Company and S. P. Rounds, till October 9, 1871. After the fire
they had no use for traveling men, as they could not manufacture
presses and type as fast as they received orders by mail. Pie then
aided, and took an interest in establishing the Phoenix Printing
Company, and opened their business on Canal Street, in the Gates
Building. Afterward he sold his interest in the printing company,
and established his present business. He was married, September
19, 1857, to Annie E. Duffie ; they have nine children living — John
F., Minnie Annie, William B., Tessie, Barbara, Bella {Henry A.,
deceased), Harriet, Bella and Beatrice.
The following table (compiled from the census re-
ports of i860 and 1870) affords a view of the growth of
the various departments of the publishing and printing
business during the ten years preceding the fire. The
figures given, are for the entire County of Cook, but
may be accepted as relating substantially to Chicago.
Trades.
Number
of
establish-
Capital invested.
(Dollars.)
Cost of
raw material.
(Dollars.)
Number
of
Watjes paid.
(Dollars )
Value of
manufactured pro-
duce.
( Dollars.)
1860.
1870.
i860
1870.
i860.
1870.
i860.
.870.
i860.
1870.
i860.
1870.
Printing and publishing. _
Book
Job _
s
16
34
6S,ooo
271,000
203,000
293,400
210,440
205,620
329075
151,900
53
1S1
34i
333
37,000
114,700
222,200
156,200
324 OOO
452,500
945.450
431,000
*!'>
60
♦307,700
835,400
*igo,7t6
S97.035
* 35 6
908
* 154.42S
530,100
*525,022
2,177.950
Type founding
Inks
inding - - — .
I I
I J 19
25,000
1 ,0O0
14,000
2S,OO0
135.300
6,250
3.350
5,000
35,000
636,365
16
7
12
16
260
4,S2 4
r,872
7,000
3,320
105,800
24,000
9,30C
25,O00
51,000
SS8,40O
â– ... [ions re< ognized in tin.
will furnish the power ami lurnish work, more than enough to pay
a small nominal rent." He accepted the proposition of Mr. Storey,
hi rear ol the Times Building, con-
nuing eighteen months, when lie removed 10 Calhoun Place, be-
.rk and lie.. |„ this place he was burned
out by the fire of ;-7r. Il<- leased a lot at No. 272 West Lake
Street, anil built, where he continued hi-, business until May, 1SS4,
when he removed to the rear of Nos. 13, 15, 17 and 19 North
1 ere hi probably has the largest manufactory of
the kind in the West, and in which he employs thirty-live men.
On January ig, ri.-i. he was married to Elizabeth \'. Williams,
who was born in I tica, V Y.. in 1-16. She .I'm. I on January 1,
rid left three children — Samuel, Charles and William.
.gain married, on February 16, 1882, to Frances 1 leddings.
On April 10, 1883, was elected, on the Republican ticket, a
member of the Citj 1 ouncil, to represent the Eleventh Ward, lie
I) . and was a staunch
supporter of the bigh-lii â– use reform movement which has broughl
HISTORY OF THE PRESS.
In 1858, the leading newspapers of Chicago were
The Democrat, The Daily Journal, The Tribune, The
Democratic l'ress, The Times, and the Illinois Staats
^ ' $Ljyjz*M~^^+^,
Zeitung. There was also The National Democrat,
an administration paper, succeeded later by the
Herald, and the Union, an evening paper. They were
THE LITERATURE OF CHICAGO.
491
all part}' papers, depending on party for maintenance,
and yielding in return unhesitating party allegiance.
The Democrat, the Journal, the Tribune, the Press and
the Staats Zeitung occupied the same ground substan-
tially as to the slavery question, were all in alliance
with the Republican party, and were prosperous papers.
With the beginning of the year 1858, the Journal, the
Tribune and the Press announced that subscriptions
must thereafter be paid in advance. On July 1, of the
same year, the Tribune and the Democratic Press were
consolidated under the name of The Press and Tribune,
each paper being valued at $100,000. John L. Scripps
and William Bross were owners of the Press, and
subscribers and advertisers who have always remained
constant to it. Charles L. Wilson was sole proprietor,
^
ctSZsy*
<S <7~*>T-^C<s-yi.
Charles H. Ray, Joseph Medill and Alfred Cowles,
owners of the Tribune.
