eling salesman for A. R. Gray & Co., lumber dealers, with whom he remained
two years. In 1878 the firm of Sawyer, Goodman & Co. having been organized,
he was given the responsible position of general manager and officiated in that
capacity satisfactorily until i88i,and during this period, for one year while Mr. Good-
man was in Europe, he had exclusive management of their large interests, exhibiting
an unusual talent for profitable and complicated business transactions.
In the spring of 1881 the Bogue-Badenoch Company was incorporated, composed
of United States Senator Philetus Sawyer, his son, Edgar P. Sawyer, James B. and
William O. Goodman, Charles H. Bogue and Joseph Badenoch, Jr., in which corpora-
tion Mr. Badenoch owned one-fourth interest and of which he was elected treasurer.
They did a very large and profitable wholesale business at the corner of Lumber and
Union Streets for three years, at which time Mr. Badenoch found it wise to sell out
and leave the concern, as he saw a better opportunity elsewhere. He had taken up
his residence at Englewood in 1878 and had witnessed the already wonderful growth
of the city in that direction, and realized that in a few years it would spread until that
suburb was populous and rich. These views induced him to sell his interest in the
business of the Bogue-Badenoch Company in 1884 and, with the proceeds, and asso-
ciated with his brother John J., he bought ground at State and Sixty-fourth Streets,
Englewood, and erected a large planing mill and sash and door factory, building up
one of the largest trades in this line in Chicago.
In November, 1893, Mr. Badenoch organized the Badenoch Lumber & Coal Com-
pany, the stock of which is all held within his own family, and of which he is the
president and his son, George, secretary and treasurer. Their planing mill, lumber
and coal yards are situated at the corner of State and Sixty-first Streets, where they
do a large business in mill-work, lumber and coal.
430 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
Mr. Badenoch is a typical Chicago man, possessing unbounded faith in the
future of this city. In 1885 he predicted that Chicago at the census of 1890 would
show a population of over 1,000,000; the census enumerators proved the accuracy of
his prediction. It is now his opinion that the census of 1900 will show a population
here of two and a half millions.
In 1888, still impressed with the future southward extension of Chicago, he
secured a franchise from the towns of Lake and Hyde Park for the purpose of organiz-
ing and operating an electric-lighting plant therein. Two-thirds of the stock of this
corporation, " The Englewood Electric Light Company," was taken by Badenoch
Brothers and one-third by Charles T. Page, and the latter was elected secretary and
treasurer. Their power is obtained from the engines of the planing mill, where
economy is observed in the use of shavings and sawdust for fuel. They started with
400 incandescent lights in Englewood and Hyde Park, but from time to time increased
this number until now they operate 12,000. Their lights may be seen from Thirty-
ninth to Seventy-ninth Streets and from Center Avenue to the World's Fair grounds.
So fast has been the call for this lighting service that with difficulty have they been
able to meet the demand.
Mr. Badenoch has already acquired fame as a leader of all public movements to
promote the moral, social and political welfare of Englewood and Chicago. He has
often been solicited to become the nominee of his party (Republican) for some
prominent position, but up to date has persistently refused, though, however, he
represented this congressional district as a candidate for presidential elector in 1892.
No man in Chicago has shown a higher degree of public spirit, for he promptly con-
nects himself with every movement to elevate morals and society. Since he was
seventeen years old he has been a member of the Baptist Church, in which, and in
the Sunday-school of which, he has been useful, prominent and very active. Since
1884 he has been one of the trustees of Englewood Baptist Church and was a mem-
ber of the building committee when the new church at the corner of Stewart and
Englewood Avenues was built, the building and grounds costing $8o,OOO. Mrs. Baden-
och and three sons, Rowland N., George and Charles H., and three daughters, Jessie,
Helen and Josephine, are also members of this church. Mr. Badenoch is a member
of the Normal Park Home and the Harvard Clubs, where his tall figure is often seen
and his genial presence and conversation are enjoyed. He served as president of the
Home Club during two terms.
Mr. Badenoch was united in marriage February 2, 1870, to Miss Elizabeth Hill,
a native of Canada and daughter of Nathaniel and Jane (Small) Hill, and to them
have been born ten children, of whom nine are now living, viz.: Rowland N. (who is
in the real estate business), George, Charles H., Jessie, Helen, Josephine, Arthur Hill,
Benjamin Harrison and Margaret E. John J. died in infancy.
Mr. Badenoch possesses all the characteristics of the " canny Scot." He has a
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 431
rugged and powerful form, capable of enduring any amount of fatigue. Like his race,
he is thrifty, economical, industrious, enterprising, moral and intelligent, keenly alive
to all reforms, a friend of both labor and capital, with a mind and character well
poised and equipped; public spirited, patriotic, friendly, charitable; in short, a broad-
gauged man of great use to society and a stanch supporter of popular government.
