January 15: Philip Livingston: Landed Gentry, Revolutionary

He was a member of the landed gentry of New York, a wealthy businessman, a philanthropist, and a political conservative who was among the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a man who risked his fortune and security to support the American Revolution.

Philip Livingston, Jr. was born into a family of wealth a prestige on January 15, 1716, at his father’s townhouse in Albany, New York colony. 

His grandfather, Robert Livingston, had immigrated to the newly conquered colony of New York in 1673 from his native Scotland and settled in Albany.  He spoke both English and Dutch fluently, and so successfully integrated with the original Dutch settlers as well as their English conquerors that he became very a very successful merchant in the fur trade, married well into the former Dutch aristocracy, held a number of political appointments, and – in 1687 – was granted  ownership of the “Lordship and Manor of Livingston” (160,000 acres on the east side of the Hudson River) by the English Royal Governor, Thomas Dongan.  With this, he became a “Lord”.

Robert had three sons – Robert, Gilbert, and Philip – and it was Philip (the 2^nd Lord of the Manor) and his wife, Catharine Van Brugh, who became the parents of Philip Livingston Jr. in 1716.  Catharine was the daughter of the mayor of Albany. 

This was an era before public education, and it was the responsibility of the fathers to educate their children.  The wealthier fathers, such as the 2^nd Lord of the Manor, Lord Livingston, would do some of the education process himself, but usually hired tutors to instruct their children – especially the male children – in a variety of topics, including such studies as the rudiments of math, geography Latin, reading, and writing.

Because of – and thanks to – his social position, Philip “the Signer” Livingston was provided with a liberal education.  There were no colleges in New York colony (until 1754), so those gentlemen who wished to attend college were either sent to New England, or abroad.  Education was important to the Livingston’s, and as a result Philip attended Yale College, graduating in 1737 at the age of 21.

New York beckoned, and Livingston settled there after leaving college in 1737, engaging in a mercantile life by establishing an import business.  He became a prosperous and well respected merchant.

He married Christina Ten Broeck on April 14, 1740.  The union provided the Livingston’s with nine children – five boys and four girls.  After his marriage, Livingston moved into a townhouse on Duke Street in Manhattan, and worked on raising a family – and a fortune from his business dealings.  Especially valuable was his experiences as a trader-privateer during the French and Indian War, which lasted from 1754 to 1763.  It was after this period of his life, in 1764, that he acquired a 40-acre estate on Brooklyn Heights, overlooking the East River and New York Harbor.

Livingston prospered as a merchant, and was one of those who ‘gave back’ to the community.  He either helped to start, financially aided, or helped to administer several public institutions, including King’s College (which later became Columbia University); the New York Society Library (1754); St. Andrew’s Society; the New York Chamber of Commerce (1770); and the New York Hospital (elected as one of the governors in 1761).  He also established a Professorship of Divinity at Yale (1746); built the first meeting house for a Methodist society in America;

He also served as a New York City alderman from 1754 to 1763, and served for a decade in the colonial legislature, from 1759 to 1769.  As tensions between the British and the colonists began to increase after the French and Indian War, Livingston was like many other early patriots:  he did not initially desire to make a complete break from England, but he would increasingly align himself with the rising opposition to the various arbitrary British measures and legislation that were being imposed by the British Crown on the colonists. In the colonial legislature, he increasingly backed the Whigs in their quarrels with the Royal Governor of New York, and was a delegate to the 1765 Stamp Act Congress.

Livingston's Brooklyn Manor

He also assisted in preparing an address as a response to a speech by Lieutenant-Governor Colden in which Livingston illustrated his concerns – concerns which eventually led to his standing in open rebellion to the Crown, and affixing his signature on the Declaration of Independence:

