It was July 25, 1915 and the Western Electric Company was to have its annual picnic. The plant, located in Cicero, Illinois, was the manufacturing arm of the Bell Telephone Co. It employed thousands of people most of whom were Czech and Polish immigrants.
The street cars were crowded with families and young people headed to the Chicago river. They carried picnic baskets and were dressed in their best. Awaiting the 7,000 people were five ships, including the S.S. Eastland. It was going to be a perfect day for a cruise on Lake Michigan and a picnic at Michigan City, Indiana.
The Eastland was tied up along the river between LaSalle and Clark streets. (This is across the street from the offices of Bill Campbell where our Board of Governors often meets.) It was to take on board 2,500 people but before everyone had boarded, the Eastland began to list. It finally capsized throwing many into the river and trapping hundreds below as a light rain began to fall.
More than 800 people died on that fateful morning. Most of the dead were taken to the Second Armory where Scots had often celebrated. (After the dedication of the Robert Burns statue in Garfield Park in 1906, a party was held at the Second Armory. Hundreds of Scots attended and danced until the break of day.) I am told that seven Scots died on the Eastland but I don’t presently have their names.
The armory building would later become part of Harpo Studios owned by Oprah Winfrey. Many now believe the studio is haunted. Staff “has reported hearing whispering voices, the laughter of children, sobbing sounds, old-time music, the clinking of glasses and the marching of many feet.” One apparition has been called the “Gray Lady.”
Across the Chicago River from the Eastland stood the Reid Murdoch building and it becomes the focus for this blog. It was built in 1913 as a food processing plant and very much according to the Burnham vision for Chicago river usage. In the center of the 400,000 square foot building is a three-story clock tower which faces the river. When the Eastland disaster occurred, the basement and first floor of the Reid-Murdoch building was used as a temporary hospital and morgue. The building is now the headquarters of Encyclopedia Britannica and was once used by the City as its traffic courts. Here is a look at the lives of these two men: Reid and Murdoch.
Simon Somerville Reid was born in Duffus, Scotland, in 1829 and came to America when he was 14 years old. Apparently his first stop was in Buffalo, New York. Later in the company of his new wife and Thomas Murdoch, he moved to Dubuque, Iowa. Here they sold provisions to wagon trains headed west. With the advent of trains and the decline of the wagon trains, they moved to Chicago and engaged in the food processing business. The company had several locations in Chicago.
Mr. Reid was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest, IL. “He was a quiet, unostentatious businessman with a kindly heart and genial disposition, which won for him the respect of all with whom he came in contact.” Mr. Reid died February 13, 1892. He left a wife, three daughters and a son. They donated Reid Hall to Lake Forest College in 1892 and lived at the southwest corner of College and Sheridan Roads.
Thomas Murdoch was born in Forres, Scotland, in 1828 and came to America in 1851. (It is possible he knew Simon Reid in Scotland. David Forlow, who has done considerable research on both men tells me their home towns were less than 15 miles apart.) Mr. Murdoch first settled in Canada but moved in 1853 to Buffalo, New York. The next year, he moved to Dubuque, Iowa, with Simon Reid where they started a wholesale grocery business. By 1864, Murdoch is in Chicago and one of the founders of Reid, Murdoch and Fisher. By 1865, the business was known as Reid-Murdoch. Mr. Murdoch never married and lived mostly in hotels on the south side, especially the Lexington. He died at the Metropole hotel. (There is information that he owned a house in Lake Forest but I don’t have an address.) Mr. Murdoch was a founding member of the Art Institute and The Chicago Home For The Friendless.
I have yet to find an indication that either man was a member of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society, but there is evidence that Mr. Murdock was a supporter. He included the Society in his will but the major portion of his four million dollar estate went to family and the old Presbyterian hospital. He built a mansion at 2130 Prairie Avenue in Chicago and was a member of the Second Presbyterian church. (That mansion and many others, were demolished and the land used as parking lots for the 1933 World’s Fair. Sad!) Not sure why he built a house if he lived mostly in hotels. But, in 1914, his niece, Mrs. Julius B. Cone, lived in the house which had been designed by Henry Ives Cobb. (He also designed the mansion of Dr. John McGill at 4938 S. Drexel Blvd.) Mr. Murdoch died on December 25, 1909 and is buried in the Lake Forest Cemetery very close to his life-long friend Simon Reid.
In 1945, the Reid Murdoch & Co. was acquired by Consolidated Grocers Corporation for seven million dollars and the Reid Murdoch Division was changed to the Monarch Finer Foods.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
Chicagoscots.net
630-629-4516
On Saturday, July 21, 2012, the Eastland Disaster Historical Society will have a public wreath-laying at noon on the Chicago River between Clark and LaSalle. More details are on their website.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Death by Firing Squad
The majority of Scottish people think with a clear, logical mind, but William Walker was a little different. Intelligent, educated, charismatic, he lost it all to a firing squad in Nicaragua.
William Walker was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1824. His father, James, was the son of a Scottish immigrant. Mary, his mother, was a daughter of Lipscomb Norvell who was an officer in the Revolutionary War from Virginia. He was taken prisoner at Charleston. It is believed that Lipscomb Norvell was the first Revolutionary War officer buried in the Nashville City Cemetery. There is a branch of the Norvell family that is Scottish, but I don’t know about this Lipscomb Norvell.
William graduated from the University of Nashville, summa cum laude at the age of fourteen. He spent the next two years in Europe and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and other universities in Germany and Paris. Revolutions were occurring all across Europe in 1848 as people demanded more freedom and the right to rule themselves. Walker must have been influenced by the political thoughts of this time. Later, he received a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and practiced briefly.
Medicine did not appear to interest him so he moved to New Orleans to study law and apparently did practice for a short time. But once again, he changed professions and became part owner of a newspaper, The New Orleans Crescent. By 1849, he was on the move again, this time to San Francisco where he was a journalist. He fought three duels in San Francisco and, while the reason is unknown, he was wounded in at least two duels. He was a restless soul looking for something that would satisfy.
Here is the strange part of his life. He decided to conquer the Mexican territories of Baja, California and Sonora. With an army of 45, he captured LaPaz, and declared himself to be the President of the new Republic of Lower California. He put his captured territory under the laws of Louisiana and moved his capital to Ensenada. A lack of supplies and resistance by the Mexican government forced him to retreat back to U.S. territory where he was put on trial for conducting an illegal war. It took eight minutes for the jury to find him innocent.
