tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14339387132072834722023-11-16T05:00:03.984-08:00Scots Great and Small, People and Placeswayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.comBlogger357125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-19708644064514942772016-05-09T17:21:00.002-07:002016-05-09T17:21:43.145-07:00The Energy of Man will Subdue the Wilderness, Part IIIThe day the Beveridge family reached Somonauk it had rained all day and the mud was deep and black. The roof leaked and their log house was wet and damp. I don’t wonder that Mrs. Beveridge cried. Here she was on the edge of civilization with no neighbors and no church. Everything that had been familiar to her in Salem, New York, was gone. Her son would later write: “The associations of my whole life, my playmates and my schoolmates, it seemed as if I never could become reconciled to the change.”<br />
<br />
Their house was actually two log cabins put together and connected by a breezeway and built of rough logs chinked and daubed with clay. (Not unlike the log cabin my grandparents lived in along Panther creek, east of Springfield, Missouri. I remember a large fireplace at one end and a loft where the boys slept. My grandfather was Henry Boyd Jack.) In the Beveridge cabin, the west room was the granary. “In the next room was a fireplace with a mud and stick chimney and two small windows. This was the sitting room, dining room and bedroom of my parents,” their son, John L., remembered.<br />
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One of the first things they did was to reopen their house as an inn. The stagecoach ran every day each way between Chicago and Dixon, a distance of 110 miles. In the winter two days were required for the trip. Travelers had no choice except to stop overnight in the log house. They were served good meals and had clean beds, all for seventy-five cents and this included feeding the horses.<br />
<br />
Their oldest daughter who had married William French settled on a tract of land adjoining the Beverages on the South and built a house half a mile down the creek. These first settlers sought tracts of land on the highest points they could find. The low land was thought to be of no value because water stood in many places year-round. It was the perfect breeding place for disease.<br />
<br />
“Mr. and Mrs. George Beveridge and their children were the first of many pioneers coming to Somonauk from Washington County. Other families, more or less related to them, joined them within a year or two. There seems to have been a certain feeling of consternation and desolation among those left in the older community as they saw house after house occupied by strange residents.”<br />
<br />
Unlike today, the church was the most important place in the lives of these Scottish pioneers. They would not wait long for religious services to begin in the Beveridge log cabin. In August 1842, the Rev. James Templeton visited and preached one Sunday. This is the first recorded religious service of the Presbyterians in DuPage County. “The following autumn, a Rev. Mr. Smith preached one Sabbath.” And from time to time other ministers came, among them the Rev. Rensselaer W. French who also preached at the Wheatland church. When there was no minister available the families would convene at the Beveridge cabin on the Lord’s day and conduct a Sabbath school and what was termed a “cottage prayer meeting.”<br />
<br />
“Sunday morning families had to get up with the sun to get to church on time. The yoke of oxen was hitched to a lumber wagon, family loaded in and the driver ‘gee-hawed’ them to church at the rate of two miles an hour.” On March 18, 1846, 20 men and women met to form the Somonauk United Presbyterian Church. These 20 people probably represented the entire adult population of the community. Their names are given in <u>The Somonauk Book</u>.<br />
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“There was some dark days. At times tears flowed freely; but some of the time the sun was shining. Clouds came and passed beyond, not forgotten, but accepted; therefore they had the true sunshine of life – resignation to the will of God. Meanwhile they continued with cheerful self-denial to build their two homes: a family home and the church home. “Courage and faith, coupled with perseverance, were the ball and hammer that pounded out success.”<br />
<br />
Several yoke of oxen were needed to draw a 16 inch plow. Five yoke hitched to a plow was needed to turn a 22 inch furrow. One man drove the oxen and another man guided the plow. Once turned, the sod was left to decompose under the rays of the sun, so that next year it might bear a new type of growth - wheat.<br />
<br />
Many of the early settlers soon died from privation, overwork and fever so it became necessary to select a burial place for the Somonauk community. They chose a tract of land covered with oak trees not far from the little creek and the Beveridge house. In 1847, the Cemetery was surveyed and platted and we know it today as the Oak Mound Cemetery. A few years ago we visited the church and the cemetery on one of our summer history tours.<br />
<br />
In his will, George Beveridge left money to his grandchildren. If the grandchild was named “George” he received ten dollars. Those not named “George” were given five dollars. Henry J. Patten, born after the will was drawn and thus omitted from the list remembers that his mother gave him a pig as a consolation.<br />
<br />
The closest town was Chicago and the trip was long and difficult given the roads (trails) and the streams that had to be crossed. A wagon pulled by two yoke of oxen might be able to haul 30 to 40 bushels of wheat. They traveled in groups so that help was always available. John L. Beveridge remembers seeing 60 teams camped at night along the creek. “They would travel 100 miles or more to market, be absent six days and the only money spent would be one nights lodging, supper and breakfast, stable and hay for teams – and all that for one dollar at the best hotel (in Chicago) the famous Tremont House. Wheat sold from thirty-five to fifty cents a bushel and dressed pork for one dollar and fifty cents to five dollars per hundred weight. After buying groceries and other necessities they had very little change left.<br />
<br />
The railroads arrived in the 1850s and life for these Scottish pioneers on the prairie would never be the same. In 1849 the railroad was completed from Chicago to Turner Junction (West Chicago) and then to Aurora and finally in 1853 it was completed as far as Mendota. Somonauk station, located some 5 miles south of the Scottish settlement was soon designated by the railroad.<br />
<br />
The railroads greatly stimulated the settlement of land. After 1853, the prairies was alive with people seeking land and these late arrivals secured the most valuable farms in the region. “Many of these later settlers came from Washington County, New York, and were relatives and friends of the earlier pioneers.”<br />
<br />
“The move to the West, however, was the best business stroke these men and women could have made with their small capital. This is emphatically true of all who stuck to the land. After a decade or two of poverty and its hardships they were repaid for their trials in the near market, a growing wealth, comfortable homes, self-made independence, and ease in declining years.”<br />
<br />
Note: The information, thoughts and quotations for the above article were all taken from <u>The Somonauk Book</u> which was privately printed for James A. Patten and Henry F. Patten in 1928.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois St Andrew’s Society<br />
Home office - 630-629-4516<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;"><b>Upcoming Events:</b></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;" /><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;"></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;">NOTE: The Scottish American History Club will meet on Saturday, <b>May 14, 2016</b>. This is the second Saturday of May. It will be our annual birthday celebration. </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;" /><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;"></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;">We will also have on display a wedding dress. When Mary Anne McCleery married John C. Beveridge on January 10, 1865 in Somonauk, Illinois, she wore this beautiful dress. Albert H. Beveridge of Augusta, Georgia, donated her dress to the museum. He is the great grandson of Mary Anne and John C. Beveridge.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;" /><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;"></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;">Lauren Szady, who is the Museum Assistant at the Lombard Historical Society will be our guest and give some history of wedding dresses. Reservations are helpful so please call 708.447.5092 and plan to join us. The museum is open at 9 a.m. and the meeting begins at 10. </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;" /><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;"></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;">In addition, the museum has been given some WWI medals and these will also be on display. The medals belonged to Charles Albert McCombe who was born in Glasgow and fought with the Arygll and Sutherland Highlanders. These were donated by Betty J. McCombe Cook who lives in Texas. We are hoping that family members who live in the Chicago area will also join us on Saturday, May 14.</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: #c0a154; color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 20.286px;"><br /></span></div>
wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-53209415694659935612016-04-14T19:15:00.000-07:002016-04-14T19:15:29.576-07:00One Thousand Miles in a Covered Wagon, Part IINot long after the Scots arrived in Washington County, New York, the “clouds of war” began to gather over the young nation. The young men, as they do in every generation, marched off to war. The War of Independence actually lasted a long time, the first battle being fought at Concord in April 1775. Fighting continued through 1782 and finally ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.<br />
<br />
When peace arrived and independence came, the community in Salem, New York, had found “a certain prosperity and comfort” on their little farms. Houses had been built, lands cleared, and roads constructed. Children had gone to college, like John Savage in our last Blog or Mary Dunlop who went to Princeton. The church was the center of life and schools were functioning, teaching grammar, philosophy, spelling, Latin and Virgil. Life was good. However, some worried about the future.<br />
<br />
George Beveridge and his wife, Ann Hoy, had seven children and were comfortably living in their clapboard house. They were active in the life of the community and were members of the South Argyle United Presbyterian Church. They raised their children to be “God-fearing citizens.” However, the settlement in Washington County was no longer the land of opportunity for their children. Andrew Jackson, in their opinion, had ruined the banks and financial panics swept the country. The land around them was mostly occupied and available lands were expensive. “In this crisis they turned their thoughts to the new world beyond the Alleghenies.”<br />
<br />
There undoubtedly was a lot of discussion and prayer about the future. It was Mrs. Beveridge who finally persuaded her husband to undertake the journey. So, this “middle-aged” father and his fourteen-year-old son, John L., began the preparations.<br />
<br />
On an autumn day in 1838, they started the journey. A covered wagon pulled by two stout horses was loaded with their necessities, along with a stock of woolen cloth which would finance their expedition. Across the state of New York and the farming communities of Ohio and Indiana, they traveled toward their unknown destination. They rounded the end of Lake Michigan and came to a small settlement. Chicago wasn’t much in 1838. They had now traveled one thousand miles and had not found a home.<br />
<br />
They continued west, leaving civilization as they knew it for the “broad stretches of the valley of the Mississippi.” They took the new road to the lead mines of Galena, passing through Dixon’s Ferry and finally came to a rolling prairie between the Fox and the Rock rivers. It was fertile ground. It was Indian country until 1832 and had not long been opened to settlement.<br />
<br />
One October evening, George Beveridge and his son came to Somonauk Creek. On the north side stood a log cabin with the stage road running at its door. It was the first house built by a white man in De Kalb County and had often served as an inn for the stage coach. Before he slept that night, George Beveridge had traded his wagon, his horses, and the remaining stock of woolen goods for the log cabin and 400 acres of land occupied under squatters’ rights.<br />
<br />
He stayed one entire year and in the autumn of 1839 returned to his home in Salem, New York. But, it was not until 1842 that final preparations for the move were completed. The farm had to be sold and decisions made as to what household effects and stock could be taken. Finally in May 1842 the family started for their new home on the prairies of Illinois. This time they used the canal and the Great Lakes making the journey in seventeen days.<br />
<br />
In the party were Mr. and Mrs. Beveridge, and four unmarried children: James Hoy who was twenty-five, Thomas George, twenty-two, John Lourie, eighteen, and daughter Agnes who was thirteen. Isabel, an older daughter and her husband William French were also going. Jennett, the oldest child, had married James Henry and was left behind as was the second son, Andrew. He was entering Jefferson College at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, to study for the ministry.<br />
<br />
“There is something valiant, courageous, in the picture of this middle-aged pair, planning to break with all the traditions of life as they knew it, to leave their comfortable house and a lifetime’s associations to set out for a new country, a veritable wilderness to their eyes, and begin anew as pioneers at a time of life when they might have thought only of rest and surcease from labor.”<br />
<br />
When they finally arrived at the Somonauk creek and their log cabin, George Beveridge found his wife weeping on the back porch.<br />
<br />
To be continued...<br />
<br />
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630.629.4516<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>Upcoming Events:</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;">NOTE: The Scottish American History Club will meet on Saturday, <b>May 14, 2016</b>. This is the second Saturday of May. It will be our annual birthday celebration. </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;">We will also have on display a wedding dress. When Mary Anne McCleery married John C. Beveridge on January 10, 1865 in Somonauk, Illinois, she wore this beautiful dress. Albert H. Beveridge of Augusta, Georgia, donated her dress to the museum. He is the great grandson of Mary Anne and John C. Beveridge.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;">Lauren Szady, who is the Museum Assistant at the Lombard Historical Society will be our guest and give some history of wedding dresses. Reservations are helpful so please call 708.447.5092 and plan to join us. The museum is open at 9 a.m. and the meeting begins at 10. </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;">In addition, the museum has been given some WWI medals and these will also be on display. The medals belonged to Charles Albert McCombe who was born in Glasgow and fought with the Arygll and Sutherland Highlanders. These were donated by Betty J. McCombe Cook who lives in Texas. We are hoping that family members who live in the Chicago area will also join us on Saturday, May 14.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-15327702162488110772016-04-01T17:36:00.002-07:002016-04-14T19:15:45.772-07:00The Scots Arrive in Washington County, New York, Part IIn the early 1700's a group of Scots settled in eastern New York and were a mixture of Highland Scots and those from Northern Ireland. They were stalwart, rugged, independent, knew how to use guns and were not afraid to fight. The colonial governors encouraged people of this type to immigrate because they provided a barrier between the Colonies and the French and Indians. They occupied land east of the Hudson River in Washington County, New York, and had some 40 miles of farm land in the foothills of the Green Mountains.<br />
<br />
Their forefathers were Presbyterian Highland Scots living in Western Scotland. They had supported the first Jacobite Rebellion in 1715 and had lost. Economic conditions were bad, crops failed and there were famines. In addition, there was general discontent with their own Church of Scotland. They looked beyond the sea to America in the hope of finding political, economic and religious freedom. Conditions were just as difficult for the “Scottish Nation” in Northern Ireland.<br />
<br />
In 1738, a group of people belonging to the Scotch Presbyterian church and living in Argyleshire were offered free land near Lake George. One thousand acres of land given to every adult person who paid for their passage and every child received 500 acres of land if they paid passage. In the years 1738, 1739 and 1740 some 472 persons were brought in groups by Captain Lauchlin Campbell to the New World. Originally there were some legal problems about the land but in 1764 a grant of 47,450 acres known as the Argyll Patent was secured.<br />
<br />
On May 10, 1764, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Clark, born in Galloway but now a pastor in Northern Ireland, brought his entire congregation of 300 people to New York. Their plans were to “carry on the linen and hempen manufacture to which they were all brought up.” It is believed that this is the only instance where an entire congregation moved to the New World.<br />
<br />