William E. Kelley. This gentlemanly business man of Chicago hails from the
" Pine Tree " State, the land of immense forests and beautiful lakes, whose rugged
coasts, lined with rocky and picturesque islands, is washed by the sullen waves of the
old Atlantic. Down there in the town with the dreadful name of Passadumkeag, on
the 2;th of August, 1850, he first greeted the light. He is the only son of Asa P. and
Mary A. (Hodgkins) Kelley, an extended and well-merited sketch of whom will be
found elsewhere in this work. William E. passed his youth uneventfully, acquiring a
fair education at the district schools and later at Monson Academy, in the town of
Monson, Mass. Succeeding this, he attended the famous Yale College and supple-
mented his academic education with a fine classical polish, and was thus ready to step
out into the world and question his horoscope for himself. He was now twenty-one
years of age, full of hope and ambition, blessed with good health, a robust constitu-
tion and a well-equipped mind, and success stood beckoning with fairy hand to him
from the future. He came to Chicago, where his parents had moved in 1862, and at
once entered the employ of Kelley, Wood & Co., lumber dealers, as a clerk, their
yards then being at Twenty-second Street and Center Avenue. He served in the
general capacities of shipping-clerk, book-keeper and general office man, learning
rapidly all the details of the business necessary to give him a thorough knowledge of
the trade. Here it was, from the start, that he showed his fitness for managing a large
and complicated business, entailing a heavy responsibility, and large losses in case of
mistake. This was the formative period of his career, when the dreams of the student
were replaced by the practical thoughts of the self-reliant and aggressive man of busi-
ness, watchful and alert, ready to grasp any clew to honorable success. To make his
knowledge of the lumber business more complete and practical, he spent an entire
winter in the lumber camps of Michigan, participating in the active logging opera-
tions of the men, and enjoying their free and ready life. His object from the com-
mencement, was to learn every remote detail of this pursuit, so that in future he could
make careful estimates and calculations, and thus anticipate every cent of cost or
profit. This mastering of the business is the key to his success. Every other depart-
ment has been just as thoroughly studied, so that it is unquestionably true that no
lumberman of the city has a more comprehensive knowledge of the business than
Mr. Kelley.
He continued to serve faithfully as a clerk until 1873, when he was admitted as a
partner in the firm of Kelley, Rathborne & Co., composed of Asa P. Kelley, William
E. Kelley and Joseph Rathborne, and at once became active manager of the concern,
4*2 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
and so continued until 1891, when the corporation of A. P. & W. E. Kelley Company
was dissolved by the retirement of the elder Mr. Kelley. When W. E. Kelley assumed
active management, in 1873, the company had already a large and rapidly increasing
trade, having been placed on a firm foundation by the excellent business qualities of
Asa P. Kelley. But after 1873 the latter began to travel extensively in this and
foreign countries, and the principal responsibility was placed upon the shoulders of
William E. Kelley. Now at once was shown the great value of his absolute mastery
of the trade. Every branch of the enormous concern was stimulated with new life by
the force of his character, his comprehensive knowledge and his aggressive and stir-
ring operations. The trade steadily expanded and enlarged under his intelligent and
reputable methods until it had reached enormous proportions and yielded a satis-
factory balance on the right side of the ledger. During the period from 1873 to 1891,
the most important era in the history of Chicago, he was one of the most active, brainy,
enterprising and public-spirited of the local business men, and firmly established his
reputation as one of the ablest operators in the industrial field.
In 1886 he established a branch yard at Tonawanda, N. Y., where he has yet a
large yard and profitable trade. He is also a member of the lumber firm of Bradley
& Kelley, of Milwaukee, composed of Edward Bradley and William E. Kelley, with
large mills at McNaughton, Wis., and a branch railroad equipped with engine and
cars. Their enormous planing mill there is one of the largest in the West, and turns
out immense quantities of dressed lumber, lath, shingles, etc. These mills are won-
derful results of the art of lumber production and are equipped with every mechan-
ical device or invention and every adjunct necessary to make their operation vast and
profitable. Mr. Kelley is a director in the Land, Log & Lumber Company, of Mil-
waukee, which corporation perhaps controls more pine land than any other company
in the world. He is also senior member of the firm of William E. Kelley & Co., with
general offices at 901 Chamber of Commerce building, and with mills in Michigan and
Wisconsin, from which they wholesale large quantities of lumber, lath, shingles, etc.
Whatever tends to improve the lumber interests of Chicago finds in Mr. Kelley a
stanch supporter. He was vice-president of the old Lumberman's Exchange from
1882 to 1886, and did a great deal to make that organization useful and popular.