The Chicago Daily Tribune ran a story on January 10, 1854, about “president” Walker and a manifesto he had just released. “The document is a rich one, and causes a smile at its absurdity, though we feel indignant at its presumption.” What Walker was doing was called “filibustering,” which is an attempt by a privately funded military expedition “to take over countries at peace with the United States.” It obviously is a violation of the law. We now understand the word as a parliamentary procedure used in Congress which occasionally is also at war.
William Walker was still being moved by some ideology because his next attempt was to take over Nicaragua. This was before the Panama Canal was built and before a railroad was constructed across the land separating the Atlantic from the Pacific. Interestingly, Nicaragua had given the rights of transport across this strip of land to a company controlled by Cornelius Vanderbilt. The story gets rather complicated now because William Walker shows up with 300 “colonists.” His downfall came because he sought to take control of Vanderbilt’s company and he should never have tried that. After the third attempt to take Nicaragua, he was captured and put before a firing squad. He survived the first round from the firing squad and was finally killed with a single bullet to the head. You have to wonder what he could have accomplished in the field of medicine with a different mind set.
This intelligent, educated, charismatic Scottish American is buried in the Cementerio Viejo, in Trujillo.
(Walker’s exploits have been used in two movies: “Burn!” starring Marlon Brando (1969) and Alex Cox’s “Walker” in 1978. He is also mentioned in “Gone with the Wind”, Part V, Chapter 48.)
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
Scottish American History Club
630-629-4516
August 4, 2012 - Scottish Home picnic. We will have the museum open from 10-2
Next week our blog will be about the Eastland disaster and a Scottish connection
William Walker was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1824. His father, James, was the son of a Scottish immigrant. Mary, his mother, was a daughter of Lipscomb Norvell who was an officer in the Revolutionary War from Virginia. He was taken prisoner at Charleston. It is believed that Lipscomb Norvell was the first Revolutionary War officer buried in the Nashville City Cemetery. There is a branch of the Norvell family that is Scottish, but I don’t know about this Lipscomb Norvell.
William graduated from the University of Nashville, summa cum laude at the age of fourteen. He spent the next two years in Europe and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and other universities in Germany and Paris. Revolutions were occurring all across Europe in 1848 as people demanded more freedom and the right to rule themselves. Walker must have been influenced by the political thoughts of this time. Later, he received a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and practiced briefly.
Medicine did not appear to interest him so he moved to New Orleans to study law and apparently did practice for a short time. But once again, he changed professions and became part owner of a newspaper, The New Orleans Crescent. By 1849, he was on the move again, this time to San Francisco where he was a journalist. He fought three duels in San Francisco and, while the reason is unknown, he was wounded in at least two duels. He was a restless soul looking for something that would satisfy.
Here is the strange part of his life. He decided to conquer the Mexican territories of Baja, California and Sonora. With an army of 45, he captured LaPaz, and declared himself to be the President of the new Republic of Lower California. He put his captured territory under the laws of Louisiana and moved his capital to Ensenada. A lack of supplies and resistance by the Mexican government forced him to retreat back to U.S. territory where he was put on trial for conducting an illegal war. It took eight minutes for the jury to find him innocent.
The Chicago Daily Tribune ran a story on January 10, 1854, about “president” Walker and a manifesto he had just released. “The document is a rich one, and causes a smile at its absurdity, though we feel indignant at its presumption.” What Walker was doing was called “filibustering,” which is an attempt by a privately funded military expedition “to take over countries at peace with the United States.” It obviously is a violation of the law. We now understand the word as a parliamentary procedure used in Congress which occasionally is also at war.
William Walker was still being moved by some ideology because his next attempt was to take over Nicaragua. This was before the Panama Canal was built and before a railroad was constructed across the land separating the Atlantic from the Pacific. Interestingly, Nicaragua had given the rights of transport across this strip of land to a company controlled by Cornelius Vanderbilt. The story gets rather complicated now because William Walker shows up with 300 “colonists.” His downfall came because he sought to take control of Vanderbilt’s company and he should never have tried that. After the third attempt to take Nicaragua, he was captured and put before a firing squad. He survived the first round from the firing squad and was finally killed with a single bullet to the head. You have to wonder what he could have accomplished in the field of medicine with a different mind set.
This intelligent, educated, charismatic Scottish American is buried in the Cementerio Viejo, in Trujillo.
(Walker’s exploits have been used in two movies: “Burn!” starring Marlon Brando (1969) and Alex Cox’s “Walker” in 1978. He is also mentioned in “Gone with the Wind”, Part V, Chapter 48.)
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois St. Andrew’s Society
Scottish American History Club
630-629-4516
August 4, 2012 - Scottish Home picnic. We will have the museum open from 10-2
Next week our blog will be about the Eastland disaster and a Scottish connection
Monday, July 2, 2012
Life, Fortune and Sacred Honor
Duncan Bruce in his book the “Mark of the Scots” says “At least twenty-one of the fifty-six men who risked their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in signing the Declaration of Independence were of Scottish ancestry, including two native Scots: John Witherspoon and James Wilson.”
James Thomson, creator of the Scottish American Hall of Fame lists only ten because that was the number the plaque would hold. His plan was to have a second plaque listing the remaining Americans of Scottish descent who signed the Declaration.
Here are the 21 names:
John Witherspoon, Thomas Jefferson, James Wilson, George Read, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas McKean, George Ross, James Smith, George Walton, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Rutledge, Josiah Bartlett, Thomas Nelson, Jr., George Taylor, Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, Philip Livingston, Matthew Thornton, Lewis Morris, John Hart, and Abraham Clark.
Here is a short summary of ten who signed, perhaps we can get the remainder next year.
1. Edward Rutledge was the youngest signer at age 26; Graduate of Oxford; Lawyer; Fought in several important battles during the war; Died in 1800 at the age of 50.
2. John Witherspoon, born in Yester, Scotland; President of Princeton University; Lost a son in the battle of Germantown; 12 children; Lineally descended from John Knox.
3. Philip Livingston was the grandson of David Livingston born in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, the pioneer medical missionary to Africa; Promoter and fund raiser for the revolutionary army.
4. George Ross, a Scottish-American whose nephew’s wife, Betsy Ross, made the first national flag.
5. Matthew Thornton; Ulster Scot; Noted physician; Elected to Congress from New Hampshire; Appointed surgeon to the New Hampshire Militia troops; Married Hannah Jack; Five children.
6. Thomas McKean; Great-grandfather was from Argyllshire, Scotland; Governor of Delaware; 11 children. During the war, he wrote, “hunted like a fox by the enemy, compelled to remove my family five times in three months....”
7. George Read; Lawyer; elected to the first Continental Congress; Elected twice as Delaware State Senator under the new Constitution.