The land near Lake George proved to be unsatisfactory. It became necessary for Dr. Clark to purchase other land which became known as the Turner Patent. It was composed of some 25,000 acres nearly all in Washington County. This land was divided into lots of 88 acres each and given to families. “The land was rent-free for five years, after which a yearly rental of one shilling per acre was to be paid.”<br />
<br />
The country was a wilderness. There were no roads. One had to either walk or use a horse. Mary McNaughton, the mother of chief justice John Savage, walked seven miles to attend a church service. (John Savage was a lawyer and politician. He was Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1823 to 1837.)<br />
<br />
In 1736, there were one thousand Scottish families in Belfast waiting for ships to bring them to America. This new life in America was not easy. It was very difficult. But they possessed a common bond - their membership in the Presbyterian Church. Many of these families were related to each other before coming to American and as time passed, the younger people intermarried, making the bond even stronger.<br />
<br />
To be continued . . .<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
office phone - 630.629.4516<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">ANNOUNCEMENT: </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;">The History Club will meet on <b>Saturday, May 12, 2016</b>. (Please note this is not the first Saturday of the month.) Museum will be open at 9 a.m. and the meeting will begin at 10. We will center our program around the wedding dress given to the museum and the six medals from World War I. It will also be our annual birthday celebration. Reservations are not necessary but helpful in planning. Please call 708.408.5591 and reserve your space.</span>wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-86612784932851430622016-03-18T11:42:00.000-07:002016-03-18T12:46:47.300-07:00Dr. Eliza H. RootThe role of Scots as physicians is pretty amazing. Between 1750 and 1850, no less than 10,000 physicians obtained degrees from Scottish universities. Many of these came to America and had a tremendous influence on their communities. Some Americans traveled to Scotland to obtain their medical education. Scots were also instrumental in establishing many medical teaching schools.<br />
<br />
One of the early physicians of colonial times was Dr. Gustavus Brown (1689-1762). He was born in Dalkeith, Scotland. His son, Dr. Gustavus Richard Brown was educated at the University of Edinburgh. His son, Dr. Gustavus Brown attended President George Washington during his last illness. George Fraser Black in his book “Scotland’s Mark on America” lists many of these early physicians.<br />
<br />
In the early days of Chicago’s medical history the city was not able to easily obtain medical supplies. They had to order from eastern cities and graft was rampant. “All too often the city was unable to buy essential medical supplies yet some bills for drugs concealed 48 cases of beer, 10 barrels of whiskey, 20,000 cigars and other liquors and wines under the appellation of sundry drugs.” (Taken from “Medicine in Chicago” by Thomas Neville Bonner.)<br />
<br />
In 1908, ten thousand doctors descended upon Chicago for the convention of the American Medical Association. If you count wives and children the number may have reached 14,000.<br />
<br />
One of the early female physicians in Chicago was Eliza H. Root. She was born on February 7, 1846, in Mayfield Township, DeKalb County, Illinois. Her father, Eliza H. Dick, came to America from Scotland in 1842.<br />
<br />
On March 1, 1864, she married Jerome Root of DeKalb. They had one son, J. Sherman Root. In 1879 the family moved to Chicago where they remained until the death of her husband in 1914. Her office was 489 W. Monroe in Chicago. Dr. Root graduated from the Chicago Women’s Medical College and practiced medicine in Chicago for thirty years. They lived at 1414 W. Monroe in Chicago. After her husband’s death she moved to Sycamore, Illinois, where her sister lived.<br />
<br />
Very involved in the Medical School of Northwestern University and the Woman’s Medical College of Chicago, Dr. Root once served as Dean of the college. She was a member of the Executive Committee and served as its secretary. She was also editor-in-chief of the Woman’s Medical Journal. The records of the Woman’s Medical College are at Northwestern University. She was a strong advocate for women in the medical field and she helped blaze a trail for those who followed. She died at her home in Sycamore, Illinois on Saturday, June 12, 1926 at the age of 80.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<br />
Our Society has had three physicians who served as President: Dr. John Macalister (1867); Dr. John A. McGill (1919-1921) and Dr. William Ferguson Dickson (1922-1924).<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, Past President<br />
Illinois St. Andrew Society<br />
630.629.4516<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660000;">ANNOUNCEMENT</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;">The Scottish American History Club will meet again on <b>May 7, 2016 at 10 a.m</b>. We haven’t met for awhile so I hope to see many of you there. It’s also the birthday meeting. If you have had a recent birthday, please join us for cake, scones, coffee or tea.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;">Albert H. Beveridge, who lives in Augusta, Georgia, has donated his great grandmother’s wedding dress to the museum. Mary Anne McCleery married John C. Beveridge in Somonauk, Illinois on January 10, 1865. We will display the dress on May 7 as well see a power-point presentation about the Scottish community in Somonauk. Reservations are not necessary but helpful in planning. Please call 708.408.5591.</span><br />
<br />
<br />wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-29082552894106447072016-02-08T10:47:00.000-08:002016-02-08T10:47:09.937-08:00Dr. Franklyn Bliss Snyder(Please read the previous blog for background information)<br />
<br />
Dr. Snyder was the eleventh president of Northwestern University located in Evanston, Illinois. He started as a teacher in 1909 and never left. He was very much a conservative with strong independent ideas, and was often concerned about the role of government in education. He would not be comfortable in today’s environment. In fact, many of his thoughts and ideas would not be acceptable as politically correct.<br />
<br />
In addition to being a strong conservative, he was a determined leader at Northwestern. War was on the horizon in 1939, so he appointed a committee to study how the University would function. When war was declared, his plan was ready for implementation. By 1942, Northwestern had given 125 faculty members, 400 students and 3,000 alumni to the military. Twenty-two were already reported dead or missing in action. By the end of the war, 50,000 men and women had received training, three hundred had died in battle and two had received the Congressional Medal of Honor. ( Please click here to read about nurse <a href="http://chicagoscots.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-first-to-die.html" target="_blank">Helen B. Wood</a> who was the first to die in WW I.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
He was a leader both on the campus and in the community. Often a guest speaker, unafraid to speak his mind, he was in demand from all groups. The public trust in his leadership was shown in how the community responded to the growth and needs of the University.<br />
<br />
In 1944, Col. Robert R. McCormick gave a donation of property at the N. W. corner of Lake Shore Drive and Pearson Street to the university. “The property is to be used for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a fund, the income from which is to be spent for research in the medical school.” It was to be called the Irving S. Cutter Fund for Medical Research. This was one of three property gifts in downtown Chicago that Col. McCormick gave to the school. General Dawes, Vice President from 1925 to 1929, gave his mansion to the university. It was to become the Northwestern Historical Center.<br />
<br />
If you read the quotations you can get a feel for the man, his views and thoughts.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>QUOTATIONS</b></div>
<br />
“I do not think we overemphasize football at Northwestern. We deal with college men who want to play football, not football players who want to go to college.”<br />
<br />
“We make no apologies for treating an athlete as well as a flute player.” The primary aim of the university is to provide an education whether the education is for an athlete or a musician.”<br />
<br />
“There is no bonded indebtedness on Dyche stadium. The university built it. Interest and principal if eventually paid from athletic receipts will constitute only a refund to the university. No outsider has any voice in our athletics.”<br />
<br />
“Northwestern is seeking additional scholarships and does not wish to be known as a rich man’s school. Northwestern wishes to educate any youngster deemed worthy of the opportunity.”<br />
<br />
“Too many young men and women go to college now. Too many assume that the only approach to a happy life lies thru a college.”<br />
<br />
“The American educational system was built on two principles: local responsibility and local authority. If we go on the dole from Washington, the ultimate authority will be in Washington. No man is bright enough to have that authority, and if he were, I wouldn’t want him to have it.”<br />
<br />
“God didn’t intend everybody to be a PhD or to have a $20 hospital room without charge.”<br />
<br />
Graduating class in 1941 - “alert in observation and vigorous in protest if you see freedom of thought and speech ever in danger.”<br />
<br />
“If endowed schools, hospitals and other non-governmental institutions are to survive, the federal government must cease confiscating the incomes and estates of wealthy men.”<br />
<br />
“Northwestern’s retiring president is acutely aware that privately endowed universities are threatened by confiscatory federal tax policies. Society won’t let it be killed by a group of theorist who want to take everything in. I am much opposed to federal control of education. If we get that, we’ll soon have a police state whether we like it or not.”<br />
<br />
“Dr. Snyder said that at the founding of the university in 1853, two themes appeared - a belief that church and university have a common purpose, the development of educated Christian citizenry, and second, a belief that the university could best work toward this purpose in an atmosphere of religious and intellectual freedom.”<br />
<br />
“Today the arch foes of humanity are not Hitler and Stalin, Naziism or communism,” he said, “but sin and ignorance. I have no fear that our American way of life will fall a victim to the 20th century black death that is ravaging Germany and Russia.”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
(Dr. Franklyn Bliss Snyder was born 26 July, 1884 in Middletown, Connecticut. On June 15, 1908 , he married Winifred Perry Dewhurst. They were both 24 years of age. Dr. Snyder died 11 May, 1958. They had 2 sons: Franklyn Bliss Snyder, Jr. and Peter Miles Snyder.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630.629.4516wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-80043182619729621772016-01-22T18:30:00.002-08:002016-01-22T19:39:15.991-08:00Northwestern UniversityDr. Franklyn Bliss Snyder was born 26 July, 1884, in Middleton, Connecticut. He was once described as “quick moving, a lover of books and of outdoor sports.” He married Winifred Perry Dewhurst, July 25, 1909, and they had two sons. She was well known in Chicago and university circles, her father being the pastor of the University Congregational church. When Mr. Snyder died in 1958, he left a widow, two sons, two brothers and five grandchildren. It is possible that descendants are still living.<br />
<br />
Dr. Snyder was a graduate of Beloit College (1905) and obtained both his master’s and a doctor of philosophy degree from Harvard. In 1911 he became an assistant professor at Northwestern and a full professor in 1919. He succeeded Dr. Walter Scott Dill in 1939. He was followed by Dr. J. Roscoe Miller upon reaching the age of sixty-five. Dr. Miller was recognized as the Distinguished Citizen of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society in 1966. If Walter Scott Dill is Scottish that means that three successive presidents of Northwestern had a Scottish heritage.<br />
<br />
At the St. Andrews’s dinner, December 3, 1932, Dr. Snyder was the principal speaker. The Toastmaster was Rabbi Garson Levi a native of Greenock and Distinguished Citizen in 1975. Also on the program was the Rev. Dr. John Timothy Stone. The surprise of the evening was an appearance of Scots comedian Willie Fyfe and his wife. They had been brought over from the Palace theater by their old friend, Robert Black, who owned a construction company.<br />
<br />
When Dr. Snyder was introduced, he spoke about his German name and that he was born in New England. Then he mentioned his grandmother who was born in Skye. In his possession was a table that “stood beside her bed on which stood the lamp and Bible.” He said he owed to her several things. “First of all I owe her much more than those material things...I owe her an abiding confidence in Scotland and Scottish men. I have said many times to my students that if they could choose their ancestries, and did not choose to sprinkle a few Scotsmen there, they would be stupid beyond words. For I know of no nation that has made as large a contribution to human welfare as has Scotland.”<br />
<br />
“Another thing I owe to my grandmother is an interest in and better understanding of the man who most of us would consider greatest of all Scotchmen, Robert Burns. I know of no one else who is Burns’ equal when it comes to the difficult task of thinking the thoughts of the wise and speaking the language of the humble.” Dr. Snyder was considered a Burns scholar and had published two books about the national poet of Scotland. One of his books, <i>The Life of Robert Burns</i>, I was able to purchase on eBay. His second book was <i>Robert Burns, His Personality, His Reputation and His Art</i>.<br />
<br />
He gave the commencement address at Northwestern in 1949. “In that address, he warned that the United States would be a sorry place in which to live in 50 years if the unjustified demands of labor or the unchecked greed of the tax assessor, or the theorizing of the planner stopped men from saving and investing in agriculture and industry.”<br />
<br />
Dr. Snyder led the university through the years of World War II when it trained 50,000 for the military and also through eleven additions and building programs. After the war, the university was jammed with returning veterans. (If memory serves, Don Buick attended something at the University. I don’t remember if it was before or after the war.)<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
I need to stop because this is getting too long but there is much more. Dr. Snyder was one of a kind. He was blunt, fearless and certainly not political correct by today’s standards. I have collected a number of his statements and if there are 100 requests, I will make them the next blog. You can see how much we have changed in the last 50 years.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, Past President<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630.629.4516<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #660000;">Upcoming Events</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>January 30, 2016</b> - Chicago Scots 18th Annual Burns Supper: Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson, Chicago. Cocktails, dinner, toasts, music and dancing beginning at 6:00 p.m. Dinner seating, toasts and program at 7:30 p.m. Music and dancing at 10:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Carey Smith, Director of Programming, at 708.426.7149 or visit their <a href="http://www.chicagoscots.org/burnssupper/" target="_blank">website</a>. (Sponsored by the Illinois Saint Andrew Society)</span>wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-7301972927090257872016-01-11T20:51:00.003-08:002016-01-11T20:51:52.287-08:00The Scots of Chicago Celebrate Robert BurnsAs we approach the Birthday of Robert Burns on January 25, I find it interesting to look back and see how the Scottish population of Chicago celebrated this event. These stories have all been taken from the <i>Chicago Daily Tribune</i> and cover the period up to 1900. Not every event is listed and often several events were conducted at the same time by different Scottish organizations and clans.<br />
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<b>1857</b> - 96th anniversary of birth of Robert Burns. The Chicago Highland Guard, “one of the most beautifully uniformed military companies, celebrated a Burns Anniversary Ball.” It was held at the German Hall, corner of Wells and Indiana. The Guard was presented with a beautiful silk flag by a number of female friends. It was painted by William Mackie. “A finely gilded Eagle, carved by Power & Farel of State Street, surrounds the flag staff. It is to be presented in front of the Briggs House."<br />
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<b>1859</b> - In the afternoon there was a parade composed of the Saint Andrew Society’s Highland Guard and other military companies. In the evening an address by ex-Governor McComas, followed by a concert. “After this, comes the Banquet and Ball at the Tremont House, where beauty and mirth will predominate. Large deputations from the cities and towns along the lines of railways centering here are coming to join with the citizens of Chicago in the affair. It promises to be the most magnificent affair every gotten up in the West.” The paper reported that “tens of thousands waited along the streets.” The parade was delayed three hours by a ferocious snowstorm.<br />
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<b>1860</b> - “The Sons of Auld Scotia gave their brilliant and attentive Caledonian Festival at the Briggs House in honor of the Birthday of Robert Burns.<br />