He was united in marriage September 14, 1876, to Miss Margaret A. Vail, a native
of Chicago and daughter of Asa Vail, for many years a prominent real estate dealer,
but now deceased. They have four children: William R., Asa R., Eleanor V. and
Margaret H. Mr. Kelley and wife are members of the First Presbyterian Church.
He is a Republican and a member of the Union League, Calumet, Washington Park
and Chicago Athletic Clubs, and finds enough spare time from his extensive business
duties to make a strong impress upon the select circles of society in which he moves.
Asa Page Kelley. The life of Asa Page Kelley, like that of many others of
Chicago's most active, able and successful business men, had been full of vicissitudes
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 433
and changes of fortune, but at last, toward the close, brought both fortune and a high
reputation. The last thirty years have witnessed the extraordinary development of
Chicago, and during this marvelous period Mr. Kelley had done not a little to extend
the commerce and reputation of the city and to make it the foremost mart in the
world of trade. When he came here in 1862 he had but little with which to engage in
business, but that little, owing to his eventful earlier experience, was invested to the
best advantage and soon began to grow. In Mr. Kelley's life, as in all our lives, there
had been important business events, which, from their bearing upon his subsequent
career, served both as an index to his character and as a key to his success. It will be
necessary, therefore, to go back and learn something of his earlier history before the
logical conclusion of his subsequent honorable career can be accurately measured.
He was a native of the " Granite State," and was born in the town of Conway,
Carroll County, on the 2Qth of December, 1822. He was, therefore, at his death,
almost seventy-two years of age at the end of the span of life allotted to man by the
psalmist but his eye was yet bright, his hand steady, his step firm, though Father Time
had touched his hair with the frosts of that old age, which is always venerable and very
often desirable. A pure life of worthy citizenship and a conscience cleared and bright-
ened by unswerving honesty had left him well preserved in body and spirit at the age of
three-score years and ten. His parents were farmers and people of excellent habits
and reputation, and both were natives of New Hampshire, having been reared under
the fatherly protection of the Manitou of the White Mountains. They were David P.
and Anna (Sterling) Kelley, the father dying in 1864, aged eighty-four years, at
Davenport, Iowa, whither he had removed in 1860, and the mother dying at the same
place and same age in 1879. Of their family of nine children only four are now liv-
ing: David, Asa P., Samuel C. and Carlton H. The first named is now president and
senior member of the well-known heavy hardware firm of Kelley, Maus & Co., of this
city, while both Samuel C. and Carlton H. are prosperous farmers living near Musca-
tine, Iowa.
Asa P. was reared on the farm of his father in New Hampshire and received the
foundation of his education at the district schools in the neighborhood, but finished
at Fryeburg Academy, in the town of Fryeburg, Me. This institution was under the
control of able and experienced instructors, who imparted a sound and practical edu-
cation to their pupils. As a consequence Asa P. Kelley, in the year 1845, was well
fitted for the active duties of life, and accordingly began for himself as a civil
engineer, for which profession he had been educated. After pursuing the same for
three years he abandoned it and opened a general store at Passadumkeag, Me., and
conducted the same successfully for eight years, and in connection with his store
handled large quantities of logs, buying the stalwart pine timber on the ground, cut-
ting the saw-logs therefrom, and rafting them down the Penobscot River to market.
During his eight years as a merchant and lumberman he made a snug fortune. How-
434 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
ever, in 1855, he met with a severe reverse. It was a prosperous year with him, and
he had on the river bank the largest quantity of logs ever taken by him in one year
from the woods. The river was very low, but the logs were rolled in, boomed and
rafted, and started on their way down stream. A number of very heavy rains came
on suddenly, raising the river very high and bringing down upon his rafts large quan-
tities of logs from above. His booms were broken, his rafts swept down stream, his
logs scattered for miles along the river and lost, and nearly all the accumulations of
previous years were thus destroyed. He honorably notified all of his creditors of his
situation and turned over his store and everything he had to them, though this was
against their protest, for they had the highest confidence in his integrity and ability
to build up again and urged him to continue as he was, even offering to lend him
money to enable him to start again. But he thought it best to make a change, and,
after giving his creditors all the property he had, and assuring them that some day, if
fortune favored him, all accounts would be honorably paid in full, he came West and
went to Davenport, Iowa, to meet his brother David, who had just returned from Cali-
fornia with considerable money. He at once formed a partnership with his brother, and
together they engaged in the pork-packing business and in buying and shipping to
Chicago and New York, large quantities of live stock. They made money rapidly, and,
by 1862, when they came to Chicago, they had accumulated a comfortable fortune.
'In 1862, when they engaged in the cattle and grain commission business in this
city, the nation was in the throes of a great war, the stringency of money matters due
to a depreciated currency already oppressed all markets, and the business outlook
was dark and uncertain. But, like many others, they had the greatest confidence in
the stability of the Government, and accordingly, without hesitation, branched out in
the new field. During the remainder of the war they furnished large numbers of cat-
tle for the Government, to be used by the troops in the field, and while thus engaged
and until 1867 the firm was known as A. P. & D. Kelley. They made money rapidly,
both through their own business sagacity and through the steady advance in the
price of live stock.