Of the papers mentioned, the Democrat was the
oldest. Its earlier history is given in our first
volume. It had been a Democratic paper up to the
time of the Kansas-Nebraska issue, but when the slav-
ery question was again raised, it assisted in the forma-
tion of the Republican party. John Wentworth was
both its owner and editor, and its columns were charac-
terized by his self-assertion and independence. It sup-
ported Lincoln in the senatorial campaign of 1858, and
again in the presidential campaign of i860. When the
Civil War broke out, it ardently supported the cause of
the Union. In the spring of i860, Wentworth was again
elected mayor, and at the close of his term, determined
to retire from journalism. He had occupied the editorial
chair for a quarter of a century, and felt himself en-
titled to a rest. On the 24th of July, 1861, the last
number of the Democrat was issued, and its editor
made his farewell address to his patrons. He did not,
in terms, sell his paper. He sold his subscription lists,
advertising, job work, patronage and good will to the
Tribune, with the agreement that he was not to publish
a newspaper until after the 1st of March, 1864. Thus,
the Tribune absorbed its two rivals, became the sole
morning Republican newspaper, and laid the founda-
tions for the splendid property it was subsequently.
Taking the leading newspapers in their order of
age, we commence with the Daily Journal, more widely
known as
The Chicago Evening Journal. — With the year
1858, the Evening Journal commenced its long career
of prosperity. It "adopted the principle of advance
payment for subscriptions, and obtained a clientage of
GUx^JU^^Xxhii^^
Andrew Shuman, editor, George P. Upton, local and
commercial reporter, and Benjamin F. Taylor, literary
editor.
Charles L. Wilson was born in Fairfield County. Connec-
ticut, October 10, 1818. He was the son of John Quintard Wil-
son, at one time a prominent lawyer in New York City, afterward
removing to Connecticut where he was appointed a judge. His
education was obtained in the common schools and academy of his
native county. Completing such studies as these afforded, by the
time he was seventeen, he looked out upon the West as presenting
the greatest resources for him, and in September, 1835, found him-
self in Chicago. For the next ten years his life was passed in mer-
cantile pursuits, but his brother, Richard L., having become the
owner and editor of the Evening Journal, in 1S45 Charles became
associated with him as editor and in the ownership of the paper.
Richard Wilson died in 1856, and Charles then became the sole
owner of the Evening Journal. Mr. Wilson was active in the sup-
port of the Republican party, and was a warm adherent of Abraham
Lincoln in the senatorial contest of 1S5S. In the Republican con-
vention of 1S60 he advocated the nomination of William H. Seward
for the presidency, but when Mr. Lincoln was nominated sup-
ported him with enthusiasm. In 1861, Mr. Lincoln appointed him
Secretary of Legation at London, in which position he remained
until 1S64, meantime leaving the Journal in charge of his brother,
i/L £. <br&^h
o
John L. Wilson, as business manager, and Andrew Shuman, as
editor. Under this able management, the paper prospered greatly,
and when Mr. Wilson returned from London in 1S64 he found that
his paper had become a very valuable property. In July, 1S69, he
married Miss Caroline F. Farrar, sister of Colonel Henry W. Farrar,
who was at this time associated with the Journal as business mana-
ger. In 1875, Mr. Wilson's health began to fail, and in March.
1S7S, he died in San Antonio. Texas, wither he had gone for the
benefit of his health. He left surviving him his wife and one
daughter.
Andrew Shuman, the son of Jacob and Margaret Shuman,
was born November 8, 1830, in Lancaster County, lVnn. He re-
ceived a common school education, and at the age of fourteen was
apprenticed to the printing business in the office of the Lancaster
Union and Sentinel. He remained there until 1S46. when he
accompanied his employer to Auburn, N. Y.. who went to take
charge of the Daily Advertiser, the organ of William II. Seward
He continued working at the newspaper business until 1850, when
he determined to procure a more complete education, and, during
that year, prepared himself to enter Hamilton College, which he"
did in 1851. He remained at college until the fall of 1853, when,
at the instance of some of the political friends of Mr. Seward, he
assumed the editorship of the Daily Journal, Syracuse, N. Y., and
remained in charge of that paper until July, 1S56, when he became
assistant editor of the Chicago Evening Journal. In 1855, he
married Miss Lucy I!. Dunlap, of Ovid, N. Y. They have one
daughter. Mr. Shuman has held some public positions. He was
Commissioner of the Illinois State Penitentiary at Joliet, from 1S65
till 1S71, and in 1876 was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois.
He ranks among the foremost journalists of Chicago, and is
justly entitled to a large share of the credit for the success of the
Evening Journal.