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<b>1864</b> - A dinner was given for Colonel A. Raffin, of the 19th Illinois, at the Briggs House on January 25, 1864. About 30 attended. Present were Robert Hervey, Capt. James, John Alston, and other “whole-souled Scotchmen” who were there and participated. Colonel Raffin was home on a short furlough during the Civil war.<br />
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<b>1866</b> - Robert Hervey, who was President of the Caledonia Club, gave a series of talks on the “Genius and Character of Robert Burns.” He had also been President of the Saint Andrew Society. Proceeds from the lecture were given to the benevolent fund of the Society.<br />
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<b>1875</b> - The Caledonian Club of Chicago celebrated with a dance and supper. There were over 100 couples present. Pipe music was furnished by Neil McPhail and Joseph Cant. Nevins and Dean furnished the music for dancing. “The supper was a sumptuous repast and many toasts were drank...” It lasted until the early hours of the morning.<br />
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<b>1889</b> - Gov. Thomas Moonlight of Wyoming Territory spoke at the Central Music Hall to honor Burns on his birthday. He was in Chicago at the invitation of the Burns Monument Association. There was also an event at Farwell Hall. Every available space was occupied and more than a thousand were turned away. The Rev. Robert McIntyre gave the address.<br />
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<b>1890</b> - The Highland Association hired the biggest hall in Chicago to celebrate the birth of Robert Burns. “Well-to-do Scotchmen - and there are scores of them in Chicago - bought boxes for themselves and their families. Middle class Scotch men and Scotch women occupied the vast parquet. Thrifty Scotch men bought every seat in the balcony.” The orator was The Rev. Dr. Lorimer. Mayor Creigier was present and said to be a Scotchman.<br />
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<b>1891</b> - The Auditorium was again filled to capacity for the celebration. (There is a long list of names present at the event listed in the paper.) The Honorable Benjamin Butterworth was the speaker. The organist was from Edinburgh and he also brought his choir A grand chorus of 300 voices sang Scottish songs and 250 girls and women took part in the Highland Fling. The event lasted two days and the Auditorium was filled for all performances.<br />
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<b>1896</b> - “The birthday of Burns, the Scottish bard, is generally well honored in Chicago, where there are probably more Scottish national societies than in any other place on earth.”<br />
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<b>1896</b> - “A dramatic and spectacular entertainment in honor of Robert Burns, under the auspices of the Scottish Assembly of Chicago, will be given in the Auditorium on Thursday, January 23, under the direction of Mrs. Cora Scott-Pond-Pope. Over 500 characters appear in the sketches.” Among the patrons were: Mr. And Mrs. Harry G. Selfridge.<br />
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<b>1896</b> - The Chicago Scottish Club held a military and civic ball at Battery D the evening of January 24. The Mayor of Milwaukee attended. He was entertained by: Mayor Swift, Capt. A. F., Campbell, Comdr. William R. Kerr, Police Chief Alex. Ross, Dr. E. P. Murdock, and Mr. Wm. Hannerman. Special attention was given to the boxes occupied by Governor Altgeld and other visiting officials. “A luncheon will be served and Major-General Wesley Merritt will lead the grand march at 9.30 p.m.”<br />
<br />
(The first class to graduate from Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL, had nine members. In that class was Jonathan Spillman who wrote the music for a song which became a classic, “Flow Gently, Sweet Afton.” The words were by Robert Burns - the music by Jonathan Spillman.)<br />
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<b>1896</b> - The Caledonian Society will honor Robert Burns at Steinway Hall, January 26, 1896. Robert T. Lincoln presiding and Wallace Bruce speaking. (Wallace Bruce was the Bard of Clan MacDonald and lived in Brooklyn, New York. He had also been the Ambassador to Scotland.) To the left of the stage was a bronze model of the statue of Burns now being cast in Edinburgh. “The Campbells Are Coming” was the best thing on the program, according to the <i>Chicago Daily Tribune</i>. Clan leaders were marched down the aisle headed by the bagpipers. “Scottish patriotism manifested itself in applause which did not cease until an encore was given.”<br />
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Those who sat on the stage were: Robert T. Lincoln, Gen. J. A. MacArthur, T. B. Livingston, F. D. Todd, Hugh Shirlaw, Col. James A. Sexto, George Bain, Peter Brice and William Gardner.<br />
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As I said in the opening paragraph, this is only a sampling of events listed in the paper. In those early days of Chicago, the Scottish population was quite prominent. They were mayors, governors, entrepreneurs and successful business people. Chicago was indeed a Scottish city much like Lake Forest, Illinois. Not sure that any community or city in the USA can match either of these two.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, Past President<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630.629.4516<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #660000;">Announcements:</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>Nicht Wi Burns Annual Dinner:</b> Saturday, January 23, 2016, at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Lawn, 9333 S. Cicero Avenue, Oak Lawn, Illinois. Beginning at 5:45 p.m., the Stockyards Kilty Pipe Band will play at 6:15 and the program begins at 6:30. Contact: Sally Johnson, 630.515.1997 or </span><span style="color: #660000;">nichtwiburns@gmail.com</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>Chicago Scots 18th Annual Burns Supper:</b> Saturday, January 30, 2016, at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson, Chicago. Cocktails, dinner, toasts, music and dancing beginning at 6:00 p.m. Dinner seating, toasts and program at 7:30 p.m. Music and dancing at 10:00 p.m. For more information, please contact <a href="mailto:careysmith@chicagoscots.org" target="_blank">Carey Smith</a>, Director of Programming, at 708.426.7149. (Sponsored by the <a href="http://www.chicagoscots.org/burnssupper/" target="_blank">Illinois Saint Andrew Society</a>)</span>wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-51842077768561281762015-12-28T17:49:00.001-08:002015-12-28T17:49:37.809-08:00Tragedy at StornowayIt’s New Year’s Eve, 1919. The Armistice has been signed and the “Great War” is finally over. Scotland had paid a high price. Almost 150,000 Scots lost their lives between 1914 and 1918. A generation was gone, the country’s brightest and ablest young men.<br />
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For an example, look at the Isle of Lewis. The Isle of Lewis is the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, the only settlement is Stornoway. The population was about 30,000 when the war began. More than 6,000 from the Isle and Lewis and Harris served in the war and more than a thousand died before the war ended.<br />
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Now the war is over and the warriors are returning home. In London, two trains headed north carrying troops. They were dressed in full uniforms, with heavy shoes and backpacks. Everyone was joyous and happy. There was singing and drinking because at last they were going home, back to the Isle of Lewis and Harris.<br />
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Waiting for them at the Kyle of Lochalsh was the <i>Iolaire</i>. (The<i> Iolaire</i> was an Admiralty yacht built in 1881.) The ship was not equipped for its next and final journey. There was a shortage of lifeboats and jackets and the ship would be overwhelmed with soldiers and sailors. The Captain hesitated to leave, but it was New Year’s Eve and the soldiers were anxious to get home. No adequate arrangements had been made for them to have a safe journey.<br />
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Back on the Islands, the celebrations had already begun as homes were decorated and bunting had been hung along the streets. It was going to be a joyous event. Some families had walked to the quay side in order to be there when the boat docked at Stornoway. The ship never arrived.<br />
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“Making its final approach into Stornoway Harbor on a dark night and in a strong gale, it changed course at the wrong point. With the lights of the harbor in sight, the ship struck the rocks at full speed and began to tilt. The reef was called the “Beasts of Holm.” It was 2:30 in the morning.<br />
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Out of a crew of 27 there were just 7 survivors. Among the dead 174 men from Lewis and 7 men from Harris. Only 75 of the 280 passengers survived. Families gathered to claim the bodies but more than a third were never found and six were never identified. One family that had already lost three sons in the war, lost a fourth on the <i>Iolaire</i>. It is said that women wore black for two generations. No one spoke of it, a “veil of silence” descended on the Islands. It was forty years before a memorial was built.<br />
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Not a family or village escaped. Lewis never recovered.<br />
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The <i>Glasgow Herald</i> on the 4th of January, 1919, wrote: "An old man sobbing into his handkerchief with a stalwart son in khaki sitting on the cart beside him, the remains of another son in the coffin behind --- that was one of the sights seen today as one of the funeral parties emerged from the barrack gate. Another, an elderly woman, well dressed, comes staggering down the roadway and bursts into a paralysis of grief as she tells the sympathizers at the gate that her boy is in the mortuary. Strong men weeping and women wailing or wandering around with blanched, tear stained faces are to be seen in almost every street and there are groups of them at the improvised mortuary”<br />
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Thirty-one men with the name MacLeod died. The mother of Donald Trump was Mary Anne MacLeod born on the Isle of Lewis in 1912. She would have been seven at the time. For more information about Mary Anne MacLeod, <a href="http://chicagoscots.blogspot.com/2015/07/3-tong-stornoway-scotland.html" target="_blank">click here</a>.<br />
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There was an official inquiry but they did not find a satisfactory explanation for the disaster. (The report was not made public for seventy years.) The last survivor died in 1992. Fifteen days after the tragedy, the <i>Iolaire</i> was put up for sale by the Admiralty even though eighty men were still missing. The ship’s bell was recovered from the bottom of the sea in 1971.<br />
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“Two hundred more were plucked from us with home almost in reach.<br />
New Years dreams and Christmas presents washed up on the beach<br />
Now the winds will blow and the waves will break upon this lonely shore<br />
Where the ghosts of those young men that died must roam forevermore.” <br />
A memorial was dedicated in 1958 at Holm, just outside of Stornoway. A stone pillar sticks out of the water at the site of the wreck, which can be seen today on the right side as the car ferry approaches the harbor entrance.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630.629.4516<br />
<br />wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-19767368639137459862015-12-11T12:05:00.000-08:002015-12-12T16:58:42.808-08:00Your Loving MotherI don’t know much about her early life but her maiden name was Ella B. Slocum and she was born in Rhode Island around 1847. Her father was a salesman and at some point in her young life they moved to Chicago. <br />
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The next event in her life of which we are certain occurred in 1867. She was 23 and an attractive woman with blond hair. She fell in love and married a Scottish man prominent in Chicago history. (I will not use his name.) He was 30 and a Civil War hero who fought both days at Shiloh. <br />
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The marriage did not go well because I have divorce papers dated September 20, 1880. The hearing was held in open court before the Honorable William H. Barnum. The husband did not attend but was represented by O. H. Norton, Esq. The charges were “extreme and repeated cruelty toward his said wife.” <br />
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The husband was given custody of the child until he was fourteen. The husband was also “charged with the full support, maintenance and education of said child, but said child shall not be removed by said defendant beyond the limits of the United States without the further order of this Court.” .<br />
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The child involved was twelve years of age and there is no explanation as to why the father was given custody except it was by mutual agreement. The mother was given full access to the child through visitation rights. No alimony was awarded to the wife but she was given “certain real estate and personal property.” The son later graduated from Notre Dame with an engineering degree. <br />
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By November of that same year (1880), Ella was married to Baron Ernst von Jeinsen, which may explain the divorce and the custody of the child. (The mother would later explain that they had been separated for more than a year.) The Baron’s estate was located about two miles from Hanover, Germany. They spent the winter (1880-1881) at the Commonwealth Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. He was 46 and Ella was 33. <br />
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In 1904, her first husband was sued by Charles Mackie for “alienation of affection.” It seems that he and Mrs. Mackie had made trips to Cuba, Philadelphia and Washington. The case was dismissed by the judge. This article dated January 12, 1904, states that his first wife divorced him for cause and married “an Italian nobleman.” We could find no other references to her life with the Baron. The next event occurred in 1892. Ella is now 45and perhaps the Baron has died.<br />
<br />
Franklin Simmons, the sculptor, lived and worked in Italy and in 1892 married “...the beautiful and distinguished Baroness von Jeinsen, who was an accomplished musician, a critical lover of art and the most graceful and delightful of hostesses. Mrs. Simmons drew about her a very charming circle in Rome, and made their home in the Palazzo Tamagno, a notable center of foreign social life.” Ella also maintained a home in Chicago at 181 Park Avenue for more than 25 years. <br />
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She died at her home in Rome, December 21, 1905 of pneumonia and is buried in the Swan Point cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island. She was 58. Her sister was Mrs. Charles W. Clingman, 4748 Kenwood Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.<br />
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The following is a letter Ella wrote to her son:<br />
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<i>Palazzo Tamagno<br />83 Via Agostino Depletes<br />Roma<br /><br />June 26, 1902<br /><br />My Dear Son:<br /><br />In the past twenty years I have written more than twice that number of letters to be given to you in the event of my death. The first were documents defending myself, so that you might know from me (despite anyones version) that I had right on my side when I left your father, also that I did not live with him for nearly a year before the final parting.<br /><br />The last letter also contained words I feel better unsaid (at this time) for I would not disturb any good feeling that may and I sincerely hope does exist between you. I will only say that I did the best in my power.<br /><br />My last prayer dear is for you - that you may be led to know how to live up to the highest ideas of your highest moments. My heart goes out to you. I have never wavered in my affection for, and my trust in you, my Son.<br /><br />May God bless you ever and ever.<br /><br /> Farewell, <br /> Your loving Mother.</i><br />
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Enclosed in the letter was a lock of his mother’s hair. It has faded in color, in a circular shape and bound by a blue ribbon. You will find it in an envelope in the three ring binder of her first husband’s documents.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630-629-4516<br />
<br />
PS. My thanks to all of you for your interest and support during my recent illness. It has been a slow process recovering from heart surgery, but I am gradually regaining my strength. Your phone calls, emails, cards and letters were much appreciated.wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-54338201124519059872015-09-09T14:20:00.001-07:002015-09-09T14:20:49.796-07:00Scots in the Revolutionary War<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="BlockMargin" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK4" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody>
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As many of you know Wayne Rethford had open heart surgery on August 20. After 16 days in the hospital, he is recovering nicely at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheaton, Illinois. As of today, his scheduled release date is September 23.</div>
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Please join us on <strong>September 12</strong> in welcoming Dr. James E. Davis. Now retired and living in Michigan, he is the former William and Charlotte Gardner Professor of History and Professor of Geography at Illinois College. His latest book is <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Frontier Illinois</span>. His subject will be <em>Scots in the Revolutionary War</em>. <span style="font-size: 12pt;">Please welcome him to the Scottish American History Club!</span></div>