8. James Wilson; Born in St. Andrew’s; Delegate from Pennsylvania; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; Strongly advocated for independence.
9. George Taylor; son of a clergyman; Ulster Scot; Delegate from Pennsylvania; Ironmaster and a working man (may be the only working man who signed;) Secured the first munitions contract for the continental army.
10. Thomas Jefferson; Educated by Scots; American of Scottish heritage on his mother’s side; Duncan A. Bruce states that he was a descendant of a sister of King Robert I of Scotland; Died on the Fourth of July 1826.
The Declaration of Independence was printed by John Dunlap and was first read in public by Colonel John Nixon - both American Scots. Twenty-five generals and perhaps half the revolutionary army were Americans of Scottish descent.
Uncle Sam is the national personification of the United States. It is based on a real man, Samuel Wilson, whose parents sailed to America from Greenock, Scotland, and who has been officially recognized as the original Uncle Sam. In the War of 1812, he provided the army with beef and pork in barrels all prominently labeled “U.S.” “But it was jokingly said that the letters stood for “Uncle Sam.” Soon, Uncle Sam was used as shorthand for the federal government.”
(I have often used the following the statement in speeches but never have been sure of the actual source. This quotation is taken from an article by Sarah Powell and published on the web site of Burke’s Peerage and Gentry. If anyone can find the original source, please let me know.)
“If all else fails, I will retreat up the valley of Virginia, plant my flag on the Blue Ridge, rally around the Scotch-Irish (Ulster Scots) of that region and make my last stand for liberty amongst a people who will never submit to British tyranny whilst there is a man left to draw a trigger.”
George Washington at Valley Forge
On this July 4th, let us be thankful for our freedoms and appreciate those who have sacrificed to make it all possible.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
630-629-4516
chicagoscots.net
James Thomson, creator of the Scottish American Hall of Fame lists only ten because that was the number the plaque would hold. His plan was to have a second plaque listing the remaining Americans of Scottish descent who signed the Declaration.
Here are the 21 names:
John Witherspoon, Thomas Jefferson, James Wilson, George Read, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas McKean, George Ross, James Smith, George Walton, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Rutledge, Josiah Bartlett, Thomas Nelson, Jr., George Taylor, Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, Philip Livingston, Matthew Thornton, Lewis Morris, John Hart, and Abraham Clark.
Here is a short summary of ten who signed, perhaps we can get the remainder next year.
1. Edward Rutledge was the youngest signer at age 26; Graduate of Oxford; Lawyer; Fought in several important battles during the war; Died in 1800 at the age of 50.
2. John Witherspoon, born in Yester, Scotland; President of Princeton University; Lost a son in the battle of Germantown; 12 children; Lineally descended from John Knox.
3. Philip Livingston was the grandson of David Livingston born in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, the pioneer medical missionary to Africa; Promoter and fund raiser for the revolutionary army.
4. George Ross, a Scottish-American whose nephew’s wife, Betsy Ross, made the first national flag.
5. Matthew Thornton; Ulster Scot; Noted physician; Elected to Congress from New Hampshire; Appointed surgeon to the New Hampshire Militia troops; Married Hannah Jack; Five children.
6. Thomas McKean; Great-grandfather was from Argyllshire, Scotland; Governor of Delaware; 11 children. During the war, he wrote, “hunted like a fox by the enemy, compelled to remove my family five times in three months....”
7. George Read; Lawyer; elected to the first Continental Congress; Elected twice as Delaware State Senator under the new Constitution.
8. James Wilson; Born in St. Andrew’s; Delegate from Pennsylvania; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; Strongly advocated for independence.
9. George Taylor; son of a clergyman; Ulster Scot; Delegate from Pennsylvania; Ironmaster and a working man (may be the only working man who signed;) Secured the first munitions contract for the continental army.
10. Thomas Jefferson; Educated by Scots; American of Scottish heritage on his mother’s side; Duncan A. Bruce states that he was a descendant of a sister of King Robert I of Scotland; Died on the Fourth of July 1826.
The Declaration of Independence was printed by John Dunlap and was first read in public by Colonel John Nixon - both American Scots. Twenty-five generals and perhaps half the revolutionary army were Americans of Scottish descent.
Uncle Sam is the national personification of the United States. It is based on a real man, Samuel Wilson, whose parents sailed to America from Greenock, Scotland, and who has been officially recognized as the original Uncle Sam. In the War of 1812, he provided the army with beef and pork in barrels all prominently labeled “U.S.” “But it was jokingly said that the letters stood for “Uncle Sam.” Soon, Uncle Sam was used as shorthand for the federal government.”
(I have often used the following the statement in speeches but never have been sure of the actual source. This quotation is taken from an article by Sarah Powell and published on the web site of Burke’s Peerage and Gentry. If anyone can find the original source, please let me know.)
“If all else fails, I will retreat up the valley of Virginia, plant my flag on the Blue Ridge, rally around the Scotch-Irish (Ulster Scots) of that region and make my last stand for liberty amongst a people who will never submit to British tyranny whilst there is a man left to draw a trigger.”
George Washington at Valley Forge
On this July 4th, let us be thankful for our freedoms and appreciate those who have sacrificed to make it all possible.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
630-629-4516
chicagoscots.net
Saturday, June 23, 2012
I Followed My Husband
The Reverend James Caldwell (1734-1781) was one of our earliest patriots. He was born to Ulster-Scots parents in Cub Creek, Virginia. He became a Presbyterian minister and served as a chaplain during the Revolutionary War. At the battle of Springfield, New Jersey, when his company ran out of wadding, Caldwell was said to have dashed into a nearby Presbyterian church, scooped up as many Watts hymnals as he could carry and distributed them to the troops, shouting “put Watts into them, boys.”
He was killed by a single shot from the gun of James Morgan. Morgan was arrested, tried and hung on January 29, 1782. (You can find the full story on the Internet.) Mrs. Caldwell was killed earlier by the Hessians under the command of the British. Their nine children were raised by friends. One of the girls, Hannah Ogden Caldwell, married James R. Smith of New York City.
James R. Smith came to America as a child from Kirkudbright, Scotland. Through hard work and shrewd business ability, he became a very successful merchant in New York City. He owned all the property along Broadway up to thirty-fourth street. He lived on Pearl Street and had a summer home in Greenwich near what is now Washington Square. The Smiths had a daughter named Elizabeth Caldwell who was born on Pearl Street, March 28, 1808. After the death of her mother, Elizabeth moved to Washington, D.C. to live with her sister, Mrs. Matthew St. Clair Clarke whose husband was the clerk of the House of Representatives.