"But nothing can add to the pleasure we receive from the information your honor gives us, that his majesty, our most gracious sovereign, distinguishes and approves our conduct. When his service requires it, we shall ever be ready to exert ourselves with loyalty, fidelity, and zeal; and as we have always complied, in the most dutiful manner, with every requisition made by his directions, we, with all humility, hope that his majesty, who, and whose ancestors, have long been the guardians of British liberty, will so protect us in our rights, as to prevent our falling into the abject state of being forever hereafter incapable of doing what can merit either his distinction or approbation. Such must be the deplorable state of that wretched people, who (being taxed by a power subordinate to none, and in a great degree unacquainted with their circumstances) can call nothing their own. This we speak with the greatest deference to the wisdom and justice of the British parliament, in which we confide. Depressed with this prospect of inevitable ruin, by the alarming information we have from home, neither we nor, our constituents can attend to improvements, conducive either to the interests of our mother country, or of this colony. We shall, however, renew the act for granting a bounty on hemp, still hoping that a stop may be put to those measures, which, if carried into execution, will oblige us to think that nothing but extreme poverty can preserve us from the most insupportable bondage. We hope your honor will join with us in an endeavor to secure that great badge of English liberty, of being taxed only with our own consent; which we conceive all his majesty's subjects at home and abroad equally entitled to."

 In 1774 Livingston was a member of the Committee of fifty-one.  This committee chose the New York delegates to the First Continental Congress – and Livingston was one of the five that were selected.  He was able to both serve in the Continental Congress, and to retain his seat in the New York State Provincial Assembly.  He was elected President of the Assembly in 1775. 

Livingston was not a rabble-rouser, and resented the more physical demonstrations favored by such groups as the Sons of Liberty.  He tried to stick with the more dignified methods, depending on the law and precedent to preserve the peace… or to follow the steps to separation. It was in July, 1775, that he signed what was to be a final attempt to achieve an understanding with the British Crown concerning the grievances of the colonies – the Olive Branch Petition.  However, the King ignored the Petition, declaring the colonies to be in a state of rebellion.

Livingston was one of three Livingston’s who were members of the Continental Congress… but he was the only one to sign the Declaration of Independence.  His brother, William, was called on to command the New Jersey Militia, and could not be at the debates or the signing of the Declaration.  Nor could his cousin, Robert, who had helped draw up the Declaration, but who also was a member of several important New York State committees, and probably was not present in Philadelphia when the Declaration was signed.

Philip Livingston suffered because of his signature on the Declaration.  The British used his Duke Street home as a barracks, and his Brooklyn Heights residence as a Royal Navy hospital.  Many of his business interests were confiscated by the British, and he sold some of his remaining property to support the Revolution.  He had to flee his home because of the British advance into New York.

His health failing, he continued to serve his country in the Continental Congress.  He passed away at the age of 62 on June 12, 1778 – the third signer of the Declaration to die.  He was first buried in the churchyard of the German Reformed Church on West Market Street, York, Pennsylvania. When the land was needed to build a Sunday School addition, all graves were moved to Prospect Hill Cemetery, York, Pennsylvania.

Even after death, it seems, he contributed to the needs of the community.
 

RESOURCES:

Colonial Hall

Find a Grave

National Park Service

Society of Descendants of Signers of the Declaration ofIndependence

Wikipedia

PHOTO RESOURCES:

Young Philip, New York State Museum

Color portrait, Find A Grave

Christina Livingston, New York State Museum

The Brooklyn Manor, National Park Service

Livingston Signature, Wikipedia

Philip Livingston Marker, Find A Grave

July 24: Alexander Jackson Davis, The Artist Architect

“I have designed the most buildings of any living American architect.”

Alexander Jackson Davis was born in New York City on July 24, 1803, to Cornelius and Julia Jackson Davis. His father was not wealthy, but did support his family though his work as a bookseller and as a publisher of religious tracts. His father was frequently away from home, travelling through the northeastern states to sell his tracts and to arrange the sale of books.

While the family home was based in Newark, New Jersey during Davis’s early years, his family would move to upstate New York, where he would attend elementary school in the rapidly growing towns of Auburn and Utica. In 1818, when he was almost fifteen years old, he would move to Alexandria, Virginia, where he was apprenticed to learn the printing trade at his half-brother’s printing office. However, young Davis was bored by the repetitious work involved in the printing process, so he spent much of his time reading romantic novels and acting in the amateur theater productions in the area. Perhaps it was here that he developed the romantic ideal that became the vision of much of his future work.