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Gus Noble has been kind enough to host the meeting. As usual, the museum will open at 9:00 a.m. and the meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. Coffee, tea and scones will be available. The meeting takes place in Heritage Hall, The Scottish Home, 28th & Des Plaines, North Riverside, Illinois.</div>
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<strong>PLEASE NOTE</strong>: The October and November meetings in 2015 will be cancelled.</div>
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<span style="color: black;">Elaine Rethford Moore for</span></div>
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<a aria-haspopup="true" class="Object" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT5788_com_zimbra_email" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;" tabindex="0">Wayne Rethford</a><span style="color: black;">, President Emeritus<br />Scottish-American History Club<br />Illinois Saint Andrew Society </span></div>
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wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-10185996681188396542015-07-31T08:53:00.000-07:002015-07-31T08:53:40.351-07:003 Tong, Stornoway, ScotlandHarris and Lewis make up the largest and northern-most island of the Outer Hebrides. It has a northern part called Lewis and a more mountainous southern part called Harris. The only town is Stornoway. There are two coastal “settlements” about a mile apart known as Tong and Aird Tong. The area now has modern housing, a primary school and community center. The former post office is used by the Scottish Episcopal Church. There are no shops in Tong.<br />
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Life was difficult in the 19th century in Tong. Most of the men made a living by fishing and having a small plot where potatoes could be raised and perhaps had a cow. The staple diet was a gruel-like porridge and potatoes. They may have had some beef but the primary diet was fish. <br />
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Housing was extreme. One observer described it as “sordid huts.” They were filthy, with doors so low it was necessary to “crawl in and out.” There was no wood so the huts were made of turf having no windows or chimneys. The huts housed both people and their livestock. Living here in the 1800s were Alexander MacLeod and his wife Anne. They spoke Gaelic and perhaps a little English. They were both illiterate.<br />
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Alexander and Anne had a son in 1866 whom they named Malcolm. Malcolm, like the other before him, was a fisherman and crofter. He also served as the “compulsory officer” to enforce attendance at the local school. His wife was Mary Smith, born in 1867 in Tong, Stornoway. When Mary was a baby her father was killed in a tragic accident. The four children were raised by their mother. Mary Smith lived until she was 96, dying in 1963 following a fracture of her right leg and subsequent pneumonia.<br />
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Malcolm MacLead and Mary Smith were married in the Free Church of Scotland just a few miles from Stornoway. The Rev. Murdo MacLeod performed the ceremony. The marriage produced ten children, one of whom was named Mary Anne MacLeod. She is the one we will follow.<br />
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Mary Anne MacLeod was born at 3 Tong, Stornoway on May 10, 1912. She was the youngest child of Malcolm MacLeod and Mary Smith. Apparently, she was raised in a house at 5 Tong. (There is a picture on the Internet.) In the 1930s she visited New York City. How could a fisherman’s family with ten children afford to sent one child to America? Perhaps some of you can help with the story but we know that she met a man named Fred C. Trump while visiting in New York. He had a strong German heritage. They married in 1936. She became a citizen in 1942.<br />
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Fred Trump was a builder of homes for working people who wanted a little more quality. His houses had a brick veneer, tudor facades and mansard roofs. His apartment houses had English names. He never promoted himself. He didn’t like putting his name on things. He looked German which was not a good idea during the war years so people were led to believe that he was Swedish or Dutch. Fred Trump was a successful multi-millionaire businessman. Here is something I found on the Internet.<br />
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“The old man's office in Brooklyn is left just the way it was when he had to stop working last spring. There's humble shag carpet and industrial-grade steel trim, and the walls are crowded with emblems of 80 years of building: faded pictures of the Highlander and Edgerton, a photograph of Fred meeting Ronald Reagan, three of his beloved cigar store Indians. But there's only one picture of Donald, a framed 1986 cover of Fortune. That was just before ''The Art of the Deal,'' just before Donald became a household name. Just before it became clear that Donald had eclipsed his father's noble achievement forever. They say that when pictures were taken of father and son, Fred would rise just a little on his toes -- so he would look taller.” He was married to Mary Anne for 64 years and suffered from Alzheimer’s disease before his death.<br />
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Mary Anne MacLeod Trump was the “mainstay” of the Women’s Auxiliary of Jamaica Hospital. She and her husband were also active in the Salvation Army, the Boy Scouts of America and the Lighthouse for the Blind. They also gave buildings to the National Kidney Foundation of New York and to Community Mainstreaming Associates of Great Neck, New York, which provides homes for the disabled. She spoke perfect Gaelic and returned frequently to the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides as did other members of the family.<br />
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Mary Anne Trump, born at Tong, died at the age of 88 on August 7, 2000. Her husband had died the year before. Her funeral was at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York. She was described as a philanthropist who supported charities near her home in Queens and elsewhere. Her obituary said she was survived by these children: Robert, president of his father’s property management company, Maryanne, a Third Circuit Court of Appeals judge, Elizabeth, a Chase Manhattan Bank executive, and Donald John Trump.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630-629-4516<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #990000;">Upcoming Events</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>August 5</b>: I will be speaking to the senior’s group at the Palos Park Presbyterian Church.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>September 12</b>: The History Club will resume meeting. Our speaker will be Dr. James E. Davis, now retired and living in Michigan. He is the former William and Charlotte Gardner Professor of History and Professor of Geography at Illinois College. His latest book is Frontier Illinois.</span>wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-55629515893588005952015-06-01T16:58:00.000-07:002015-06-01T16:58:06.212-07:00Morse Museum - Part IOne of the things I wanted to do on my recent trip to Florida was to visit the Morris Museum in Winter Park. With no Society appointments on Wednesday, I made the drive from Sarasota. The museum is located in the center of town in a new location since 1995. Two buildings were purchased and then joined together with a tower and designed to blend with the local area. The cost was $7 million and the area is about 42,000 square feet. It is well done in every respect.<br />
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The Scottish American History Club has had several presentations on the Columbian Exposition so we knew about the Tiffany Chapel. I also knew that there were other Chicago connections in addition to the 1893 World’s Fair.<br />
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At his studio in New York City, Louis Comfort Tiffany, designed a chapel interior for the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company and had it shipped to Chicago for the Columbian Exposition. (Tiffany & Co. was long associated with Chicago having a store here as early as the 1850s.) The chapel proved to be very popular. It was so impressive that men removed their hats and individuals knelt in prayer. The chapel won 54 medals including one for the “electrification of its imposing chandelier.”<br />
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Louis was the son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany and Company, and Harriet Olivia Avery Young, the daughter of Judge Young of Killingly, Connecticut. Tiffany’s father, Charles Lewis Tiffany was also born in Killingly. Given my limited research, the family appears to be English but “Young” is certainly a Scottish name.<br />
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Born in New York City, Louis Comfort Tiffany was married twice. First to Miss Mary Woodbridge Goddard in 1872. Mary, known as “May” was born June 5, 1846 in Salem, CT. They were married on Wednesday, May 22, 1872, by the Rev. Mr. Dana in Norwich, Conn. Mary was twenty years old. Ancestry.com does not show a father or a mother for Mary Goddard but the name appears to be English She died in 1884 at the age of thirty-two and had given birth to four children.<br />
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After her death, Tiffany married Miss Louise Wakeman Knox, daughter of the Rev. J. H. Mason Knox of Philadelphia. Here is the Scottish connection. The “patronymic and matronymic” of James Hall Mason Knox both came directly from Scottish heritage - His father from the Ulster region of Norther Ireland (Ulster-Scot) and his mother directly from Scotland. Louise was the “granddaughter of Dr. John Mason who was born in Mid-Calder Scotland in 1734.” (Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society [1901-1930] Vol. No. 2 [September 1903], pp. 65-74). He and his second wife also had four children.<br />
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In 1885, Tiffany built a home commissioned by his father, at Seventh-Second Street and Madison Avenue in New York City. It was designed and built by the Scottish firm of McKim, Mead and White with 57 rooms. The home no longer exists but there is a picture on the <a href="http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2011/06/lost-louis-comfort-tiffany-mansion-898.html" target="_blank">Internet</a>.<br />
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One contemporary critic of Tiffany stated: “It is acknowledged by all experts that the great advance made in this country in both colored windows and wall mosaic work is largely due to the discoveries and inventions of Mr. Tiffany, Particularly that of Favrile Glass.” Favrile glass was an iridescent glass that Tiffany created in his famous Tiffany studios, Favrile glass was copied by almost every important glass studio working at the time but few came close to the quality and style that Tiffany employed in his process.” (<i>American Silversmiths</i>). He was even commissioned by President Chester A. Arthur to decorate the White House. Louis Comfort Tiffany was described as a Renaissance man.<br />
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When the Chicago Public Library (now the Chicago Cultural Center) was finished in 1897, it contained a 38-foot glass dome designed by Tiffany. It had some 30,000 separate pieces of art glass set in 243 panels. It remained unchanged until the 1930's when it was covered by a concrete and copper dome. The dome has now been removed so that natural light can reflect the original beauty. Stop in and see it some day. On the Internet, you can find an article entitled “A Tale of Two Tiffanies Restored” by Gary L. Cole that gives more information.<br />
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The Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Illinois has several Tiffany windows. When the World’s Fair occurred in Chicago many parishioners visited the Fair and became acquainted with Tiffany. In 1895, the church received its first window. One of the windows “may have been the central panel of Tiffany’s Chapel...according to church oral history.” The Second Presbyterian church in Chicago has nine stained glass windows by Tiffany. “Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Indiana has a collection of 62 Tiffany windows which are still in their original placement but the church is deteriorating and is in jeopardy.” The American Church in Paris has two windows and there are others, but too many for this short article.<br />
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After the World’s Fair in 1893, the chapel was dismantled and taken back to New York City. In 1898, Mrs. Celia Whipple Wallace (there must be a Scottish story with that name) bought the chapel and gave it to The Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine which was under construction at the time. The Priest was opposed to the style of architecture, so it was placed in the basement and the arches cut to fit the space. It suffered water damage and finally in 1916, Louis Tiffany wrote the church and offered to remove it at his expense.<br />
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He had it taken to his estate, Laurelton Hall, on Long Island. Tiffany had designed and built a mansion of eight levels with 84-rooms on 600 acres of land, including 60 acres of formal gardens. The chapel was placed in a separate building. After Tiffany’s death, the estate fell into disrepair. It had originally cost about $2,000,000 to build. It was sold for $10,000 in 1949 and burned in 1957.<br />
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At the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida you can see the restored chapel. It is quite amazing and beautiful. How it was saved and restored by Hugh & Jeannette McKean is part II of our story. Mrs. McKean was born and reared in Chicago.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, Past President<br />
Illinois St. Andrew Society<br />
630-629-4516<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #660000;">Upcoming Events:</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>History Club: June 6</b> </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">“Bloody Omaha Beach” as we honor those who fought and died on D-Day, 1945. Everyone is invited. Reservations not necessary but helpful. Call 708-447-5092. Coffee and scones as usual.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: #660000;">Highland Games: June 17 & 18</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">Click here for <a href="http://www.chicagoscots.org/highland-games-folder/" target="_blank">tickets and information</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>Help another Piper</b> - We all have our favorite pipers, I suppose if you have need of a piper, you probably know who to call. But, if you don’t, here is a young man looking for opportunities this summer. His name is Austin Wallerstedt and he is a student at Monmouth College on a piping scholarship. He is a “lifetime member of the Chicago Highlanders and will be starting to play with the Greater Midwest Pipe Band in the coming year.” He will be participating at the Highland Games in Milwaukee and our Chicago games in Itasca. If you know of any piping opportunities this summer, his email is awallerstedt@monmouthcollege.edu.</span>wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-12700068233663078072015-05-11T09:29:00.000-07:002015-05-11T09:36:09.709-07:00It all started in ChicagoIf you follow me on Facebook, you know that I made a recent trip to Florida. My last day was in Sarasota on a Sunday and since I didn’t have a church to attend, I decided to do something different. The day before, driving up from Naples on I -75, I noticed a sign that said “Sarasota National Cemetery.” After an early breakfast, I drove south to state road 72 and turned east for four miles and found the cemetery.<br />
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The cemetery is new, the 295 acres being purchased in 2007, and should serve veterans’ needs for the next 50 years. As I entered the grounds to my left was a large structure of some kind so that was my first stop. It was an amphitheater, seating almost 3,000 and covered by a glass roof of some 20,800 sq. ft. consisting of 792 glass panels. The rostrum is also glass covered and is almost the size of two tennis courts. It can seat a 55-piece orchestra. You can click here for <a href="http://patriotplaza.thepattersonfoundation.org/" target="_blank">pictures and more information</a>.<br />
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Off to one side is a display that traces the history of the glass covered theater. The first display shows a picture of the Chicago Tribune building in 1855 and mentions Joseph Medill. The next is a photograph of President Lincoln because he authorized the purchase of grounds for a national cemetery in 1862. The next is dated 1914 and says: “Medill’s grandsons Col. Robert McCormick and Capt. Joseph Medill Patterson served in U.S. armed forces during World War I. The next display is dated 1944 and is a picture of Medill’s great grandson, James J. Patterson, a graduate of West Point who achieved the rank of captain. The final display is dated 1997 and shows a picture of James J. Patterson and his wife, Dorothy Clarke Patterson, who created the Patterson Foundation that erected the glass covered amphitheater.<br />
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Medill, McCormick, and Patterson all names that can be traced back to Chicago and then through northern Ireland to Scotland. This is a complicated story and difficult to tell the story of so many people. This is just a summary. I didn’t even get to the McCormick side of the family.<br />
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Joseph Medill married Katherine Patrick on September 2, 1852, and the marriage produced three daughters: Katherine, Elinor and Josephine.<br />