The reputation of the Journal is that of quiet and
staid respectability. No one ever found in it any highly
flavored articles, bordering on the licentious or the
obscene. It is well informed, conservative, and judi-
cious, serving the Republican party with faithfulness
but never advocating the extremely radical measures of
the doctrinaires of that party. Messrs. Wilson and
49-
HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
Shuman were both admirers of William H. Seward, and
were impressed by his character. They deemed him a
wise and judicious statesman. They belonged to his
school, anil the political tone of the Journal was keyed,
so far as was possible, on the ideas and utterances of
the great New Yorker. The Journal was an earnest
supporter of Lincoln's administration during the War;
favored Andrew-
Johnson until his
rupture with Con-
gress, and support-
ed Grant's first and
second administra-
tions. It has never
been in advance of
its party, but. when
the issues are made,
marches well in line.
It favors a protec-
tive tariff.
Oliver Hazard
Per r ¥ was born at
Rochester, N.V.. in 1S36,
and was educated at that
city and at Lockport, 111 ,
whither his family re-
moved in 1S47. He com-
menced his apprentice-
ship to the art of printing
on the Will County Tel-
egraph, the first newspa-
per published at Lock-
port. In iS;i, he came
to Chicago, and became connected with the Democrat as a prin-
ter, and remained on that paper until its publication ceased in
1S61, when he entered the Journal office. In 1866, he became
city editor of that paper, and, after the retirement of Benjamin
F. Taylor, the literary editor. For about a year after the great
fire he' edited the North-Western Railway Traveler, published in
the interests of the North-Western Railway Company. He then
returned to the Journal, and has been continuously with it from
that time. He was married, in 1870, to Miss Julia Vanderveck,
of Rochester, N. V. Mr. Perry has fine literary taste and judg-
ment, and his criticisms are marked by good feeling and discrim-
ination.
[AMES CmSHOLM was born at Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1S3S,
and received his education in that famous city. He came to the
United States in 1S64. and took up his residence in Chicago.
He commenced journalism on the Times as a reporter, and, in
1865, joined the Tribune. After the fire, he became connected
with the Inter Ocean, then with the Indicator, and, a few years
later, with the Journal. Most of his journalistic work has been
in the line of dramatic criticism. He was married, in 1S71, to
Miss Mary E. Garrison, of Chicago.
The Chic m.<> Tribune. — Ably conducted and ed-
ited, enterprising in news-gathering, always partisan,
the Chicago Tribune, during the period of which we
now write, was the most prominent and most success-
ful newspaper in the West. It had the merit of being
on the popular side of the great political and social ques-
tions of the times. Its constituency was composed of
the educated and progressive people of the Northwest,
whose sentiments and opinions it reflected ably. In
the campaigns of 1858 and i860, it pursued Senator
Douglas with exceeding bitterness, but when that
nan lay dead at the Tremont House, it paid a
just and glowing tribute to his memory. It took a
dc ided stand on the tangled currency that afflicted the
tte from 185.S to 1862, on the War for
the Union, on emancipation, on re-construction, on the
impeachment of Johnson. During the War, it never
for one moment faltered in the belief that the Union
arms would be successful— never from first to last
counseled peace on any other terms than entire sub-
mission. It was among the first, if not the very first,
newspaper to urge the emancipation of the slaves. It
opposed the impeachment of Johnson as unwise and
impolitic, and advocated Congressional re-construction.
On lesser and local questions it was usually in accord
with its party, and believed the shield to be silver
or gold, as the party decreed.
Its editors and chief writers during this time were
William Bross, Dr. Charles H. Ray.
John L. Scripps, Joseph Medill,
Horace White and James W. Sheahan.
Mr. Scripps was appointed postmas-
ter in 1 86 1, when his editorial con-
nection with the paper ceased, and,
in January, 1S65, he sold out his
stock to Horace White, who at that
time became editor-in-chief.
After the consolidation with the Press, the paper
.was called the Press and Tribune until 1861, when the
word Press was dropped, and the following winter the
Legislature of Illinois granted a charter to Charles H.
Ray, Joseph Medill, Alfred Cowles, John L. Scripps,
and William Bross, and their successors, under the name
of the Tribune Company, with a capital of $200,000.
The paper continued to be published at No. 51
Clark Street until the year 1 S6.X, when it removed into
a new and handsome building, erected by the. Tribune
Company, on the southeast corner of Madison and
Dearborn streets. The building was of Joliet marble,
four stories high, and cost $225,000.