In 1863 Mr. Kelley, at the earliest date he felt himself able to do so, having con-
stantly kept in view his promise to his old creditors of 1855, boarded the train and
returned to Passadumkeag, Me. He called all his former creditors in and paid them
dollar for dollar and interest for all they had lost by reason of his failure. When it
is recollected that he settled with them in 1855 and was under no legal obligation to
do so again, his unusual and remarkable procedure will be better understood. But
this has been one of the chief characteristics in the business life of Mr. Kelley. He
considers a conscience debt just as binding upon him as a legal debt. There is not
one man in a thousand who would have done as he did. But this strict principle of
honesty, carried through his entire business career, gave to his firm a reputation sec-
ond to no other in this city and confers upon his name the highest renown.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS 435
In 1867 Mr. Kelley established the lumber firm of Kelley, Wood & Co., com-
posed of Asa P., David Kelley and George E. Wood, with yards located at Center
Avenue and Twenty-second Street. They did a large and prosperous business until
1873, when Messrs. David Kelley and G. E. Wood withdrew from the firm, whereupon
the new firm of Kelley, Rathborne & Co. was formed, composed of Asa P. Kelley,
William E. Kelley (his son), and Joseph Rathborne. They carried on the business
without change until 1876, when Mr. Rathborne retired, and then the house of "A. P.
& W. E. Kelley Company" was organized, comprising A. P. Kelley, president; W. E.
Kelley, treasurer, and A. E. Silverthorn, secretary. Thus they continued until 1891,
doing an enormous and profitable business, but at the latter date Asa P. Kelley
retired from active business and subsequently lived comparatively free from business
cares. He was largely interested in valuable timber lands of Wisconsin and Minnesota,
and owned extensive real estate properties in this city. He was a stockholder in the
Continental National Bank and a member of the Union League Club. He was a
Republican, and himself and wife were members of the First Presbyterian Church of
this city.
In September, 1847, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Mary A. Hodgkins,
widow of E. B. Hodgkins, who had two children by her first husband, as follows:
Abbie T., wife of George P. Whitcomb, an attorney by profession, and Fannie, wife of
A. D. Silverthorn, in the lumber business in this city. She presented Mr. Kelley with
three children: William E., one of the most prominent lumbermen of the city; Annie,
wife of William Ireland, who lives at Rochester, Minn., and Mary H., wife of W. B.
Shufeldt, a resident of Chicago. In 1871 Mr. Kelley built a beautiful residence at
2244 Calumet Avenue, where he lived in retirement, enjoying his ample fortune and
the high respect of all who knew him. His life was a varied and busy one, full of
lights and shadows, but replete with honest industry and with a steadfast Christian
philanthrophy. He was absolutely self-made and a splendid representative of the
ideal American citizen. His death occurred June 15, 1894, at Chicago, and he was
followed to the grave by a large number of his late business associates and citizens
who had known but to admire and respect his sterling qualities.
Louis Hutt. The lumber trade of Chicago is absolutely immense. Indeed,
Chicago justly enjoys the reputation of being the greatest lumber market in the world.
Lake navigation affords easy access to the vast and almost inexhaustible lumber
regions of Michigan and Wisconsin; while the twenty odd railroad lines which center
here stretch out their arms, like some great, artificial Briareus, into the almost limit-
less forests of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and other distant quarters, and
by cheap and rapid transit lay at the door of our lumber manufacturers the choicest
material that ever tempted the tooth of a saw or invited the whetted edge of a planer.
These advantages have attracted the attention and enlisted the abilities of live,
energetic, industrial firms, and to-day the lumber trade and correlative branches rank
436 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
as of the first magnitude. Among those occupying a position in the first rank is Mr.
Louis Hutt, a gentleman of pleasing address, whose honorable dealings, liberality and
thorough business qualifications have secured him a wide popularity in Chicago, which
has placed his name among the most prosperous and respectable of the city's business
men.
It maybe said of Mr. Hutt, also, that he is one of the most prominent of Chicago's
German-American citizens. Born in Wachlin, Mechlenburg-Schwerin, Germany, in 1833,
he has been a resident of Chicago since 1851. For two years he was employed by P. W.
Gates, then went to Michigan and engaged in the manufacture of lumber for the well
known house of Canfield on the Manistee River, remaining there until 1857, when he
returned to Chicago and entered the service of Sheppard, Sheriffs & Smith, with whom
he remained for about five years, when he bought horses and engaged in "teaming."