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Katherine, the oldest, married Robert S. McCormick who served as our ambassador to Austria, Russia, France and England. He was also the Special Commissioner from Great Britain to the Worlds Columbian Exposition in 1893. They had two sons: Joseph Medill McCormick and Robert Rutherford McCormick.<br />
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Elinor, married Robert W. Patterson, Jr. in 1878. (His father was the Reverend Mr. Patterson, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago.) The two had met while teaching Sunday School in a mission church. After graduation from Yale, he began working as a reporter for the <i>Chicago Times</i> and later worked at the <i>Interior</i>. He began working for the <i>Tribune</i> shortly before the great fire in 1871. When Joseph Medill died, Patterson became editor-in-chief of the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>.<br />
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They had two children, Joseph Medill Patterson and Elinor Josephine Medill “Cissy” Patterson. Joseph became the president of the <i>New York Daily News</i> and vice president of the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>.<br />
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He also had a very complicated life including the birth a son, James Joseph Patterson, born in France. He was also the father of Alicia Patterson, who founded and edited <i>Newsday</i>.<br />
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His sister, Elinor Josephine Medill Patterson, always known as “Cissy” was born in Chicago on November 7, 1884. She was educated at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut. It’s a long and complicated story which included a marriage to a Russian count, the birth of a daughter and finally a divorce which took thirteen years. After that she lived for a time in Lake Forest, Illinois, before moving on to Washington, D.C. She was one of the first women to own a major newspaper, the <i>Washington Times-Herald</i>. She died in 1948.<br />
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James Joseph Patterson, the great-grandson of Joseph Medill, was raised in Ossining, New York. He graduated from West Point in 1944 and soon after married Dorothy Marie Clarke. (Her father was a prison guard at Sing Sing with 14 siblings.) They met in grade school. After his military career, he joined the <i>Daily News</i> as a reporter in Washington, D.C. In 1958, he became vice president.<br />
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Mr. and Mrs. James Joseph Patterson retired to Longboat Key, Florida, where he died on June 24, 1992. Dorothy Clark Patterson died September 20, 2007. Five years after the death of her husband she created the Patterson Foundation with a gift of $5 million. Her estate of an estimated $225 million was added to the Foundation in 2008. She left few guidelines as to how the Foundation should operate. The Foundation built and maintains the amphitheater which is used for concerts and programs. Last year, the Army band held a concert there which was open to the public. Interesting family and I hope I have all the facts correct.<br />
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Who is like us? Nae body!<br />
<br />
Wayne Rethford<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">wrethford@comcast.net</a>, President Emeritus<br />
630-629-4516<br />
Wrethford@comcast.net<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #660000;">Upcoming Events</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>June 6, 2015</b> - This is the last meeting until September. Since it falls on D-Day, we should do something about the invasion. It may be a combination of several power point presentations but concentrate on “Bloody Omaha Beach.”</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>Highland Games - June 19-20</b>. Held on the grounds of Hamilton Lakes, Itasca, Illinois, located at I-290 and Thorndale Avenue. For additional information <a href="http://www.chicagoscots.org/highlandgames/" target="_blank">click here</a>.</span>wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-63220962481431513882015-04-27T13:45:00.000-07:002015-04-27T13:45:01.644-07:00Joseph MedillMr. Medill is a member of the Scottish American Hall of Fame. Here is the information on his plaque.<br />
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"Commenting on his death in 1899, a competitive Chicago newspaper said of <i>Chicago Tribune </i>editor Joseph Medill, 'No man of his time exercised a more decisive - or on the whole - a more beneficial influence on public affairs as Mr. Medill.'<br />
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"As editor of the fledgling <i>Chicago Tribune</i>, Joseph Medill gave the newspaper character and set it on the path to success. He served as mayor of Chicago just after the fire of 1871, instituting the reforms that still endure. He was a confidant and adviser to Abraham Lincoln. And, as editor and delegate, he had wide influence in shaping the Illinois Constitution of 1870.<br />
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"Two Presidents offered him cabinet posts but he turned them down. He was one of the founders of the Republican party and instrumental in selecting the name. Joseph Medill was born April 6, 1823, near St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. His parents were Scots Presbyterian who emigrated from Ulster in 1819. The family moved to Ohio when Joseph was 9. He studied law and was admitted to the Ohio bar but quickly turned to journalism. He edited newspapers which he bought and sold until 1855 when he moved to Chicago to become part owner of the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>. From then on until his death, he was a major force in the newspaper’s growth and influence as well as the city of Chicago.<br />
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"As an abolitionist, Medill effectively rallied Midwest public opinion against slavery. Medill actively supported Lincoln during his rise to prominence, became his adviser, and urged him to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.<br />
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"He worked until the day he died in a San Antonio, Texas, hotel on March 16, 1899. Editorials he had written appeared in the <i>Tribune</i> two days after his death."<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> James C. Thompson<br />
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In coming day, I want to take some members of the Medill family and follow their lives. One branch is involved in the new National Cemetery in Sarasota, Florida which I visited last week.<br />
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<b>Lake Forest report:</b> More than 200 people crowded into the auditorium to watch The Scots of Lake Forest on April 11, 2015. I am told the phone rang constantly on Saturday but there was no additional space. The weather was spectacular, so people had a chance to be outside and enjoy the gardens. You can only imagine how beautiful it was when the Amour’s lived in the house. Those who attended were complimentary so it appears the film exceeded expectations. No doubt there will be more opportunities to see the film, so watch for future announcements.<br />
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<b>History Club - May 2, 2015:</b> Join us in Heritage Hall at the Scottish Home, 28th & Des Plaines, North Riverside, IL. I will be doing the presentation continuing our discussion of the Society’s history from 1875 to 1885. We have been doing these history presentation in 10 year blocks. Bob Peterson is kind enough to bring all his expensive equipment and record the session which he then edits and places on a disc. These are available for $20.00 each.<br />
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We will also celebrate <b>May birthdays</b>, including mine. If you have a birthday in May come and join us for birthday cake, scones, coffee and tea. Sweet Pea, the dog, will attend, so if you have not had the opportunity to meet SP or to view the Scottish American Museum, May 2 is your day.<br />
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<b>History Club - June 6, 2015</b>. This is our last meeting until September and it falls on D-Day. We will concentrate our presentation on bloody Omaha Beach in honor of all our servicemen who served during World War II.<br />
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<b>Scottish Festivals and Highland Games - June 19-20</b> at Hamilton Lakes in Itasca, Illinois. Click here for <a href="http://www.chicagoscots.org/highlandgames/" target="_blank">complete information</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois St. Andrew Society<br />
630-629-4516wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-4157374707854220712015-03-27T11:20:00.002-07:002015-03-27T11:40:55.818-07:00I am Lolita Sheldon ArmourHello,<br />
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My name is Lolita Sheldon Amour. Actually, it’s Lola H. but I changed it in the 1900s. I understand that some of you will be viewing <i>The Scots of Lake Forest</i> in our country home on April 11. It was a wonderful place to live and I am pleased it still exists. Did you know I grew prize winning roses at Mellody Farm? I am sure they must all be gone by now. During the Great War, we also grew acres and acres of potatoes for our troops. We had two other homes but this was our favorite.<br />
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I was born in Suffield, Connecticut in 1869. My father was Martin J. Sheldon and he was from an old family in Connecticut. My mother was born in England. Sadly, she died when I was eleven. It was a very difficult time but my dad did the best he could under the circumstances. He placed me in Miss Porter’s school in Farmington. It was a great school and gave the training I needed for all the other phases of my life. My father never remarried and died in 1917. He is buried beside my mother in the Woodlawn Cemetery, Suffield, CT.<br />
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It wasn’t easy to travel then but I made several trips to Chicago visiting friends. On one of those trip, I met Ogden Amour. I think it was at a party but I do remember it was love at first sight. We talked and talked about our common interests and Ogden was very persistent, a trait that served him well in business. Three weeks later our engagement was announced.<br />
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Three months later, May 13, 1891, we were married in New York City. I was 22 and Ogden was 28. My father lived at the Murray Hill Hotel and we reserved one of the private parlors. It was elaborately trimmed with roses, lilacs, and hydrangeas. We stood under a canopy of roses for our vows and Dr. Gunsaulus of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Chicago read the marriage service. You recognize that name, don’t you? He’s the one who preached <i>The Million Dollar Sermon </i>that had such a dramatic effect on my father-in-law, Philip D. Amour.<br />
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It was a very small wedding there were no ushers and my husband didn’t have a best man. I only had two attendants: Miss Murray of Chicago and Miss Farrington of Rhinebeck, New York. Only family members and close friends were present. My father gave me away and I so wished my mother could have been there. She would have been so happy.<br />
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You should have seen my wedding gown. It was made in Paris of all places and I remember it like it was yesterday. It was made of white brocaded satin with a full court train and trimmed across the front of the skirt with a frill of old point lace. Ogden had given me a diamond lovers’ knot which fastened my tulle vest and I carried a bouquet of lilies of the valley. My granddaughter wore the same dress when she was married in 1953. I wonder what happened to the dress and the diamond knot? After the ceremony we traveled throughout the south.<br />
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By September of that same year work began on our first home, It was located on the northwest corner of Michigan avenue and Thirty-seventh place in Chicago. Such a large house for just two people but the Amour’s had an image to uphold. Ogden loved long halls and grand stairways and this house had both. You will see the same pattern when you visit our country home on April 11. The house wasn’t finished until the end of ‘92 and on January 14, 1893 we had a grand open house. Everyone came to visit. It was like the “who’s who” of Chicago. Just look at these names: Kimball, McNeil, Kellogg, Allerton, Keith, Pullman, Farwell, Buckingham, Peck, Spaulding, McIllwaine and the list goes on and on. It was a wonderful night and our poodles had such a good time.<br />
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This is a funny story from our past. We owned the first horseless carriage in Chicago. Ogden bought it in Europe and had it delivered to Chicago. So, one day, I left home to get Ogden from work. His office was in the Home Insurance building at Adams and La Salle. Here I am a woman in 1899 driving the first vehicle in Chicago that was not being pulled by a horse. You should have seen the look of amazement on the faces of policemen and of course the horses snorted and bucked at this strange sight and sound. When we finally arrived home, Ogden declared firmly and finally, “Never again, Lolita, it isn’t safe.” We had such marvelous fun and great memories. If I remember correctly, we also brought the first gas powered automobile to Chicago. It was a Panhard and painted a bright red. Sorry we didn’t keep that car. It was such a favorite.<br />
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Since we are talking about cars, and since you are going to visit Lake Forest on April 11, I think this is also a funny story. Arthur L. Farwell brought the first car to Lake Forest in 1904. The town fathers thought it so dangerous that they passed a special ordinance for protection. “This required a man on horseback to ride ahead of Mr. Farwell waving a red flag and ringing a copper dinner bell.”<br />
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Our daughter was born in 1897. We didn’t think she was going to live. She was premature and crippled. Most premature children born at that time never lived but Lolita was such a fighter and she made it. Perhaps, I should let her tell her own story some day. It was such a painful time that we never had any more children but you should have seen Ogden when he arrived home and had time to spend with our baby.<br />
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Ogden could always make money and he accumulated great wealth which in private he shared freely. We supported many charities but tried to be anonymous when we could. Toward the end of his life, events began to turn against him. I won’t go into detail but we lost everything including the mansion in Lake Forest.<br />
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It is still painful to talk about his death. Ogden was in London at the time and was staying in the Amour suite at the Carlton hotel. He had contracted typhoid fever and that, combined with a weak heart, was just too much. He was sixty-four and the date was August 27, 1927. We brought him home on the <i>Derengaria </i>and the funeral was held at the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. The church was filled with the rich and the poor. They touched shoulders with each other as they paid tribute. Many stood around the edges of the sanctuary. He was buried in the family plot at Graceland.<br />
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When you visit our home on April 11, I hope you will think of us and how much we enjoyed this place as our summer home. Remember, the program begins at 2:00 p.m. on April 11, 2015 and the film lasts an hour followed by a reception. I hope this small article of memory will help you appreciate the great mansion and the Scots of Lake Forest. Ogden was always proud of his Scottish heritage, and he was a life member of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society. Please wear your Scottish attire and kilt if you have one.<br />
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<a href="https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07eamfzz7ha5e7545d&oseq=&c=&ch=" target="_blank">Click here to register</a>................<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630-629-4516<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>Personal Note</b>: I will be in the <b>Sarasota and Naples</b> area, <b>April 14 through Sunday, April 19</b> If you would like to have breakfast, lunch or dinner, call me or sent an email to <a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net">wrethford@comcast.net</a>. I will be attending a meeting, doing Scottish research, etc. If you are knowledgeable about Bertha Palmer and her land holdings in the Sarasota area, please contact me. If you are a member of a St. Andrew’s Society, please contact me. I will have a rental car and don’t mind driving to you.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>April 4, 2015</b> - History Club meeting will feature the town of Pullman. Our speaker will be Michael Shymanski. He and his wife live in Pullman and they were founding members of the Historic Pullman Foundation. You will hear about some of the Scots who lived and worked in the town of Pullman. Museum opens at 9 a.m. and the program begins at 10.</span>wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-27314316709472024202015-03-23T10:43:00.000-07:002015-03-23T10:43:31.242-07:00The Scots of Lake ForestThe Historical Society of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff will sponsor a premier of the video “The Scots of Lake Forest” on Saturday, April 11 at 2 p.m. The video will be shown in the Amour house of Lake Forest Academy. Once described as the “most beautiful house between New York and San Francisco” it was built as the country home of J. Ogden Amour. At the time, Mr. Amour was described as the second richest man in the world.<br />