Elizabeth was once invited to have dinner at the White House when John Q. Adams was President. She “wore a crimson silk dress with her hair in three puffs on the top and three puffs on each side of her head and a high tortoise shell comb. She also wore silk stockings and black satin slippers. At the dinner she met Joseph Duncan from Kaskaskia, Illinois and Henry Clay told Elizabeth some things about him. He was not only a good looking man but was a good son, having taken care of his mother and educated his sister and two brothers.
Joseph Duncan was born on February 22, 1794 in Kentucky. Born into a very poor family, he educated himself especially in the classics. He served in the War of 1812 and later commanded troops as a brigadier general in the Black Hawk War. He was awarded a testimonial sword by Congress for his role in defending Fort Stephenson, Ohio. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1827, he served four terms. Later, he would become the 6th governor of Illinois.
Joseph Duncan and Elizabeth Caldwell Smith were married in Washington, D.C. on May 13, 1828. Two weeks later they began the long journey to Illinois. They crossed the mountains in a stagecoach and took a steamboat from Wheeling to Cairo. From Cairo to St. Louis, they traveled “in the company with Mr. And Mrs. James K. Polk of Tennessee, little thinking he would ever fill the President’s chair, such a commonplace man.” They spent a week in St. Louis and then took a boat to Kaskaskia and then on horseback to Fountain Bluff where Joseph Duncan owned a sawmill.
They chose Jacksonville, Illinois, to be their home and in 1834 built a three-story, 17 room mansion. It was the official Governor’s mansion during his term in office (1834-1838). The house is still standing. When they first arrived in Jacksonville, Elizabeth wore a dress of “white India muslin and a long sky blue sash.” She wrote in her diary: “Wherever I went they turned my trunk inside out, tried on all my clothes and admired them generally. It was funny and often annoying to have them cut patterns of everything they could, often ruining them past use.” "No wonder people asked, what brought you so far from the city out into the wild country? I said, My husband, I followed him.”
Mrs. Duncan was 4'5" tall and if she “was pouting” when the Governor arrived home after a long stay in Springfield, Governor Duncan would laughingly set his petite wife on the mantle, where she remained until some other member of the household came to her aid. This diminutive little lady gave birth to 10 children.
When they returned to Washington for the Second Session of Congress. Elizabeth wrote: “Mrs. Mather took us in their carriage to Carlyle several days journey, two nights and two days. We stopped for the night at a log cabin, so four of us slept in one room, not an unusual occurrence in those days.” At Carlyle they took the stage through Indiana over corduroy roads and then on to Cleveland. “The lake was so rough and the boat so poor we coasted the lake in a covered wagon to Buffalo.” From Buffalo they took a stage to Albany and a steamboat to New York. Another stagecoach completed the final leg to Washington. The entire journey took three weeks. Elizabeth said, “In November the weather was beautiful. It was a rough journey. I felt I was going home. I never liked the west and was so glad to get back.” On one of their many trips to Washington, their son James “died at Wheeling, Virginia and we buried him on a hill in sight of the river.” He was 2 years and 7 months old. What sadness they must have endured to leave this little boy, not in a cemetery but on a hill. During her lifetime, Mrs. Duncan would make this trip eight times.
I have been unable to find the exact date of her death, but believe she is buried alongside her husband in Jacksonville, Illinois. Governor Joseph Duncan died January 15, 1844. He is buried in the Diamond Grove Cemetery in Jacksonville. The mansion is owned today by the Rev. James Caldwell Chapter NSDAR and is open to the public. The home has been fully restored and contains many original Duncan family furnishings.
A Scottish girl from New York City - a Scottish man from Paris, Kentucky, who met in Washington, lived on the Frontier and died in Jacksonville, Illinois, makes an interesting story fit for the movies.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
630-629-4516
Announcements:
No History Club meeting in July or August.
Scottish Home Picnic - August 4, 2012
History Club Meeting - September 8, 2012
Kilted Classic Golf Outing - September 21, 2012
History Club Tour - October 6, 2012
North American Leadership Conference - Oct. 26-28. Troy, Michigan
St. Andrew’s Day Dinner - November 16, 2012
Rockford Burns Banquet - January 19, 2013 (www.rockfordburnsclub.com)
Nicht Wi’ Burns Supper - January 26, 2013
St. Andrew’s Society Burns Dinner - February 9, 2013
He was killed by a single shot from the gun of James Morgan. Morgan was arrested, tried and hung on January 29, 1782. (You can find the full story on the Internet.) Mrs. Caldwell was killed earlier by the Hessians under the command of the British. Their nine children were raised by friends. One of the girls, Hannah Ogden Caldwell, married James R. Smith of New York City.
James R. Smith came to America as a child from Kirkudbright, Scotland. Through hard work and shrewd business ability, he became a very successful merchant in New York City. He owned all the property along Broadway up to thirty-fourth street. He lived on Pearl Street and had a summer home in Greenwich near what is now Washington Square. The Smiths had a daughter named Elizabeth Caldwell who was born on Pearl Street, March 28, 1808. After the death of her mother, Elizabeth moved to Washington, D.C. to live with her sister, Mrs. Matthew St. Clair Clarke whose husband was the clerk of the House of Representatives.
Elizabeth was once invited to have dinner at the White House when John Q. Adams was President. She “wore a crimson silk dress with her hair in three puffs on the top and three puffs on each side of her head and a high tortoise shell comb. She also wore silk stockings and black satin slippers. At the dinner she met Joseph Duncan from Kaskaskia, Illinois and Henry Clay told Elizabeth some things about him. He was not only a good looking man but was a good son, having taken care of his mother and educated his sister and two brothers.
Joseph Duncan was born on February 22, 1794 in Kentucky. Born into a very poor family, he educated himself especially in the classics. He served in the War of 1812 and later commanded troops as a brigadier general in the Black Hawk War. He was awarded a testimonial sword by Congress for his role in defending Fort Stephenson, Ohio. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1827, he served four terms. Later, he would become the 6th governor of Illinois.
Joseph Duncan and Elizabeth Caldwell Smith were married in Washington, D.C. on May 13, 1828. Two weeks later they began the long journey to Illinois. They crossed the mountains in a stagecoach and took a steamboat from Wheeling to Cairo. From Cairo to St. Louis, they traveled “in the company with Mr. And Mrs. James K. Polk of Tennessee, little thinking he would ever fill the President’s chair, such a commonplace man.” They spent a week in St. Louis and then took a boat to Kaskaskia and then on horseback to Fountain Bluff where Joseph Duncan owned a sawmill.