In 1866 he started a planing mill at the corner of Blackwell and Nineteenth Streets,
which he conducted five years, and then formed a partnership with James L. Johnson,
who had been his book-keeper, under the firm name of Hutt & Johnson. They began
business in 1873 at the corner of Seventeenth and Grove Streets and continued seven
years, at the expiration of which time Mr. Johnson died and Mr. Hutt purchased of
Mrs. Johnson her deceased husband's interest, which from an original investment of
$i,OOO had become, in the seven years, worth $40,000, and since that time he has been
sole proprietor of a business which has developed into one of the most important of
its kind in the city, its operations providing sale every year for products bringing in
a quarter of a million dollars.
This immense business has been built up by the individual efforts of Mr. Hutt,
who, in 1873, purchased a tract of land at the corner of Nineteenth and Grove Streets
for 840,000, and erected thereon his present planing mill, box, sash, door and blind
factory. In 1878 he bought the ground upon which now stands the Indiana Elevator
for $26,000, and sold it, upon condemnation, for $53,000. He also bought of R. P.
Derrickson, in 1879, ground for a lumber yard on Twenty-second Street, for $60,000,
which land is now occupied by the Soper Lumber Company. In 1880 he bought his
present lumber yard location for $85,000. In his mill, factory and lumber yard, and on
his vessel, he employs 135 men. The sailing vessel is worth $10,000, and is named
"Hattie Hutt." It is capable'of carrying about 275,000 feet of lumber. Mr. Hutt
handles about 15,000,000 feet of lumber, 4,000,000 shingles and 3,000,000 lath.
Mr. Hutt's standing as a citizen is high, and he has at different times been help-
fully identified with numerous leading movements, business and charitable. For a
long time he was one of the commissioners of Cook County, was appointed canal
commissioner for Illinois from Cook County, and has filled other important public
trusts. At the time of the Civil War he showed his devotion to the land of his adop-
tion by service as a private in Company E, Thirty-second Illinois Volunteers. He
has on several occasions been nominated to responsible positions on the Republican
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 437
ticket, notably as city treasurer, evidencing the high opinion in which he is held as a
man of capability, probity and honesty. Mr. Hutt is a man upon whom three-score
of years press lightly, and is active and enterprising, taking the same deep interest in
affairs, public and private, as in his youthful days, His name will be handed down
to posterity as that of one of the leading men prominent in the growth and develop-
ment of this great city.
W. D. Houghteling. William D. Houghteling has been a conspicuous member
of the lumber fraternity of Chicago from a date which entitles him to be included
among the pioneers of the trade. Born in 1819 at Geneva, N. Y., and enjoying the
advantages of a common-school education, which in those days was more practical
than ornamental, he remained upon his father's farm until he was twenty years of
age.
Young Houghteling soon after entered a general country store, where he re-
mained until 1844, when, removing to Chicago, he spent five years in the employ of,
and as a partner with,]. H. Dunham, the wholesale grocer, during which time he often
traveled with a horse and buggy through the northern part of Illinois, as far as Galena,
selling goods. From 1849 ne was f r eight years (until 1857) engaged in the forwarding
business, with warehouses on South Water Street, where the firm of Houghteling &
Shepard ran a line of packets on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, including the trans-
portation of lead from the Galena lead mines; grain and produce from St. Louis and
the West, to New York ; and railroad supplies and general merchandise from New York
to Western points. After this, for several years, the firm of Williams & Houghteling
did a large commission trade in grain, with offices at 210 South Water Street, the Board
of Trade being located at that time on the corner of South Water Street and Fifth
Avenue. About this time Mr. Houghteling was elected to the vice-presidency of the
Board of Trade.
In the year 1867 Mr. Houghteling formed a partnership with Francis B. Stock-
bridge, of Saugatuck, Mich., who was later, for many years, United States senator
from that State, and Otis R. Johnson, of the same place, both active but non-resident
partners, and the firm of W. D. Houghteling & Co. was formed for the transaction of
a general lumber business, which increased yearly in volume during the continuance
of the firm. In 1860 Mr. Houghteling was elected president of the (original) Lum-
bermen's Association of 1858-59, which was still in its infancy, being again honored
(under the reorganization) with the position in 1870-71, having served as vice-presi-
dent in 1869-70. In 1868 the house of Spalding, Houghteling & Johnson was estab-
lished (the partners being Jesse Spalding, W. D. Houghteling, Otis R. Johnson, H. H.
Porter and F. B. Stockbridge), and bought out the business of Spalding & Porter,
having saw-mills at Marinette, Wis., and a yard at Chicago. The business of this firm
continued until 1873, when it was incorporated as the Menominee River Lumber Com-
pany, of which Mr. Houghteling was elected first president, occupying that position until
21
438 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
1875. 1 ! 875-76, in connection with Messrs. Stockbridgeand Johnson, Mr. Houghtel-
ing organized the Mackinaw Lumber Company, and the Black River Lumber Com-
pany, with mills at St. Ignace and Black River on the upper peninsula of Michigan,
purchasing large tracts of timber land for their supply. Of these companies he was
the treasurer and Chicago representative until 1882, when he sold out his entire lumber
interests, with the exception of a few interior yards which he still owns. During all
these years the firm of W. D. Houghteling & Co. had continued in a wholesale and
commission lumber business.