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He purchased several contiguous farms and accumulated more than twelve hundred acres. They called it Mellody Farm. The architect was Arthur Heun of Chicago and the contractor was a Scot, Morton R. Mavor. I have read they brought in black dirt to cover two hundred acres a depth of two feet around the house. Construction started in 1905 and the residence of 29,000 square feet was occupied on May 5, 1908. It is built in the shape of the letter H. Landscaping was done by Jens Jensen.<br />
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When you attend the event on April 11, you will enter the central hallway which is 20 feet wide and 112 feet long. At the far end is a fireplace. From here one can enter the music room, the library, the dining room and a breakfast room at the back. There are pictures on the walls which show how the house was originally decorated. “Displaying tapestries against warm white walls, the entrance was furnished with long, low benches, giant porcelain jardinieres, marble-topped 18th-century consoles, and a Chinese lacquer cabinet on a gilt-wood stand.” The floor of the main hall was of marble tile, but almost entirely covered with rugs. It must have been spectacular!<br />
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Between the dining room and the living room is the great marble stairway leading to the second floor. The marble was rose and green with a bronze railing. The stairway was then covered with a magnificently woven carpet. If you use your imagination, you can almost see their daughter, Lolita descending the stairs at her wedding to John J. Mitchell, Jr. in 1921.<br />
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The Amour House is the perfect venue for the showing of “The Scots of Lake Forest.” The Amour’s came from Argyllshire, Scotland where the chief town is Campbelltown. Philip Danforth Amour established the great meat-packing business in Chicago and became a benefactor of the arts and education. He provided the funds to establish the Amour Institute now known as the Illinois Institute of Technology. “He was one of the most generous supporters of the Scottish organization known as the Illinois Saint Andrew Society.” J. Ogden who built the mansion was the only surviving son of Philip D. Amour and his wife Lolita Sheldon Amour.<br />
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There were four permanent residents in the mansion and each had a bedroom in a corner of the H shaped second floor. Mr. Amour lived on the right and had a study on the main floor with private stairs and an elevator. Mrs. Amour lived on the left but there was no connecting hallway between the two bedrooms. Lolita lived in the back bedroom and the mother of J. Ogden lived in the remaining one. Each bedroom also had a separate sitting room.<br />
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Mellody Farm cost 12 million dollars. It had its own water and power sources. There were orchards, a carriage house with a clock tower, stables, and an ice house. There were gold and silver doorknobs, imported marble walls with a bowling alley in the basement and 210 fireplaces. The Amour’s were very wealthy, but not everyone who lived in Lake Forest was and many of those people are featured in the video showing on April 11 beginning at 2 p.m. The hour-long film touches on many of the almost 1,000 native born Scots and their children who helped establish Lake Forest. The video also recognizes the hardworking Scots who paved the streets, built the school, dug the sewers and ran many of the original stores in town. Over 2,000 vintage photographs were collected for this project. You will also hear about the Scots who founded Carson, Pirie and Scott and ran Quaker Oats and the Zenith Corporation.<br />
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Admission fee $10.00. Lake Forest Academy is located at 1500 W. Kennedy Road, Lake Forest, IL. Seating is limited to 150.<br />
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Click here to <a href="https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07eamfzz7ha5e7545d&oseq=&c=&ch=" target="_blank">register</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
The Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630.629.4516<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #660000;">Upcoming Events</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>April 4, 2015 -</b> History Club meeting will feature the Town of Pullman. Our speaker will be Michael Shymanski. He and his wife live in Pullman and he was a founding member of the Historic Pullman Foundation. You will hear about the Scots who lived and worked in the town of Pullman.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><b>May 2, 2015</b> - History Club meeting will celebrate all the May birthdays and we will cover 10 more years of Scottish history in Chicago. Details later.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><b>June 6, 2015</b> - “Bloody Omaha Beach on D-Day.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><i>No meeting in July or August</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><b>September 12, 2015 </b>- Speaker is Dr. James E. Davis. “Unusual Features of the American Revolution.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><b>October 3, 2015</b> - Dr. Euan Hague</span>wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-79974172865471457742015-03-04T08:03:00.004-08:002015-03-04T08:17:12.712-08:00Hats, Pullman, Lake Forest & a Cairngorm Brooch<br />
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All About Hats</span></b><br />
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On Saturday, <b>March 7, 2015</b>, Mary Robak will be our speaker. She will be talking about how millinery evolved from the fur trade to its peak in the 1920s. We will hear about the “movers and shakers of the industry.” “The industry of Edson Keith, Fisk and Gage led the wholesale world in the midwest, west and to a lesser extent, other parts of the U.S. Chicago grew many department stores with a significant reliance on their millinery sales.”<br />
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As you know, we have six Bes Ben hats in our museum and they will be on display. We had hoped that the hats might lead us back to the original owners but that appears unlikely. We have one hat box with the name Mary Watt on the tag. Mary was a resident at the Scottish Home and died July 20, 2000. She was born in Scotland, February 2, 1903.<br />
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On March 7, the museum will open at 9 a.m., the program will start at 10 and finish in about an hour. Reservations are not necessary but helpful. Call 708.408.5591. There is no charge. Coffee and scones will be available.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Town of Pullman</b></span><br />
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The History Club on <b>April 4, 2015</b>, will turn its attention to the Town of Pullman and our speaker will be Michael Shymanski. He is a Pullman resident and founding member of the Historic Pullman Foundation. As you know, President Obama visited the Pullman district in February and established the district as a National Monument within the National Park System. Mr. Shymanski was featured widely in newspaper and radio articles about the event.<br />
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You may hear about the Scots who lived and worked in the town of Pullman.<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Lake Forest Video</b></span><br />
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The premiere of the movie The Scots of Lake Forest will be held on <b>April 11, 2015</b>, at the Lake Forest Academy beginning at 2:00 p.m. The hour-long video touches on many of the almost 1,000 native born Scots and their children who helped establish Lake Forest. You’ll learn about the Scots who founded Carson, Pirie and Scot, ran Quaker Oats and the Zenith Corporation. <br />
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Over 2,000 old photographs were collected for this project, many from private collections, as well as the Scottish American History Museum and Lake Forest Historical Society’s photograph collection.<br />
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The premiere takes place in the Amour Manson at Lake Forest Academy, the former home of Scotsman J. Ogden Amour. Refreshments will follow the movie. Signed copies of Eddi Reader’s CD, The Songs of Robert Burns, which accompanies the film, will be available for a donation of $20.<br />
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Tickets are $10 - reservations requested. Tickets may be purchased by calling 847.234.5253 or visiting the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society website. You can also call Wayne Rethford at 630.629.4516.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">50 Carat, Stirling Silver Cairngorm Brooch</span></b><br />
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I saw this brooch at the Burn’s Dinner held at the Union League Club in Chicago and it is beautiful and impressive. It was crafted by R. & H.B. Kirkwood who were responsible for making the dirks and sgian dubhs for the Gordon Highlander’s Regiment. A very few Cairngorm Military Brooches were made, most likely for the top ranking officers. Date 1902-03.<br />
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The dimensions of this extremely large and impressive brooch are as follows:<br />
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Diameter: 4 1/8 inches<br />
Height: This brooch will stand c. 2 inches high when worn on your clan tartan sash<br />
Carats: 250<br />
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This unique brooch is now for sale. If interested, please contact whitney.templeton@att.net.<br />
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<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630.629.4516wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-37908248552873070392015-02-11T08:50:00.001-08:002015-02-11T09:07:57.857-08:00The Architect and the SilversmithIn the last blog, I wrote about Robert Jarvie the silversmith. When Jarvie had a problem with design, he often turned to his friend, George Grant Elmslie, the architect. They worked together on a number of projects including items for sale at Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company.<br />
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In 1912, the Aero-Hydro Club of Illinois sponsored an International Aviation meet in Chicago. Jarvie was asked to design a trophy for the winner of a ten-mile hydroplane race. He turned to Elmslie for help on the design. “The trophy’s angular column and rounded bowl, embellished with delicately designed flying fish and seaweed, create a perfect setting for the model hydroplane perched on top.” You can see a picture <a href="http://blog.chicagohistory.org/index.php/2011/08/an-elegant-tradition/" target="_blank">here</a>. For some reason the trophy was never awarded and now resides in the Chicago History Museum.<br />
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George Grant Elmslie, the architect, was born February 20, 1871, on a farm called Foot O’ Hill in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, near the town of Huntly. His formal education began in the Riggens School in Gartly and continued in the famous and highly disciplined Duke of Gordon School in Huntly. His father came to Chicago in 1883 and was employed by the Armour Company. The family arrived one year later.<br />
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At the age of 16, George Elmslie began training with J. L. Silsbee where he worked with Corin, Maher and Frank Lloyd Wright. He followed Wright to Louis Sullivan where he worked for 20 years and was considered a devoted assistant. During that time, he detailed the exterior of the Wainwright Building in St. Louis and designed the ironwork entrance and interior finish of the Carson, Pirie, Scott building in Chicago.<br />
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“Craig Zabel writes of architect George Grant Elmslie who believed he never got proper credit for work done in Sullivan’s office. Still, Elmslie was so respectful of Sullivan that after his death he destroyed Sullivan’s diaries, thus keeping secret part of the master’s personal life and depriving historians of a rich resource.” (<i>Chicago Tribune</i>, March 21, 1991, pg G14.) He also designed, along with William L. Steele of Sioux City, Iowa, the monument erected on Louis Sullivan’s grave in Graceland Cemetery.<br />
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On September 14, 1910, Elmslie married Bonnie Marie Hunter. He was 39, and she was 29. William Purcell said “No man was happier in winning his bride than George Grant Elmslie.” They moved to their new home in Minneapolis, where George Elmslie had just become a partner in the firm of Purcell, Feick and Elmslie. According to her death certificate, she was admitted to a Chicago hospital in late August, 1912. She died of a blood clot in the lungs after an appendectomy, September 8 1912, and is buried at Graceland. I found one <a href="http://www.organica.org/pegge8_1.htm" target="_blank">picture</a> of the couple on the Internet. He was profoundly affected by the death of his wife and often worked himself into a state of exhaustion which required hospitalization. He never married again and there were no children.<br />
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Elmslie died April 25, 1952 and is buried in Graceland Cemetery with his wife and three members of her family.<br />
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The Internet lists some 400 projects where Elmslie was listed as the architect. Just a few of his commissions are listed below. For more see <a href="http://www.foxvalleyarts.org/" target="_blank">Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame</a> which is now located in Elgin, Illinois.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Henry Babson house, 277 Gatesby Road, Riverside, IL.</li>
<li>People’s Gas Light & Coke Co. 4839 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago</li>
<li>Healy Chapel, 332 W. Downer Pl., Aurora, IL.</li>
<li>“Windy Pines” 1421 Milwaukee Rd., Glevniew, IL. </li>
<li>Edison Jr. High School, Hammond, IN.</li>
<li>Lake Lawn Hotel, Lelavan, WI.</li>
<li>St. Charles Country Club, St. Charles, IL.</li>
<li>Maxwelton Braes Resort Hotel, Baileys Harbor, WI.</li>
<li>The Airplane House, Woods Hole, MA.</li>
<li>Purcell-Cutts House, Minneapolis, Minnesota</li>
<li>Merchants National Bank Building, Winona, Minnesota</li>
</ul>
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I don’t know that Elmslie was a member of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society but his office was in the People’s Gas, Light, & Coke building on Michigan Avenue. Here he would have been surrounded by Scots including John Williamson. There is one record of a gift from George Elmslie supporting the Scottish Home in 1924. He also signed the admission request for the Jarvie’s to the Scottish Home.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630.629.4516<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>Upcoming Events:</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>March 7, 2015</b> - All about hats, including the Bess Ben hats in the Scottish American Museum. Our speaker is Mary Robak who wants every woman to wear a hat. She and Elizabeth Fanuzzi have been studying our six Bess Ben hats in the hope their original owner could be identified. </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>April 4, 2015</b> - The Town of Pullman. The President is coming to Chicago next week to designate the Town of Pullman, Illinois, a historic site on the National Register. I just heard our speaker, Michael Shymanski, talking about this event on the radio.</span><br />
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wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-89030843200237174362015-01-28T03:45:00.000-08:002015-01-28T03:49:13.939-08:00Robert Jarvie, Silversmith A friend of mine recently saw two Onwentsia golf trophies for sale and then I saw two candlesticks made by the same person for sale. We don’t know much about the trophies but the candlesticks came from Oak Park, Illinois, and they sold for $60,000. All three items were made by Robert Jarvie.<br />
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Robert Riddle Jarvie was born in Schenectady, New York, on October 24, 1865. His parents, Robert Jarvie and Jane Riddle, were both born in Alva, Scotland. In the 1870 census they were living in Rockford, Illinois. In the 1880 census the family lived in Minneapolis. The father was 44, the mother was 38 and Robert R. was 15. The father worked in a woolen mill and was perhaps a weaver.<br />
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Robert Jarvie came to Chicago in the late 1890s and worked as a clerk in the Department of Transportation. In his spare time, he began to experiment with various metals. “Apparently self-taught he may have also studied at AIC.” (Art Institute of Chicago?)<br />
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He married Lillian Gray from Rockford but I couldn’t find a date. Also, one writer says there is no picture of Robert Jarvie or his wife anywhere. She is described in one article as a writer and book seller. There were no children. With the help of his wife, they opened a store in the Fine Arts Building where they sold “candlesticks, lanterns, copper bowls, bookends, sconces, vases, trays, smoking accessories, and desk sets.”<br />
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In 1910, Jarvie was commissioned by Charles Hutchinson to produce a silver punch bowl for the Cliff Dwellers Club of Chicago. Both Hutchinson and Jarvie were charter members. This is the only work by Jarvie that I have seen thanks to an invitation from Nike Whitcombe and Brice McDonald to attend one of their events. It is a beautiful bowl and a prized possession.<br />