They chose Jacksonville, Illinois, to be their home and in 1834 built a three-story, 17 room mansion. It was the official Governor’s mansion during his term in office (1834-1838). The house is still standing. When they first arrived in Jacksonville, Elizabeth wore a dress of “white India muslin and a long sky blue sash.” She wrote in her diary: “Wherever I went they turned my trunk inside out, tried on all my clothes and admired them generally. It was funny and often annoying to have them cut patterns of everything they could, often ruining them past use.” "No wonder people asked, what brought you so far from the city out into the wild country? I said, My husband, I followed him.”
Mrs. Duncan was 4'5" tall and if she “was pouting” when the Governor arrived home after a long stay in Springfield, Governor Duncan would laughingly set his petite wife on the mantle, where she remained until some other member of the household came to her aid. This diminutive little lady gave birth to 10 children.
When they returned to Washington for the Second Session of Congress. Elizabeth wrote: “Mrs. Mather took us in their carriage to Carlyle several days journey, two nights and two days. We stopped for the night at a log cabin, so four of us slept in one room, not an unusual occurrence in those days.” At Carlyle they took the stage through Indiana over corduroy roads and then on to Cleveland. “The lake was so rough and the boat so poor we coasted the lake in a covered wagon to Buffalo.” From Buffalo they took a stage to Albany and a steamboat to New York. Another stagecoach completed the final leg to Washington. The entire journey took three weeks. Elizabeth said, “In November the weather was beautiful. It was a rough journey. I felt I was going home. I never liked the west and was so glad to get back.” On one of their many trips to Washington, their son James “died at Wheeling, Virginia and we buried him on a hill in sight of the river.” He was 2 years and 7 months old. What sadness they must have endured to leave this little boy, not in a cemetery but on a hill. During her lifetime, Mrs. Duncan would make this trip eight times.
I have been unable to find the exact date of her death, but believe she is buried alongside her husband in Jacksonville, Illinois. Governor Joseph Duncan died January 15, 1844. He is buried in the Diamond Grove Cemetery in Jacksonville. The mansion is owned today by the Rev. James Caldwell Chapter NSDAR and is open to the public. The home has been fully restored and contains many original Duncan family furnishings.
A Scottish girl from New York City - a Scottish man from Paris, Kentucky, who met in Washington, lived on the Frontier and died in Jacksonville, Illinois, makes an interesting story fit for the movies.
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
630-629-4516
Announcements:
No History Club meeting in July or August.
Scottish Home Picnic - August 4, 2012
History Club Meeting - September 8, 2012
Kilted Classic Golf Outing - September 21, 2012
History Club Tour - October 6, 2012
North American Leadership Conference - Oct. 26-28. Troy, Michigan
St. Andrew’s Day Dinner - November 16, 2012
Rockford Burns Banquet - January 19, 2013 (www.rockfordburnsclub.com)
Nicht Wi’ Burns Supper - January 26, 2013
St. Andrew’s Society Burns Dinner - February 9, 2013
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
The Lost Daughters
Dr. Alexander Stewart, born in 1779 in Perth, Scotland, was a veterinary surgeon who had studied in London and Edinburgh. For 14 years he was a surgeon to the Perth Agriculture Society but always had a desire to live in America. He began reading literature produced by a Mr. Flowers who apparently gave a glowing view of life in the new continent. He and his wife had eight children: four boys and four girls.
In 1817, he finally left with his wife and the four boys. Grandparents on both sides of the family pleaded that his four daughters should be left in Scotland. Once settled, they said, the daughters could follow. The girls were left behind, and it would seven years before they would see them again.
After a journey of seven weeks in crossing of the Atlantic, Dr. Stewart’s family made their way to New Harmony, Indiana, where Robert Owen had established a colony. (Owen was Welsh but in Glasgow he fell in love with and married Caroline Dale.) The colony is an interesting story and we will write about it in the future. It is not known how they traveled but they may have used the rivers until they reached New Harmony. There were no trains. The Stewart family was not interested in being part of the colony, so they moved on. Finally, in White County, Illinois, about a mile from the “Scotch settlement” of Liberty, they took up a homestead of 200 acres in 1825. (I am not sure why, but at some point Liberty changed its name to Burnt Prairie. It is 285 miles south of Chicago and had a population of 58 people in 2000.)
In America, Dr. Stewart began practicing medicine because there was so much “sickness-chill and fever.” He was very kind to the poor and often took them into his home for treatment and care. Now with the family settled, it was time to bring the four daughters to America.
He began a series of letters to a friend and neighbor in Edinburgh, Scotland. He sent money to this friend with instructions on how to reach Liberty, Illinois. They left with the next group of immigrants. After reaching New York, the friend took his family into the city to find lodging. In addition, he took “all their money, letters of introduction and travel instructions.” He never returned.
"After landing in New York, the girls (Jessie, Christina, Martha and Mary) waited all afternoon. In their great disappointment and, in fear for what might happen to them, they were all in tears.” They asked the captain of the sailing ship to take them back to Scotland but were told the ship would not sail for two weeks. Toward evening, a gentleman with a tall silk hat and a gold-headed cane came walking toward them from the city. He stopped and they told him their story. The gentleman happened to be a Scot and he could “understand them perfectly.” Not only did he have a “kindly Scotch tongue” but he had been a classmate of Dr. Stewart. He took them home and they “enjoyed a fine supper.”
The four girls ranged in age from 11 to 19, and they had not seen their parents in seven years. They were placed with other Scottish families in the area, except for Mary, the youngest, who stayed with the Doctor. (We only know him by his last name of Ferguson.) “They were all sent to school and given dancing lessons and had the advantages of the wealthy children of that day.” Dr. Ferguson was a kind and caring man.
In Liberty, Illinois, the father could estimate the amount of time it would take to cross the Atlantic and then there would be weeks and perhaps months for them to make the rest of the journey. After a period of time and the girls had not arrived, he concluded that they had been lost at sea or had met with some accident. The girls did not have their father’s address and there was no other method of communication so they wrote to the grandparents in Scotland. Mail traveled very slowly in those days and it took months for the father to get the message about what had happened and where they were.
The oldest daughter had fallen in love with George Dick while crossing the Atlantic and was planning to get married. When word finally reached the father, he began the long journey to New York. He traveled alone “armed with his gun and on foot.” (Google says that is a trip of 918 miles.) I don’t know how long that journey would have taken the good doctor.
After the wedding of Jessie, the oldest daughter, they began the long journey back to Illinois.
At the age of 86, Alexander Stewart died May 5, 1865, and was buried in the Burnt Prairie Cemetery. Many other family members are buried at this cemetery.