In 1882 Mr. Houghteling retired from active business, possessed of a competency,
and now resides in the salubrious climate of Asheville, N. C., enjoying the fruit of an
active and useful life. During all his business career Mr. Houghteling was forward in
promoting the good of the city of his choice, taking a deep pride in all that concerned
its progress and advancement. He took an active part in all general endeavors on
the behalf of the citizens during the Civil War, to raise and equip troops and contrib-
ute to their health and general welfare. As a member of the Citizens' Association he
was actively concerned in the forwarding of all matters having for their end the good
of the city, the purity of the ballot and the advancement of the nation. He was for
nearly forty years connected with St. James" Episcopal Church, the first Episcopal
Church established in the Northwest, and was for several years a vestryman. He was
married in 1853 to Miss Marcia E. Stockbridge, a sister of Senator Stockbridge, whose
family had removed to Chicago in 1851 (the late senator being then a lumber merchant
of the young city), and still rejoices in the companionship of the wife of his youth
and of the two surviving children of the six with whom the union has been blessed, and
in the good wishes of the multitude of friends who hold him in the highest respect
and esteem.
James L. Houghteling. Among the young lumbermen who have left their
impress upon the later development of the Chicago lumber trade, as well as upon the
city generally, is James L. Houghteling, son of the old pioneer, William D. Hough-
teling.
He was born in Chicago in 1855 anc ^ received his early education in the common
schools of the city, supplemented by a course of study at Yale College, from which
he graduated with credit in 1876. During the following year he entered the office of
the Menominee River Lumber Company as a clerk, being in 1879 elected secretary of
the company, a position which he continued to hold until 1882, in which year he was
elected treasurer of the Mackinaw Lumber Company and of the Black River Lumber
Company, which position he continues to hold. He was also elected treasurer of the
Lumberman's Mining Company, at Iron Mountain, on the Menominee River, Michi-
gan, A. A. Carpenter being president of the company, which is engaged in mining the
superior quality of iron ore which was found to underlie some of the pine lands of the
Menominee River.
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 439
In January, 1885, Mr. Houghteling became a member of the banking firm of Pea-
body, Houghteling & Co., dealing largely in Chicago mortgages and other evidences
of indebtedness and ranking among the more solid of the many private financial
houses of the city, still retaining his directorship in each of the lumber companies.
Mr. Houghteling has been active in the work of the Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion of Chicago, holding the office of president for three years. He has filled the
position of treasurer of the association for the past five years.
George Green. George Green, president of the Green & Lombard Lumber Com-
pany, was born at Quincy, 111., January 2O, 1842, of which city his parents, Amos and
Elizabeth Green, were old settlers. Amos Green carried on the lumber business
there for years, and was also a railroad contractor, building many miles of the net-
work of iron-ways in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. Young Green's childhood and boy-
hood were passed in stirring times and in a stirring place. He was educated at
Quincy, 111., and, his school-days over, he managed his father's lumber yards, even
continuing in the office long after the storm of the Civil War burst over the country.
In 1862, when the statesmen of the North realized that the war was to be a long and
bloody one, more regiments were demanded and the young man of twenty summers
was among the first to respond to the new and earnest call. He was commissioned,
September I, 1862, adjutant of the Seventy-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, pro-
moted major September 2O, 1863, mustered as major November 12, 1863, and served
until his resignation, January 15, 1865, almost a month after the Confederate troops
abandoned their intrenchments around Savannah. He participated in all the affairs
of the regiment, from the attack at New Haven by John Morgan December 26, 1862,
to the investment of Savannah, December 10, 1864. At Chickamauga, on September
2O, 1863, the Seventy-eighth did brilliant service, but the blunder at headquarters, in
not relieving their pickets at Rossville, on September 22, detracted not a little from
the fame won on the 2Oth and 2ist. Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863; the
Atlanta campaign, May 2, 1864, to September 2, 1864; the pursuit of Forrest and the
siege of Savannah were all participated in by this command. Maj. Green received a
shot in the left arm before Jonesboro, Ga., which led to his resignation and honorable
discharge on the date above mentioned. On his return to Quincy he went to Min-
nesota with his invalid brother. Coming to Chicago in 1867 he with Dexter Rich
established a lumber yard on Archer Avenue near Twenty-fourth Street. In 1868 he
bought his partner's interest in the business, operated the yard alone for some time,
admitted George A. Lowe as partner, purchased his interests about 1870, moved the
yards to the foot of Fisk Street, and, in 1871, sold his interests to Lowell & Barker.