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After 1912, Jarvie’s shop was located on the upper floor of the Old English Cottage at 842 Exchange Avenue in the Union Stock Yards. Here, he designed trophies for the International Live Stock Exhibition. “He won acclaim for his tea sets, candles, and bowls patterned after those of Paul Revere,” He also added furniture making and wool rugs but these were not successful. “These new enterprises failed to sustain him through America’s involvement in World War I and by 1920 he was forced to close his shop. Thereafter he lapsed into obscurity until a recent revival of interest in his work brought him recognition as one of America’s outstanding modern silversmiths.” In 1915, Lillian took a job as secretary at the National Kindergarten College which apparently evolved into National Louis University.<br />
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You can see examples of his work in the Hirsch & Adler gallery in New York City, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago History Museum, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. No examples of his furniture making have been found. Very little is know about him after his retirement years but he did work in the silver department at Peacock’s for a short time before they entered The Scottish Old People’s Home. At the time, they lived at 2020 Sherman Avenue in Evanston, Illinois.<br />
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They entered the Scottish Home, May 1, 1941. They had no savings but Mrs. Jarvie had a $7,500 life insurance policy and was drawing a $50 a month pension from Northwestern University. She had worked until 1940 as the secretary to William A. Dyche, business manager of Northwestern University. They also rented 2 rooms in their home. They had been recommended for admission by Mrs. Lister of Evanston, George Elmslie (the architect), and John Jeffrey of 810 Greenleaf Avenue, Glenview, Illinois. She died October 6, 1941 at the age of 70 from cardiac arrest.<br />
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The application for Robert Jarvie shows that he had no personal property, no real estate, no pension or benefits, and no life insurance. He was a Baptist and in case of serious illness the Home was to notify Mrs. Raymond Sheets in Rockford, Illinois. It would be interesting to know where they lived in the Scottish Home but those records may be gone. One month after his wife died, Mr. Jarvie was visiting someone in Chicago when he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 76 years old.<br />
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They are both buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Rockford, Illinois.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, Past President<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630.6298.4516<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #660000;">Upcoming Events:</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>February 7, 2015</b> - Professor Euan Hague of DePaul University. "From Christmas Day 1950 to September 2014 - A history of modern Scottish Nationalism.” The September 2014 Scottish referendum was a remarkable event. Around 85% of the electorate voted, and a majority decided that Scotland should remain in the United Kingdom. The bigger story, however, was that of the Scottish nationalists who gained 45% of the vote for independence and separation from the United Kingdom. This promises to be a very informative meeting for our members. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><b>March 7, 2015</b> - “Hats, including our Bess Ben hats.” The speaker is Mary Robak who wants every woman to wear a hat. She and Elizabeth Fanuzzi have been studying the six Bess Ben hats in our museum. You will find their presentation very interesting and entertaining.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>April 4, 2015</b> - The Town of Pullman. </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;">The Scottish-American Museum opens at 9 a.m. on the day of our event and the program begins at 10. There is no charge. Reservations not necessary but helpful. Call 708-408-5591. The Scottish Home is located at 28th and Des Plaines, North Riverside, Illinois.</span><br />
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<br />wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-6748814457077710302015-01-16T19:35:00.003-08:002015-01-16T19:45:12.843-08:00Pullman Town and ScotsIn 1996, we chartered a bus and drove to the Florence Hotel in the town of Pullman. After lunch, we held a quarterly meeting of the Society and then took a tour of the town. What we didn’t know at the time was the influence that Scots had exerted on the Pullman Company and the town itself. In November, while reading through obituaries posted in the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>, I came across the funeral for John McLachlan. That led to a call to the Historic Pullman Foundation and our History Club speaker on April 4, Michael Shymanski.<br />
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Alexander McLachlan, the father, was apparently a major figure in the building of the town of Pullman. However, there is only one article about him in the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>. It was written by Jeanne McCarthy and published on October 11, 1942. The article says that George Pullman brought Alec McLachlan from Glasgow, Scotland, to specifically build the town of Pullman and the Pullman shops.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
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He also built himself a home at 24 E. 114th Place. It was a three-story brick house with stone trim. A family man, he enjoyed having his six children around him constantly. “When the young men of Pullman began to frequent billiard parlors, he equipped a billiard parlor in his home for his sons. When they became old enough to be lured to dance halls, he established a ballroom in the house. When physical culture became the fad, he constructed a gymnasium at home. The McLachlan house became the focal point in Pullman.”<br />
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There were banquets in the house as well and many of the town’s most elaborate functions were held there. In 1942, John McLachlan, the only surviving son, sold the home to the San Salvador Knight’s of Columbus Lodge. I could not find any information about the lodge on the Internet, so I assume it no longer exists.<br />
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John lived with his sister, Mrs. Agnes Vanderbilt, at 11432 Prairie Avenue. He died in 1949. His funeral was held at the Roseland Presbyterian church and he was buried in Oakwoods Cemetery. John was “prominent in Scottish Societies, being a member of St. Andrew’s Society and Lodge 41 of Clan McDonald. He was a bachelor.”<br />
<br />
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630.629.4516<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #660000;">Upcoming Events:</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>February 7, 2015</b>. Our Speaker will be Professor Euan Hague of DePaul University. Dr. Hague was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He moved to Syracuse University in 1994 to pursue a Ph.D. that examined the relationship of Scottish-Americans to Scotland. He is now Professor and Chair of Geography at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of the Board of Governors, Illinois St. Andrew’s Society. The paragraph below describes his proposed speech to the History Club.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span><span style="color: #660000;"><i>"From Christmas Day 1950 to September 2014 - A history of modern Scottish Nationalism.” The September 2014 Scottish referendum was a remarkable event. Around 85% of the electorate voted, and a majority decided that Scotland should remain in the United Kingdom. The bigger story, however, was that of the Scottish nationalists who gained 45% of the vote for independence and separation from the United Kingdom".</i> This promises to be a very informative meeting for our members. </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>March 7, 2015</b> - “Hats, including our Bess Ben hats.” The speaker is Mary Robak who wants every woman to wear a hat. She and Elizabeth Fanuzzi have been studying the six Bess Ben hats in our museum. You will find their presentation very interesting and entertaining.</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>April 4, 2015</b> - The Town of Pullman. </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;">The Scottish-American Museum opens at 9 a.m. on the day of our event and the program begins at 10. There is no charge. Reservations not necessary but helpful. Call 708-408-5591. Please join us in Heritage Hall, the Scottish Home, 28th and Des Plaines, North Riverside, IL.</span><br />
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wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-30892795241229720842015-01-07T10:43:00.001-08:002015-01-07T10:43:13.808-08:002015 History Club Schedule<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>January 10, 2015 - The I&M Canal - </b>This coming
Saturday is our first meeting of the new year. Our speaker is Ana Koval. She is
the Executive Director of the Canal Corridor Association. The canal was
constructed between 1836 and 1848. Ana Koval has been described as <span style="font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols";">A</span>engaging, accurate, knows current
trails, packet boats, projects, and history.<span style="font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols";">@</span>
The weather will moderate by Saturday so I trust you will plan to attend. The
museum opens at 9 a.m. and the program begins at 10 a.m. There is no cost and we
will have hot coffee, tea and scones available. Reservations are not necessary
but helpful. Call 708.447.5092.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>February 7, 2015</b> - TBA<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>March 7, 2015, Bess Ben Hats</b> - Mrs. Mary Robak and
perhaps Mrs. James Fanuzzi will be our guests. They study hats and are
particular interested in the six Bess Ben hats in our museum. It<span style="font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols";">=</span>s a wonderful story and you will enjoy
their presentation. More information in the coming days.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>April 4, 2015, The Town of Pullman - </b>The Scottish
influence in the town of Pullman will be one area of our program. Our speaker
will be Michael Shymanski who is president of the Historic Pullman Foundation.
His wife is also involved in the preservation of the Thomas Dunbar house. More
information as it becomes available.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>May 2, 2015</b> – TBA<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>June 6, 2015</b> – TBA<o:p></o:p></div>
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No meetings in July or August<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mark your calendar for the fall dates of <b>September 12</b>,
<b>October 3</b>, and <b>November 7</b>. More information about these meetings will be forthcoming.
There is no meeting in December.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dr. John A. Kennicott, of Scottish descent, came to Chicago
in 1836 and served as a circuit doctor riding a horse from place to place. John
and Mary had seven children and among them was the arctic explorer Robert K.
Kennicott. A. T. Andreas tells the story of Dr. Kennicott<span style="font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols";">=</span>s horse. The horse had a long and
useful life but was finally old and tired. Dr. Kennicott turned the horse loose
and it found a home around the court house square. The citizens of Chicago took
compassion on the horse and decided to give him a <span style="font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols";">A</span>donation
party.<span style="font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols";">@</span> They set
a date and assembled in the court yard with food and building supplies. A shed
was constructed and filled with food. A parade was held and the old horse
marched at the head with <span style="font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols";">A</span>martial
music of fife and drum.<span style="font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols";">@</span>
He lived through the winter but when spring came, <span style="font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols";">A</span>Death
mounted the pale white horse, and rode him to the happy hunting grounds. Peace
to his mane.<span style="font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "WP TypographicSymbols";">@</span> Join our
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/328217470542036/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page for more stories like this!<o:p></o:p></div>
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There is more information about Dr. John Kennicott in <i>The
Scots of Chicago</i>, page 17 and 18.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<o:p></o:p></div>
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Illinois Saint Andrew Society<o:p></o:p></div>
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630.629.4516<o:p></o:p></div>
wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-27904536436171833932014-12-16T09:14:00.001-08:002014-12-16T09:14:47.067-08:00Elderly Network Loses its AngelBy Eric Zorn<br />April 13, 1993<br /><br />(My friend Bob Carlton found this story and sent me the link. Eric Zorn writes so well about this Scottish lady named Jessie Conaughton. What I find interesting is that she and her husband worked for James E. McMillan, the Ovaltine man, and he left Jessie a small annuity from his estate. Here are the words of Eric Zorn.)<br /><br /><br /><i>They are the people you don't often think about, and they live in apartments you almost never notice.<br /><br />They are the elderly underground-a quiet, unofficial network of retired domestics, teachers, clerks and others who dwell in modest apartments above shops and businesses in downtown Winnetka.<br /><br />Most of them are widows. They cook for each other, help each other with errands and housework as needed, fill out forms, keep tabs and provide much-needed company. The small group has never had a name-though every so often someone calls them "the bench ladies," after a bus stop where some of them gather in warmer weather-and now it is struggling on with a wounded heart.<br /><br />On April 1, Jessie Conaughton, for decades the most visible and active member of the helping network, died at age 87 of complications following a stroke.<br /><br />"I loved her dearly," said Margaret Vieth, 89, a retired nurse who lives alone above a flower shop. "She used to come by every morning to help me make my bed and wash the dishes and carry out the garbage. Then she would ask me what I needed at the store.<br /><br />"She would never accept anything for it," Vieth said. "I'd thank her and she'd say, `Oh, that's nothing.' but I would say, `No it isn't. You don't know what it means to me to have someone come in with a smile and a friendly word and do these things I can no longer do.' "<br /><br />"Helping others was Jessie's whole life," said Elise Gieser, 83, a former schoolteacher who drives for the other retirees when they need to go shopping or to the doctor. "I think she just didn't know anything else to do."<br /><br />For nearly three decades, Conaughton was a pleasant if slightly eccentric figure around the village, a cheery, slight woman with a rich Scottish accent who walked everywhere in a determined stride and always wore tennis shoes.<br /><br />But her sparkle disguised a bleak and difficult life, Gieser said. When she was a toddler, her mother died in childbirth and left her to be reared by a critical and unaffectionate father, Gieser said Conaughton told her.<br /><br />She emigrated from Scotland to the United States in her teens and began her lifelong work as a domestic servant. She married Edward Conaughton, a chauffeur, who also was said to be undemonstrative, and the two ended up employed at the lakefront estate of James McMillan, president of the A. Wander Co.<br /><br />Edward Conaughton died in 1963, and McMillan died two years later. Jessie Conaughton received a small annuity from McMillan's estate, and she and one of her two sons, Patrick, now 52, moved to an inexpensive, one-bedroom apartment above what is now a shoe store in downtown Winnetka.<br /><br />Such apartments, like the people who live in them, are nearly invisible amid the activities and commerce of small business districts. And they are slowly vanishing in wealthy communities as building owners rehab them to attract upscale tenants or convert them into more lucrative office space, according to Jean Cleland, a program director and case manager at the North Shore Senior Center.<br /><br />She took in dry cleaning for those who lived in the other apartments around town but couldn't manage it for themselves; returned library books; filled prescriptions; ran to the post office; took in newspapers; anything, everything, and never asked for or wanted payment.<br /><br />"She finally let me give her an alarm clock because she didn't have one," said Katherine Hudson, 85. "We called her the angel of Elm Street."<br /><br />In the last year, however, it became clear that the angel was losing her wings. Her trademark stride slowed down, she lost her hearing and she became increasingly forgetful, friends said. She died just two days after entering a Northbrook nursing home.<br /><br />"No one planned any services, and I felt that wasn't right," Cleland said. "I felt we should not let such a life pass unremarked."<br /><br />So Cleland organized a memorial gathering for Monday afternoon at the Winnetka community house, an event that Patrick Conaughton said would have embarrassed and surprised his mother.<br /><br />Shopkeepers and store clerks who knew her from her frequent errand runs turned out, as did several members of the community who said that they had exchanged pleasantries with Jessie Conaughton on the street for years and only learned her name after her death. Speakers included several members of the informal elderly underground, of which fewer than 10 are still alive.<br /><br />Retired architect Carl Sterner, 87, the only man in the seniors network, struggled to his feet near the close of the 40-minute memorial. "She was a grand lady and I miss her very much," he said. "But I'll struggle along somehow."<br /><br />So will the rest of them. But it won't be as easy or as pleasant anymore.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-04-13/news/9304130037_1_flower-shop-apartments-winnetka" target="_blank">http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-04-13/news/9304130037_1_flower-shop-apartments-winnetka</a><br />