This story was written by Isabella Miller, a granddaughter of Dr. Alexander Stewart, and was sent to me in 2000 by Ted Reeves who lived in Merced, California. We communicated several times but have now lost touch. The telephone number I have is no longer correct. He was active in the Stewart Clan Society so perhaps someone can help with new contact information.
I find the story interesting because it illustrates how the world has changed and what the early immigrants faced if they chose to live in America.
Wayne Rethford, President
Scottish American History Club
630-629-4526
The Highland Games are this weekend in Itasca, Illinois. Click here for full details. The Scottish American History Club and Scottish Heritage Museum will have a tent in the clan area. Come see us!
In 1817, he finally left with his wife and the four boys. Grandparents on both sides of the family pleaded that his four daughters should be left in Scotland. Once settled, they said, the daughters could follow. The girls were left behind, and it would seven years before they would see them again.
After a journey of seven weeks in crossing of the Atlantic, Dr. Stewart’s family made their way to New Harmony, Indiana, where Robert Owen had established a colony. (Owen was Welsh but in Glasgow he fell in love with and married Caroline Dale.) The colony is an interesting story and we will write about it in the future. It is not known how they traveled but they may have used the rivers until they reached New Harmony. There were no trains. The Stewart family was not interested in being part of the colony, so they moved on. Finally, in White County, Illinois, about a mile from the “Scotch settlement” of Liberty, they took up a homestead of 200 acres in 1825. (I am not sure why, but at some point Liberty changed its name to Burnt Prairie. It is 285 miles south of Chicago and had a population of 58 people in 2000.)
In America, Dr. Stewart began practicing medicine because there was so much “sickness-chill and fever.” He was very kind to the poor and often took them into his home for treatment and care. Now with the family settled, it was time to bring the four daughters to America.
He began a series of letters to a friend and neighbor in Edinburgh, Scotland. He sent money to this friend with instructions on how to reach Liberty, Illinois. They left with the next group of immigrants. After reaching New York, the friend took his family into the city to find lodging. In addition, he took “all their money, letters of introduction and travel instructions.” He never returned.
"After landing in New York, the girls (Jessie, Christina, Martha and Mary) waited all afternoon. In their great disappointment and, in fear for what might happen to them, they were all in tears.” They asked the captain of the sailing ship to take them back to Scotland but were told the ship would not sail for two weeks. Toward evening, a gentleman with a tall silk hat and a gold-headed cane came walking toward them from the city. He stopped and they told him their story. The gentleman happened to be a Scot and he could “understand them perfectly.” Not only did he have a “kindly Scotch tongue” but he had been a classmate of Dr. Stewart. He took them home and they “enjoyed a fine supper.”
The four girls ranged in age from 11 to 19, and they had not seen their parents in seven years. They were placed with other Scottish families in the area, except for Mary, the youngest, who stayed with the Doctor. (We only know him by his last name of Ferguson.) “They were all sent to school and given dancing lessons and had the advantages of the wealthy children of that day.” Dr. Ferguson was a kind and caring man.
In Liberty, Illinois, the father could estimate the amount of time it would take to cross the Atlantic and then there would be weeks and perhaps months for them to make the rest of the journey. After a period of time and the girls had not arrived, he concluded that they had been lost at sea or had met with some accident. The girls did not have their father’s address and there was no other method of communication so they wrote to the grandparents in Scotland. Mail traveled very slowly in those days and it took months for the father to get the message about what had happened and where they were.
The oldest daughter had fallen in love with George Dick while crossing the Atlantic and was planning to get married. When word finally reached the father, he began the long journey to New York. He traveled alone “armed with his gun and on foot.” (Google says that is a trip of 918 miles.) I don’t know how long that journey would have taken the good doctor.
After the wedding of Jessie, the oldest daughter, they began the long journey back to Illinois.
At the age of 86, Alexander Stewart died May 5, 1865, and was buried in the Burnt Prairie Cemetery. Many other family members are buried at this cemetery.
This story was written by Isabella Miller, a granddaughter of Dr. Alexander Stewart, and was sent to me in 2000 by Ted Reeves who lived in Merced, California. We communicated several times but have now lost touch. The telephone number I have is no longer correct. He was active in the Stewart Clan Society so perhaps someone can help with new contact information.
I find the story interesting because it illustrates how the world has changed and what the early immigrants faced if they chose to live in America.
Wayne Rethford, President
Scottish American History Club
630-629-4526
The Highland Games are this weekend in Itasca, Illinois. Click here for full details. The Scottish American History Club and Scottish Heritage Museum will have a tent in the clan area. Come see us!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
No Quitters
As you read this it will soon be June 6 - D-Day. I wonder who will remember this year? The old soldiers are dying by the thousands every day. General Patton is gone. The mothers and fathers who grieved the loss of sons are gone as well. I wrote this blog in 2010. I like the story and repeat it again in honor of all those who serve and die.
Patton was a complex man but a great commanding officer. Some politicians disliked him and some members of the press as well, but his soldiers loved him. Through North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, and northern France, his Army was always on the move. Patton never wanted his troops to dig fox holes because that meant they were not moving. I remember looking at maps in the daily newspaper during the war as they traced the progress of the Third Army. It was quite amazing how many miles they could travel in a single day.
In war, Patton was an unforgiving General. The enemy must be destroyed and killed. But, there was another side to Patton. He often visited the wounded and talked personally to his soldiers. Patton would kneel in the mud and administer a shot to save a wounded man. He was irreligious in his language but he believed that soldiers should pray. Here is the story of what is called Patton’s Prayer.
The phone rang in the office of the Chaplin on December 8, 1944. “This is General Patton; do you have a good prayer for weather? We must do something about these rains if we are too win the war.” (Patton was Episcopalian and was regular in his church attendance.) Rain had hindered the Third Army since September and it was now December.
Brigadier General Msgr. James H. O’Neill was the top Third Army Chaplin. (He would later live in Pueblo, CO.) He couldn’t find a prayer so he wrote one: “Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish thy justice among men and nations.”
On the other side of his 3x5 card, the Chaplain typed a Christmas message. “To each officer and soldier in the Third United States Army, I wish a Merry Christmas. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We march in our might to complete victory. May God’s blessing rest upon each of you on this Christmas Day. G. S. Patton, Jr., Lieutenant General, Commanding, Third United States Army.”
Patton read both, signed the card and casually said: “Have 250,000 copies printed and see to it that every man in the Third Army gets one.”
There followed a long discussion between the General and the Chaplin about how much “praying is being done in the Third Army.” The General said he was a strong believer in prayer. “There are three ways that men get what they want: by planning, by preparation (working), and by praying. God has His part, or margin, in everything.” Patton continued talking about God’s blessings on the Third Army. “We have never retreated, we have suffered no defeats, no famine, no epidemics.” He talked about Gideon in the Bible and “said that men should pray no matter where they were, in church or out of it, that if they did not pray, sooner or later they would crack up.”