That year he established a double circular saw mill at White Lake, Mich., obtain-
ing the logs on White River. In this enterprise he was associated at first with Mr.
Cone and again with Mr. Kelsey, but he retained the management of the mill and
office at all times until 1877, when he sold his interests at White Lake and returned
440 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
to Chicago. Here he re-established himself in the lumber business with S. K. Martin
as partner, and they, with R. L. Henry, organized the Duluth Lumber Company in
1880. This became at once a great lumber manufacturing firm under the direct man-
agement of Maj. Green, who went to Duluth. In 1884 he sold his interests in that
lumber company, returned to Chicago, formed a partnership with Mr. Talbot and
established yards on Wood Street near Twenty-second. This partnership was dis-
solved in 1885. In 1886 he and John O'Brien became partners in the yards at Main
Street bridge under the name of O'Brien & Green. In 1889 George A. Wilcox was
admitted and the title of O'Brien, Green & Co. was adopted. In 1892 the com-
pany was incorporated, Mr. Green taking the position of vice-president and manager
of their extensive wholesale and retail business with Mr. O'Brien, as secretary and
treasurer. This company dissolved April i, 1894, and Maj. Green organized the
Green & Lombard Lumber Company, which began operations May i, 1894, upon the
site formerly occupied by T. H. Sheppard & Co., corner of Loomis and Twenty-
second Streets.
Maj. Green was married in 1880 to Miss Margaret Thompson of White Hall,
Mich. He is a member of Lincoln Post, No. 91, G. A. R., and of the Loyal Legion.
His military life and associations are to him far more than memories, but he is a lum-
berman first during business hours. He is one " to the manner born," for while a boy
before the war and as a veteran after the war his business life has been passed in the
shade of lumber pile or saw mill.
William Owen Goodman. William O. Goodman, of the extensive lumber house
of Sawyer-Goodman Company, was born September 24, 1848, at Wellsboro, Tioga
County, Penn. Like many other Chicago lumber dealers, he may be said to have
inherited the lumber business from his father, Owen Bruner Goodman, for many years
a successful lumberman in the formerly extensive lumber districts of Pennsylvania,
the business traits and heritage of a good name, for which the father was distinguished,
having been perpetuated in the son. The death of the father when William O. was
but an infant of a few weeks old compelled the widowed mother to return with her
little family to her own parents at Columbia, Penn. Here the subject of our sketch
was favored with an education of better than the ordinary character, being such as
was afforded by the Columbia Institute and the Ely Institute of Athens, both of Penn-
sylvania, and, standing high in his classes, with a sound, practical, as well as theoretical
education, he was fitted for the successful business career which has marked his later
life. In 1866, at the age of eighteen, he began working for his uncle, Gen. Horace
Williston, a prominent lumberman of Athens, Penn., where he remained for two years,
gaining that practical knowledge of the lumber trade which paved the way to the
successes of his life. In 1868 he came to Chicago, even at that time a city of great
and recognized possibilities, in which, to as great an extent as at any later period, there
was a demand for active, energetic, far-seeing, and enterprising men of push and
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 441
virility. The war was over, and the marvelous activities of the succeeding years,
in which the national wound was healing with a healthy intent, was resulting in a growth
and development of the great West, in which Chicago made demand for the alert,
ready, and able business man, bold to incept and ready to take advantage of every
favoring turn of business. Here Mr. Goodman's well-trained activities and business
acumen found a congenial field, and he secured employment with Spalding & Porter
(afterward Spalding, Houghteling & Johnson), lumber dealers, which firm afterward
became the Menominee River Lumber Company. Serving for one year as book-keeper,
he was promoted to the position of salesman, and buyer for the mill, and a little later
represented the extensive interests of Hon. Philetus Sawyer in the same company.
Mr. Sawyer was then a prominent business man, and has since represented the State
of Wisconsin for many years in the Senate of the United States.
In October, 1878, Mr. Goodman formed a still closer alliance with Mr. Sawyer
through his marriage to Miss Erna M., daughter of the Senator. In this year the
Sawyer-Goodman Company was organized and a general lumber business transacted,
both in the manufacture and sale of lumber, logs and timber. This company was
composed of Hon. Philetus Sawyer, his son Edgar P. Sawyer, James B. Goodman and
William O. Goodman, all the parties being lumbermen of practical experience. In
1880 articles of incorporation were filed, and, without change of name, the company
elected Philetus Sawyer, president; Edgar P. Sawyer, vice-president; James B. Good-
man, secretary, and William O. Goodman, treasurer, with the management of the
business at Chicago. The business, which had already attained large proportions,
received a new impetus, and with a steady growth has become one of the largest of
the many extensive lumber concerns of Chicago and the Northwest, the company
handling annually about 75,000,000 feet of lumber, largely of its own manufacture, in
modern mills of the largest capacity, in Michigan and Wisconsin, with vast forest
resources in both States from which to obtain supplies for many years to come.