<br />You can find the latest news about Eric Zorn on the Internet. Thanks Eric.<br /><a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />630-629-4516wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-66993938669473936032014-12-05T13:43:00.003-08:002014-12-05T15:27:41.178-08:00The Man from OvaltineJames G. McMillan was born in Broughty Ferry, Scotland, on July 10, 1881 to a family of modest means. He attended Grove Academy and won many medals in sports, especially swimming. He was a member of an elite group called “Ye Amphibious Ancients” who always opened their swimming year with a dip in the Firth of Tay on New Year’s Day. He was apprenticed to chemists for a total of six years, becoming a pharmacist in 1905. <br />
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He moved to London and after a period of time became a detail man for A. Wander, Limited. During World War I, he served in the Home Guard as a second lieutenant. In the fall of 1919, he moved to the United States to manage the Wander Co. Their small factory built in 1917 was located in Villa Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. “He ably and constructively filled the position of President and General Manager until his retirement in 1951 at the age of 70.”<br />
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In 1935, a large addition was added to the Wander factory in Villa Park. Their business steadily gained in sales throughout the depression. In 1932 the company had expanded by building a one story building and now they added three more stories with a floor area of some 60,000 square feet. In 1935, the plant used 15 million pounds of grain, half a million pounds of milk per week and the eggs from 70,000 chickens. The new plant contained a bowling alley and was totally air conditioned. There was also a baseball field for the employees to use. During the Great Depression Mr. McMillan was paid $100,000 a year. I have been told it was a good place to work and that employees were well treated. Those of you who live in the area, as I do, know that the plant building has now been converted to apartments. <br />
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Not far from the plant was a modern “moving picture” theater of old English design, erected and owned by Mr. McMillan. It appears the building still exists and has recently been converted to three floors and three apartments. The Ovaltine club, carried on the social activities of the company’s employees; they also had an orchestra and three tennis courts. When the plant closed in 1985, it was a complex of 23 buildings on 15 acres with 237,000 square feet of work space. In the 1950s the factory ran at peak production and employed 300 to 400 people.<br />
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In March of 1923, James McMillan married Emily Virginia Brady. She was born in 1890 in Lucas, Ohio. Mrs. McMillan died in Passavant hospital (Chicago) on July 22, 1959. She was founder and first president of the Illinois Opera Guild and was president of the Great Lakes Hospital Music League for which she received a Navy citation. Mass was said in Holy Name Cathedral. As of this writing, I do not know her place of burial even though there has been a diligent search.<br />
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Mr. and Mrs. McMillan lived at 445 Sheridan Road in Winnetka, Illinois. It was the former home of Albert Pick and later was famous as the home of W. Clement Stone who entertained lavishly in this mansion along the lake shore. McMillan bought the house in 1931 and lived there until his death in 1965. At the time, the house contained 17 rooms and a 3-car garage. The sound of bagpipes could be heard often at 445 Sheridan Rd. Mr. & Mrs. McMillan regularly entertained their Scottish friends. You can see the house and read its history if you goggle: 445 Sheridan Rd., Winnetka, IL. <br />
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James McMillan was an active member of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society. He served on the Board of Governors and was made an Honorary Governor when he retired. Under the leadership of Hughston McBain in 1964, the Scottish Home added a 14-bed health care wing to its facility. Total cost, including furnishings was $200,000. James McMillan was the major donor and so the wing was named for him. He died shortly before the dedication. We have made a diligent search of the burial place of Mr. and Mrs. McMillian without success. If anyone reads this who can help, we would like to pay our respects. <br />
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(The last reference in the <i>Chicago Tribune</i> was a wedding announcement, between Suzanne Snells and Franklin Martin deBeers III of Glenview, Illinois, February 15, 1965. “His great-uncle is James G. McMillan of Winnetka.”)<br />
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<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society<br />
630-629-4516<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><b>December 14, 2014</b> - The annual Christmas Party and a general meeting of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society membership will take place in Heritage Hall at the Scottish Home beginning at 3:00 p.m. RSVP 708-408-5591.<br /><br /><b>January 10, 2015</b> - History Club Meeting. Our speaker is Ana Koval, President/CEO of the Canal Corridor Association.</span>wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-6457654528671837042014-11-18T06:27:00.000-08:002014-11-18T06:27:11.355-08:00Palmer House I, II and IIIIn the late 1860's, Potter Palmer was in the process of building two hotels in Chicago. One was called the “Potter Palmer House” and the other “The Palmer House.” The first was to be a moderately priced hotel but the one on State Street was to be luxurious. By the summer of 1870, the exterior of the Palmer House on State Street was finished and work was beginning on the interior. It contained 225 rooms. The hotel would have 7 floors and 150 apartments. The first two floors would be shops and stores. The cost was estimated at $3,500,000. <br />
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Potter Palmer now owned a mile of State street and more than 100 buildings in the downtown area. He was also in the process of making Bertha Honore’ his wife. They were married July 28, 1870. The Palmer House, located at State and Quincy, was his wedding gift and they would have an apartment in the new hotel. The honeymoon in Europe lasted six months and Potter Palmer was collecting ideas for another hotel more grand than any other. It would be located at State and Monroe.<br />
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The first Palmer House opened on September 26, 1871, but 13 days later was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire on October 8. All his buildings, more than one hundred, were lost as well. Bertha Palmer was at their country home the night of the Great Fire, alone, except for the servants. Her husband had gone to New York to attend the funeral of his sister. His arrival home was a discouraging moment and he considered retiring.<br />
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An article in the <i>Chicago Sun-Times </i>reported: “It was Bertha who drove a buggy to the nearest town with telegraph wires still intact and wired New York business men seeking a extension of credit for her husband. The Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company allowed him to borrow $1,700,000, the largest single loan made in the United States up to that time...”<br />
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PALMER HOUSE II<br />
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This hotel opened on November 8, 1873 and was built of brick and iron. It was advertised as the “first wholly fireproof hotel in the United States.” The first two floors were again reserved for stores, 18 on each floor. In the center was the grand court patterned after the Louvre in Paris. Around this great lobby would be a balcony running on three sides. He copied this from Spurgeon’s church in London. “The floors of the barber shop, set with silver dollars between tiles, probably bought more fame to the hotel than any other feature.” From a well, the hotel had its own water supply. <br />
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In 1876, Potter Palmer decided to raise the roof of this hotel 30 inches in order to make “the upper rooms more lofty and attractive.” The roof weighted 3,802 tons. It was divided into 5 sections and using 200 hydraulic jack-screws, manned by 65 men, the roof was gradually raised. At a given signal the levers were all turned at once. Every half-inch the work was stopped and measurements taken so “that there may be a perfect level at all time.” In addition he was also constructing a conservatory over the dining-room on the roof. You could enter by a passage-way on the fifth floor. “It was 45 by 78 feet and 17 feel in height, with a double glass roof, and will be heated by steam. For this special feature Mr. Palmer has purchased the rarest and most beautiful plants and exotics obtainable, which will soon be in position.” This beautiful hotel was replaced by the present building. (Pictures can be found on the Internet.)<br />
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PALMER HOUSE III<br />
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Work on the present hotel started in 1924. The new hotel rose 23-three stories and was to be the world’s largest hotel with 2,263 rooms. The cost, including furnishings, was nearly $40 million. Palmer House II was gradually replaced without closing or losing any revenue.<br />
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The hotel that we will enjoy on November 22 has had just two owners - Potter Palmer and Conrad N. Hilton. Mr. Hilton purchased the hotel from the Palmer family for $20 million in 1945. It is the longest continually operating hotel in the United States. It was also the first Chicago hotel to have telephone service in all rooms, electric lights, air conditioning and elevators.<br />
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The gilded lobby of the present hotel is two-stories high with a formal staircase and a ceiling mural depicting Greek mythology. “The Michelangelo-esque mural was originally created in the 1920s by French muralist Louis Pierre Rigal.” The Palmer House mural contains 21 portraits. Each was a separate piece of canvas, signed by artist, Louis Pierre Rigal. They were painted in France and shipped to the United States in 1926. In 1964 restoration work was being done on the mural when Martin K. Ziegner fell 40 feet from the scaffolding and died. The murals were restored again in 1983 and 1995 by Lido Lippi, a master restorer who also worked on the Sistine Chapel. The most recent restoration took place in 2012 by Anthony and Mata Kartsonas, “who are well-known art preservationists.” <br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society<br />
630-629-4516<br />
<br />
The Scots of Chicago will meet for the 169th time this coming Saturday night, November 22, in the grand ballroom of the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, Illinois. <a href="https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e91lrosdd39137e2&oseq=&c=&ch=" target="_blank">Click here to register</a>.<br />
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The entertainment is a repeat performance by the Chelsea House Orchestra. These high school students are from Chelsea, Michigan, a town of 5,000 located in the southeastern portion of that state. Jed Fritemeier started CHO in 1996 with 10 students. About 30 students will make the trip to Chicago. The program has been studied as an alternative to the typical school orchestra. I can almost guarantee that you will enjoy this group of high energy young people as they perform “Celtic with a Kick.”wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1433938713207283472.post-74191443842111910962014-11-10T17:13:00.003-08:002014-11-10T17:16:18.040-08:00A Day of Remembrance - November 11, 2014Yesterday, marked the 100th anniversary of the beginnings of World War I. It lasted four terrible years and was declared to be “The War to End all Wars.” It was a brutal war. At the Battle of the Somme (1916) in just 20 minutes, 20,000 British troops died. America did not join the war until 1917 but still had more than 100,000 soldiers die in the fighting.<br />
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It came to an end at the 11hour of the 11day of the 11th month of 1918. Countries around the world still observe the exact moment with marked silence. Many years ago when I was in school, we observed “Armistice Day” with a minute of silence at 11 a.m. I doubt that practice continues but I don’t know for sure. In our country, Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all of those who have served.<br />
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In the United Kingdom this past Sunday was celebrated as Remembrance Day. Around the Tower of London, 888,426 poppies were planed in honor of British soldiers who died in World War I. The last one will be planted on November 11, 2014. In a London factory disabled veterans are hired to assemble by hand the 45 million poppies that are sold across Britain. The poppies remind everyone of John McCrae and his poem, “In Flanders Fields.”<br />
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John McCrae was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada and was the grandson of Scottish immigrants. He was first and foremost a soldier and during the Second Boar War, he served in the artillery. By profession he was a physician. When the war started he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force although by profession and age (41) he could have joined the medical corps. He grew up believing in the duty of fighting for his country and empire.<br />
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McCrae fought in the second battle of Ypres in the Flanders region of Belgium, The Canadian position became the first to be attacked by chlorine gas in 1915. In spite of this, the Germans were unable to break through the Canadian line which held for more than two weeks. McCrae wrote to his mother that the battle was a “nightmare.” “For 17 days and 17 nights none of us have had our clothes off, not even our boots, except occasionally. In all that time while I was awake, gunfire and rifle fire never ceased for 60 seconds...and behind it all was the constant background of the sights of the dead, the wounded, the maimed, and a terrible anxiety lest the line should give way.” Six thousand Canadian soldiers died in the Battle of Ypres, among them Alexis Helmer, a close friend.<br />
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John McCrae was so deeply touched by the losses in France that he became a bitter and disillusioned man. For relief, he took long rides on his horse, Bonfire, perhaps accompanied by his dog, Bonneau. On January 18, 1918, he became ill and died of pneumonia and meningitis. The day of his funeral was a beautiful day as he was being buried in Wimereux Cemetery not far from the fields of Flanders.<br />
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Every evening in Ypres, France at 8 p.m. the local police stop traffic from passing underneath the gate, and the Last Post is played by buglers from the Ypres fire station. The Last Post has been played every night in this way since the 1920s save only for the duration of the German occupation during World War II.<br />
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The Kansas City Star wrote this tribute to Lieut. Col. John McCrae: “Lieut. McCrae has been laid to rest between the crosses that mark the couch of Canada’s immortal dead who have fought on foreign soil. He went out as a physician to heal the scars of war, but he sleeps as a soldier within sound of the guns, having given all that man may give for the honor and the liberty of his country... With the gallant dead he, too, listens to the guns, hears the lark bravely singing in the azure sky, and waits for the Dawn, where”<br />
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<i>In Flanders field the poppies blow</i><br />
<i>Between the crosses, row on row,</i><br />
<i>that mark our place, and in the sky</i><br />
<i>The larks, still bravely singing, fly</i><br />
<i>Scarce heard amid the guns below.</i><br />
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<i>We are the dead. Short days ago</i><br />
<i>We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.</i><br />
<i>Loved, and were loved, and now we live</i><br />
<i>In Flanders field.</i><br />
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<i>Take up our quarrel with the foe:</i><br />
<i>To you from falling hands we throw</i><br />
<i>The torch; be yours to hold it high.</i><br />
<i>If ye break faith with us who die</i><br />
<i>We shall not sleep, though poppies grow</i><br />
<i>In Flanders field.</i><br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:wrethford@comcast.net" target="_blank">Wayne Rethford</a>, President Emeritus<br />
Illinois Saint Andrew Society<br />
630-629-4516<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">November 22nd come celebrate St. Andrew’s Day and our historic organization with the Scots of Chicago at the Palmer House Hilton. Click here for <a href="https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e91lrosdd39137e2&oseq=&c=&ch=" target="_blank">details and registration</a></span>.</span>wayne rethfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15421580346280859676noreply@blogger.com1