As a result of the conversation, Training Letter No. 5 was written and approved by Patton. It was distributed to all 486 chaplains and to every commander down to the regimental level - 2,300 copies. It said in part: “Our glorious march from the Normandy Beach across France to where we stand, before and beyond the Siegfried Line, with the wreckage of the German Army behind us should convince the most skeptical soldier that God has ridden with our banner....We have had no quitters; and our leadership has been masterful....We have no memory of a lost battle to hand on to our children from this great campaign.”
Casualty lists differ but most believe that over 6,000 American soldiers were counted as killed or missing as the result of one days battle, June 6, 1944. We had no quitters...our leadership was masterful...no memory of a lost battle was given to our children, but there were many who died.
Wayne Rethford, President
Scottish American History Club
630-629-4516
Patton was a complex man but a great commanding officer. Some politicians disliked him and some members of the press as well, but his soldiers loved him. Through North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, and northern France, his Army was always on the move. Patton never wanted his troops to dig fox holes because that meant they were not moving. I remember looking at maps in the daily newspaper during the war as they traced the progress of the Third Army. It was quite amazing how many miles they could travel in a single day.
In war, Patton was an unforgiving General. The enemy must be destroyed and killed. But, there was another side to Patton. He often visited the wounded and talked personally to his soldiers. Patton would kneel in the mud and administer a shot to save a wounded man. He was irreligious in his language but he believed that soldiers should pray. Here is the story of what is called Patton’s Prayer.
The phone rang in the office of the Chaplin on December 8, 1944. “This is General Patton; do you have a good prayer for weather? We must do something about these rains if we are too win the war.” (Patton was Episcopalian and was regular in his church attendance.) Rain had hindered the Third Army since September and it was now December.
Brigadier General Msgr. James H. O’Neill was the top Third Army Chaplin. (He would later live in Pueblo, CO.) He couldn’t find a prayer so he wrote one: “Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish thy justice among men and nations.”
On the other side of his 3x5 card, the Chaplain typed a Christmas message. “To each officer and soldier in the Third United States Army, I wish a Merry Christmas. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We march in our might to complete victory. May God’s blessing rest upon each of you on this Christmas Day. G. S. Patton, Jr., Lieutenant General, Commanding, Third United States Army.”
Patton read both, signed the card and casually said: “Have 250,000 copies printed and see to it that every man in the Third Army gets one.”
There followed a long discussion between the General and the Chaplin about how much “praying is being done in the Third Army.” The General said he was a strong believer in prayer. “There are three ways that men get what they want: by planning, by preparation (working), and by praying. God has His part, or margin, in everything.” Patton continued talking about God’s blessings on the Third Army. “We have never retreated, we have suffered no defeats, no famine, no epidemics.” He talked about Gideon in the Bible and “said that men should pray no matter where they were, in church or out of it, that if they did not pray, sooner or later they would crack up.”
As a result of the conversation, Training Letter No. 5 was written and approved by Patton. It was distributed to all 486 chaplains and to every commander down to the regimental level - 2,300 copies. It said in part: “Our glorious march from the Normandy Beach across France to where we stand, before and beyond the Siegfried Line, with the wreckage of the German Army behind us should convince the most skeptical soldier that God has ridden with our banner....We have had no quitters; and our leadership has been masterful....We have no memory of a lost battle to hand on to our children from this great campaign.”
Casualty lists differ but most believe that over 6,000 American soldiers were counted as killed or missing as the result of one days battle, June 6, 1944. We had no quitters...our leadership was masterful...no memory of a lost battle was given to our children, but there were many who died.
Wayne Rethford, President
Scottish American History Club
630-629-4516
Monday, May 28, 2012
"Killing Lincoln" and the Chicago Connection
I have just finished reading “Killing Lincoln” by Bill O’Reilly. If you like history and especially the Civil War you will enjoy the book. There is a Chicago connection not mentioned in the book and it begins with the birth of James H. McVicker on February 14, 1822, in New York City. His father died in the same year and his mother was left with three small children. According to the New York Times both parents were of Scottish heritage. As soon as James was old enough he began working to support the family. As a young adult, he drifted from place to place and in St. Louis became a journeyman printer.
At the age of twenty he realized that his lack of education was a great hindrance and so he began the process of educating himself. In 1840, he found a job as an actor in New Orleans and in the next few years he traveled the country as an actor and also married. His wife, Harriett G. Runnion, (her maiden name may have been Myers) had been married before and had two children, a boy named Horace and a girl named Mary Francis. In 1848, Mr. and Mrs. McVicker came to Chicago where he found acceptance as an actor.
George Wood, who operated a theater in St. Louis, encouraged McVicker to build a theater in Chicago and he would advance most of the money. Mr. Wood failed to fulfill his part of the bargain but others did and a building was constructed at a cost of $85,000. Among his backers were Potter Palmer, Marshall Field I and W. W. Kimball. The theater seated 2,500 people and was the “most commodious playhouse in the West.”
Edwin Booth first appeared at McVicker’s Theatre, May 31, 1858. About the same time, or perhaps a little later, Mary Francis McVicker began to take children’s parts at her father’s theater. She was then twelve years old and soon became a Chicago favorite. She traveled to other cities along the east coast and was popular there as well. All of this interfered with her education, so her father stopped her acting career. When she was eighteen, Mary was allowed to play Juliet to Edwin Booth’s Romeo. She was a success.
John Wilkes Booth, who in 3 years would shoot President Abraham Lincoln, also appeared in “Richard III” at McVicker’s (1862).
Mary Francis and Edwin Booth fell in love and were married by her grandfather, Rev. B. F. Myers. It was the second marriage for Edwin Booth. Later, Mary appears to have developed severe mental and emotional problems which complicated their marriage. She had gone to Europe with her husband but her health was failing so her father brought her back to America. She died at his home, 13 West Fifty-third street, New York City, and her remains were brought back to Chicago for burial. The funeral was held in St. Paul’s Universalist Church and burial was at Rosehill. Her father never fully recovered from the loss of his daughter and there was a “subsequent misunderstanding with Mr. Booth” which added to his sorrow. I have read that Mary Booth refused to be buried in the family plot in Baltimore because of John Wilkes Booth and chose rather to be buried at Rosehill.
Unlike his brother, Edwin Booth supported the North during the war and had voted for Abraham Lincoln. James McVicker was an ardent supporter of Lincoln. When the President was assassinated, 100 prominent citizens of Chicago were appointed to accompany his body to Springfield for burial. McVicker was one of the 100 chosen. He was an active member of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society while living in Chicago.