William Bross is one of those early and prominent residents
of Chicago, who has grown with the city's growth. Although he
THE LITERATURE OF CHICAGO.
493
is now in his seventy-second year, his mind is still active and he
takes as great an interest in the wonderful progress of his city as
when he was much younger. From the formation of the Repub-
lican party, he has supported its principles and policy with a bold
and trenchant pen, and during the War assisted in raising troops,
and has rendered the organization most effective service. Mr. Bross
may be said to be the father of commercial journalism in Chicago,
that feature of the daily press which has done more than all else to
attract the solid wealth and enterprise of other localities to this city.
But his labors as a journalist even antedate his record as a com-
mercial editor, and he stands to-day as one of the oldest and best-
known representatives of the press in the city. William Bross was
born near Port Jervis, N. J., November 4, 1S13, and when nine
years of age removed with his family to Milford, Perm. There he
lived until early manhood and received his academic education. In
1S34, he entered Williams College, graduating four years later with
high honor. Mr. Bross was so thorough in the classics, sciences
and history, that he was at once called to take charge of Ridgebury
Academy, near his birth-place. He also taught at Chester for
some years. He arrived in Chicago on May 12, 1848, and has since
continuously resided here. He became a member of the book-sell-
ing firm of Griggs, Bross & Co., disposing of his interest the next
year. Afterward, with Rev. J. A.Wight, D.D., he published the
Prairie Herald. In September, 1852, he united with John L.
Scripps in founding the Democratic Press, and under his able man-
agement it became a power. When the Republican party was
formed, in 1854. he espoused its doctrines, and upheld them faith-
fully and consistently with voice and pen, delivering his first polit-
ical speech in Dearborn Park, to indorse the nomination of Gen-
eral John C. Fremont to the presidency. He was elected a member
of the City Council in 1S55, and was the recognized commercial
champion of the city's prosperity. During the War, especially,
Mr. Bross made for himself a distinctive place as one of the bravest
defenders of the Republican policy. He assisted in raising the 29th
regiment of Colored Volunteers, which was commanded by his
brother. Colonel John A. Bross, who was killed at Petersburg, Va. ,
July 30, 1864. He also aided in discovering the rebel conspiracy
by which it was proposed, in November of that year, to release the
prisoners at Camp Douglas, burn the city of Chicago, and commit
other depredations. In the fall of 1864, his services to the State
were publicly recognized by his election to the position of lieuten-
ant-governor of Illinois. He continued to act through two regular
and one extra sessions, adding to his reputation as an orator of
broad scope. For the past thirtv years Mr. Bross has been more
or less actively engaged in every State canvass. He is still closely
identified with the Chicago Tribune. After the great fire, he was
among those who took the lead in bringing relief to the stricken
city, and was the first citizen of Chicago who presented her needs
to the business men of the East; his graphic and pathetic state-
ment, made to the New York Tribune, was the first considerable
account of the fire given to the press of that city. His address be-
fore the relief committee of the New York Chamber of Commerce
had an immense circulation and did much to inspire confidence in
the early restoration of the city. Mr. Bross was married, in 1839,
to the only daughter of Dr. John T. Jansen, of Goshen, N. Y.
Only one of their eight children now survives — Mrs. Plenry D.
Lloyd, whose husband is an editorial writer on the Tribune. Two
events in the life of Governor Bross are especially noteworthy.
The amendment to the Constitution submitted by Congress to the
States, abolishing slavery in the United States, was passed January
31, 1S65. The resolution for its adoption was passed the next day
by the Illinois Legislature, and hence his name as presiding officer of
the Senate, with that of the Speaker of the House, stands first among
all the States to that immortal document. All the infamous black
laws of Illinois were repealed during the session of 1865, and his
name was gladly affixed to them, as the representative of a free
people. In 186S, he visited the Rocky Mountains with Vice-Pres-
ident Colfax. During the trip he ascended Mount Lincoln with a
party of miners, and, in his honor, they named a mountain in the
same range, only a mile or two from it, after their champion. Only
a deep gorge partly separates them. Mount Lincoln is 14,297 feet
high; Mount Bross, 14,185. The Dolly Varden and the Moose
mines, two of the best-known and most valuable properties in Col-
orado, are on Mount Bross. That his name should be thus inti-
mately associated with that of Lincoln, always his personal friend,
among the highest peaks upon the continent, is an honor which any
man might covet.