Their distributing yards in Chicago rank with the most extensive, having over
1,000 feet of dock front on the river and trackage in their yards for loading fifty cars
per day.
In 1881 the firm of C. H. Bogue & Co. was organized to do a general lumber busi-
ness in Chicago and the Northwest, it being composed of C. H. Bogue, James B.
Goodman and W. O. Goodman. The new company established a number of branch
yards throughout Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa, and continued until 1883, when the
Goodmans retired from the partnership. In all the business of the several houses
mentioned, Mr. W. O. Goodman has held prominent and most responsible positions,
filling the important office of treasurer and financier from the inception of each com-
pany or organization. His experience and ability, coupled with excellent judgment
and an integrity of cha'racter which ensured him the highest confidence of not only
his business associates, but of all who had dealings with him, have been no inconsid-
442 INDUSTRIAL CHICAGO:
arable factors in the business of the companies the practical management of which
has to so large an extent fallen upon his shoulders. Although but in middle life Mr.
Goodman has accumulated a comfortable fortune and enjoys life in the society of his
wife and son, Kenneth S., while conscious of being surrounded by a large circle of
true and trusty friends. Mr. Goodman is a careful student and takes deep interest
not only in passing events, but in the collection of relics and reminiscences of past
days, and his collection of antiquarian curiosities, relics and bric-a-brac is said to be
extensive. He attends the Presbyterian Church, is a director of the Royal Trust
Company and finds social recreation in several city clubs, including the Union League,
Washington Park and Athletic. As a member for many years of the Lumberman's
Exchange, Mr. Goodman has served several terms as a director and upon important
committees to the utmost satisfaction of his associate members. Mr. Goodman is sec-
retary and treasurer of the Marinette Lumber Company, of which the Sawyer-Goodman
Company are principal stockholders, and for many years held the position of vice-
president of the Quinnisec Logging Company, of Marinette, of which he is now secre-
tary and treasurer. One of the finest vessels on the lakes, built some years ago of
the best oak from the Wisconsin forests, bears the name of W. O. Goodman. She is
a schooner of large capacity belonging to the fleet of late Capt. Johnson, a well-known
vessel owner of this city, and has proved, like her name-sake, a credit to the lumber
trade. Thrown upon his own resources at a tender age, Mr. Goodman is an example
to young men of that success which is attainable through a life of energy, integrity
and devotion to the chosen calling of life, an example well worthy of imitation, in its
blessing, not only to himself and his immediate family, but in its molding influence
upon those who have been his associates and companions both in business and social
circles.
Lewis W. Pick. A good man and useful has lived and has died, but his deeds
live on and ever. He came into the world an influence for good an influence not
alone for his own time, but for all time until the end of time. The earth has claimed
him and he has paid to earth the debt of all nature, but all living things are better and
brighter because he has lived, and will be until life is no more. He made for himself
a name among men and a place in the memory of men. He built up a large business,
and in so doing helped to build up a large city. Chicago gave him the opportunity
he sought, but he did not die indebted to her. All that he did, all that he was, is Chi-
cago's, and Chicago is greater and stronger because he lived. She is his heir and the
beneficiary of his labors, and of all the men whom she, through her leading men in
almost every walk of life particularly those connected with her lumber and commer-
cial interests delights to honor the man whose name is above is as near and dear to
her heart as any other.
Lewis W. Pick was born at Port Royal, Norfolk County, Ontario, September 8,
1843, of that Holland Dutch stock which has carried economy, industry and success
THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 443
to all parts of America. Frederick Fick, his father, was born in Canada in 1817, and
died there in '1890. His mother was Sarah M. Ryerson, also a native of Canada, who
died there a little less than fifteen years ago. They were people of character and
good standing in the community, educated better than most of their neighbors and
solicitious in all things for the welfare of their family of nine children, of whom Lewis
W. Fick was the third in order of nativity and of whom six are still living.
Though he was the son of a farmer he belonged to a family of lumbermen, and
his early days were associated with logs and lumber, his uncles having been engaged
in the lumber industry. John Baird, the great lumberman of Port Huron, Mich., and
extensive owner of pine lands, was his uncle. George W. Hotchkiss, late secretary of
the Lumberman's Exchange, of Chicago, remembers Mr. Fick as a boy running over
the logs in the water at Port Royal, and it was by Mr. Pick's uncle, who was in the
lumber business at that place, that Mr. Hotchkiss was taught lumber inspection.
The future great lumberman of Chicago received his primary education in such
public schools as were taught near his home, and later was graduated from 