James H. McVicker died March 10, 1896 and the funeral service was held at the residence, 1842 Michigan avenue. The Rev. H. W. Thomas, pastor of the People’s Church, which worshiped on Sundays in McVicker’s Theater, conducted the service. (McVicker was also a great admirer of Prof. Swing and attended his Central Church for several years. ) Burial was at Rosehill. His estate was valued at more than $850,000.
Mrs. McVicker appears to have died in Pasadena, California on August 25, 1904 at the age of 81. She is also buried at Rosehill. There were several attempts to break her will, estimated at $350,000, which also included a statement “that no other burial shall be made in the McVicker lot after that of the testatrix.” I assume this was her attempt to keep any members of the Booth family from being buried in their family plot.
John Wilkes Booth was first buried in the Old Penitentiary on the Washington Arsenal grounds in what is now Ft. Lesley J. McNair. “A grave was dug beneath the prison floor, and the remains, wrapped in an army blanket were lowered in a gun box into the hole and covered by a stone slab.” In 1869, the body was given to the family and buried in the Booth family plot in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore. His grave is unmarked.
McVicker Theater survived until 1984 and was the oldest in Chicago and the third oldest in the nation. It was located at 25 W. Madison St. and was owned by Citicorp Savings of Illinois. The building had been declared unsafe. According to the Tribune, “the property had been purchased for $7 million in 1979 from the Chicago Board of Education, which had owned the land almost from Chicago’s inception.”
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Scottish American History Club
630-629-4516
June 2, 2012 - Next meeting of the History Club. Our speaker is David Simpson. He has been collecting Scottish coins for 30 years. He is a graduate of Aberdeen University and has researched Scottish coins in the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum and Aberdeen University. He is a member of the Chicago Coin Club, the Hillside Coin Club and the American Numismatic Association.
The Scottish American Museum opens at 9:00 a.m. - Meeting starts at 10 and ends at noon.
The History Club does not meet in July or August and there are no pies for the June meeting, just scones and coffee. The scones are pretty good, however, so come and enjoy the presentation.
At the age of twenty he realized that his lack of education was a great hindrance and so he began the process of educating himself. In 1840, he found a job as an actor in New Orleans and in the next few years he traveled the country as an actor and also married. His wife, Harriett G. Runnion, (her maiden name may have been Myers) had been married before and had two children, a boy named Horace and a girl named Mary Francis. In 1848, Mr. and Mrs. McVicker came to Chicago where he found acceptance as an actor.
George Wood, who operated a theater in St. Louis, encouraged McVicker to build a theater in Chicago and he would advance most of the money. Mr. Wood failed to fulfill his part of the bargain but others did and a building was constructed at a cost of $85,000. Among his backers were Potter Palmer, Marshall Field I and W. W. Kimball. The theater seated 2,500 people and was the “most commodious playhouse in the West.”
Edwin Booth first appeared at McVicker’s Theatre, May 31, 1858. About the same time, or perhaps a little later, Mary Francis McVicker began to take children’s parts at her father’s theater. She was then twelve years old and soon became a Chicago favorite. She traveled to other cities along the east coast and was popular there as well. All of this interfered with her education, so her father stopped her acting career. When she was eighteen, Mary was allowed to play Juliet to Edwin Booth’s Romeo. She was a success.
John Wilkes Booth, who in 3 years would shoot President Abraham Lincoln, also appeared in “Richard III” at McVicker’s (1862).
Mary Francis and Edwin Booth fell in love and were married by her grandfather, Rev. B. F. Myers. It was the second marriage for Edwin Booth. Later, Mary appears to have developed severe mental and emotional problems which complicated their marriage. She had gone to Europe with her husband but her health was failing so her father brought her back to America. She died at his home, 13 West Fifty-third street, New York City, and her remains were brought back to Chicago for burial. The funeral was held in St. Paul’s Universalist Church and burial was at Rosehill. Her father never fully recovered from the loss of his daughter and there was a “subsequent misunderstanding with Mr. Booth” which added to his sorrow. I have read that Mary Booth refused to be buried in the family plot in Baltimore because of John Wilkes Booth and chose rather to be buried at Rosehill.
Unlike his brother, Edwin Booth supported the North during the war and had voted for Abraham Lincoln. James McVicker was an ardent supporter of Lincoln. When the President was assassinated, 100 prominent citizens of Chicago were appointed to accompany his body to Springfield for burial. McVicker was one of the 100 chosen. He was an active member of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society while living in Chicago.
James H. McVicker died March 10, 1896 and the funeral service was held at the residence, 1842 Michigan avenue. The Rev. H. W. Thomas, pastor of the People’s Church, which worshiped on Sundays in McVicker’s Theater, conducted the service. (McVicker was also a great admirer of Prof. Swing and attended his Central Church for several years. ) Burial was at Rosehill. His estate was valued at more than $850,000.
Mrs. McVicker appears to have died in Pasadena, California on August 25, 1904 at the age of 81. She is also buried at Rosehill. There were several attempts to break her will, estimated at $350,000, which also included a statement “that no other burial shall be made in the McVicker lot after that of the testatrix.” I assume this was her attempt to keep any members of the Booth family from being buried in their family plot.
John Wilkes Booth was first buried in the Old Penitentiary on the Washington Arsenal grounds in what is now Ft. Lesley J. McNair. “A grave was dug beneath the prison floor, and the remains, wrapped in an army blanket were lowered in a gun box into the hole and covered by a stone slab.” In 1869, the body was given to the family and buried in the Booth family plot in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore. His grave is unmarked.
McVicker Theater survived until 1984 and was the oldest in Chicago and the third oldest in the nation. It was located at 25 W. Madison St. and was owned by Citicorp Savings of Illinois. The building had been declared unsafe. According to the Tribune, “the property had been purchased for $7 million in 1979 from the Chicago Board of Education, which had owned the land almost from Chicago’s inception.”
Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Scottish American History Club
630-629-4516
June 2, 2012 - Next meeting of the History Club. Our speaker is David Simpson. He has been collecting Scottish coins for 30 years. He is a graduate of Aberdeen University and has researched Scottish coins in the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum and Aberdeen University. He is a member of the Chicago Coin Club, the Hillside Coin Club and the American Numismatic Association.
The Scottish American Museum opens at 9:00 a.m. - Meeting starts at 10 and ends at noon.
The History Club does not meet in July or August and there are no pies for the June meeting, just scones and coffee. The scones are pretty good, however, so come and enjoy the presentation.
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