John Locke Scripps was born on February 27, 1818, in Jack-
son County, Mo., a short distance from Cape Girardeau. During
his infancy his parents moved to Rushville, 111., where he received
his early education. He graduated at McKendrie College, Leb-
anon, 111., and a short time subsequently studied law, and arrived
in this city in 1847, to utilize his study by practice. In 1S48, he
purchased a one-third interest in the Tribune, and sold that inter-
est in 1852, and then assisted in the inauguration of the Demo-
cratic Press. In 1861, Mr. Scripps was appointed postmasti 1 of
Chicago by President Lincoln, who was a warm personal friend
of his; and therein, for four years, Mr. Scripps performed the
duties incumbent upon him with singular ability, so that he earned
the title of the best postmaster the city ever had. During the War
he organized, equipped and dispatched to the front Co. "C" 72d
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, bearing the expenses from his personal
funds. In honor of him, this company was known as the "Scripps
Guards." After his retirement from the office of postmaster, he
became senior partner in the banking-house of Scripps, Preston &
Kean, and shortly thereafter lost his wife, Mary E. Scripps, who
died from heart disease on New Year's day, 1866, while dispensing
the hospitalities of her home that are usual on that day. This loss
fell upon Mr. Scripps with terrible force, and it preyed upon his
mind so that his life was for some little time in imminent danger.
He, however, rallied, and, by the energy and force of his will,
made himself well temporarily, during which he paid some visits
in Minnesota; but while in Minneapolis his corporal system again
asserted its debilitation, and with fatal effect. He died at that city
on Friday, September 21, 1866. Of him Horace White thus justly
wrote : "In the death of Mr. Scripps, Chicago has lost one of her
noblest men. No citizen of this or any other community ever com-
manded a more hearty and thorough respect from his fellows than he.
Candor, integrity and courage were the marked traits of his char-
acter. He feared God, but feared no man. He would no more
have thought of compromising a principle, or abating an iota of
his personal honor, than he would have committed suicide. With
a heart full of kindness for all men, with a lofty sense of the pro-
prieties of life and of intercourse with his fellow-men. a house ever
open to the calls of hospitality, and a purse which never failed to
respond to the call of suffering, he was the firmest man among ten
thousand to the convictions of his conscience. A mean act, an un-
worthy motive, a cowardly thought, had no room in his soul. lie
was not insensible te public approbation, but never for an instant
would he resort to the arts so common among politicians to secure
popularity. He avoided the very appearance of evil. His up-
rightness of character and urbanity of demeanor had made him
hosts of friends in city and State, and it is not too much to say that,
in the meridian of his life, with his ample fortune, his unsullied
record and his conspicuous talents he might have aspired to almost
any position in the gift of his fellow-citizens."
Dr. Charles H. Ray was born at Norwich, Chenango Co.,
N. Y., on March 12, 1S21, and came to the West in 1843, first
settling in Muscatine, Iowa, where he practiced medicine, and
afterward settling in Tazewell County, Illinois, where he also prac-
ticed his profession. During this period, also, he married Miss
Jane Yates Per-Lee, who died in this city in June, 1S62. In 1S51,
Dr. Ray removed to Galena, and purchased the Jeffersonian, a
daily Democratic paper, which he conducted with personal and
financial success until the period of the Kansas-Nebraska im-
broglio, when his ineradicable love for personal liberty necessitated
his antagonizing Stephen A. Douglas, and his identifying himself
with the Republican party. In 1854—55, Hi". Ray was Secretary of
the State Senate of Illinois, and as such presided during the heated
canvass which resulted in the election of Lyman Trumbull to the
United States Senate in lieu of his opponent, Abraham Lincoln.
After the adjournment of the Legislature, Dr Ray came to Chi-
cago, contemplating the establishing of a penny Republican paper,
and bringing with him a letter of introduction from Horace
Greeley to Joseph Medill, who was contemplating locating in this
city. Both these gentlemen arrived at about the same time, but
after consultation, they determined upon purchasing the interests
of General Webster and Timothy Wright in the Tribune. In
April, 1S55, Dr. Ray became editorially connected with the Trib-
une, but he did not purchase his interest therein until Tune, 1855.
He remained a partner until November 20, 1S63, when he severed
his financial and editorial connection, with the view of engaging in
speculation and achieving a fortune. In this design he was primarily
very successful, and then married Miss Julia Clark, daughter of