When his apprenticeship was completed in 1823, the twenty-year-old Davis moved to New York City to seek his fortune and work. He studied there at the American Academy of Fine Arts, the New-York Drawing Association, and the Antique School of the National Academy of Design. During this time he met, worked with, and was befriended by men like John Trumbull, Samuel Morse, and Rembrandt Peale, who were among some of the most important artists of the day. Peale and Trumbull directed Davis’s life passion when they advised Davis to concentrate on architecture and architectural illustrations.

Davis, a talented and skilled artist, focused on learning the skills of an architectural illustrator – and would have many of his works printed by some of the prominent publishers of the era. In 1826 he had another career-advancing focus presented to him. He began working as a draftsman for the architectural firm of Martin E. Thompson, and Ithiel Town. There he met some key figures in his life, such as Josiah R. Brady, a New York architect and an early advocate of a style of architecture titled Greek Revival, and Ithiel Town – an innovative architectural design leader in the Greek Revival style of architecture, whose extensive library on architecture was rivaled by none, and was at the disposal of Davis. The firm provided a well-grounded, friendly atmosphere that provided a huge impetus for the growth of Davis in his chosen profession.

It is hard to deny the effect that Davis’ talent and passion as an architectural illustrator weighed significantly on his career as an architect. His chief interest and strength was in design, and – being a highly talented watercolorist, he did almost all of his own drafting and drawings.

In 1829 Davis joined in partnership with Town, a partnership that would last until 1835, when Davis would form his own architectural firm. The partnership designed many of the ‘Greek Revival’ buildings of the era, including the Executive Department offices and the Patent Building in the nation’s capital – as well as the Custom House in New York City. Davis also designed (or was consulted in the design) of a number of state capitols – such a the Indiana State House in Indianapolis, the Illinois State Capitol, the Ohio Statehouse, and the North Carolina State Capitol. While none of the state capitols were built exactly as Davis planned and advised, his influence can still be seen in their design.

The partnership with Town ended in 1835. Davis had developed his vision of design to a become the cutting edge of architecture design in the country. Under Town’s tutelage, Davis had developed a sound knowledge of the theory and structure behind architectural design. Because he approached architectural design first through a pictorial method rather than structural, he referred to his preferences with the phrase “I am but an architectural composer.” A master of the Greek Revival form of architecture, Davis is perhaps better known for his Gothic Revival, Italianate, and other ‘picturesque’ styles that were used in building residential villas.

Using his strength in design, he began to move the development of residential villas from its cubist appearance into buildings that reflected and resided in their physical surroundings. Davis was a pioneer in the American design of merging buildings to their surroundings. He became the leading architect of country houses in a variety of styles for the wealthy merchants and industrialists, many of whom were in New York. He also was in demand in North Carolina, working for the state government, especially in helping to design buildings for universities. He also did extensive design work for the Virginia Military Institute – which the final construction of was not completed until after his death.

The Civil War brought a halt to non-essential building in America, and Davis fell on economic hard times. To top it off, after the war was over the architectural tastes of the country changed – embracing the High Victorian Gothic and Second Empire styles. Davis refused to work in either style, and was commissioned to design only a few buildings. He continued to design large projects – but they were never built. He retired to New Jersey in the 1870s.

Marriage came late in Davis’ life. On July 14, 1853 he married Margaret Beale, and would have two children – Flora and Joseph.

Davis died on January 14, 1892 at the age of eighty-eight, and would be buried at the Bloomfield Cemetery, Bloomfield, New Jersey.




After his death much of his work was collected and would be shared between four New York institutions, including the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His contributions, which are largely unknown today, shaped American architectural design for a generation.


LOCAL LIBRARY RESOURCES:

No biographies of Alexander Jackson Davis are available at our local library.

WEB RESOURCES:

Blandwood
Find A Grave
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Newburgh Restoration
Virginia Military Institute
Wikipedia

PHOTO SOURCES:

01. Portrait of Davis: Preservation Greensboro
02. The State Capitol at Raleigh, North Carolina: Preservation Greensboro
03. 1845 Sketch of Davis: Newburgh Preservation Association
04. New York Customs House, now Federal Hall: Wikipedia
05. Lyndhurst in New York: Wikipedia
06. Virginia Military Institute: Wikipedia
07. Gravesite, Find A Grave by Nikita Barlow
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July 15: Clement Moore’s “Trifle” That Became A Masterpiece

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…”

With these words an obscure scholar from penned a work for his children that became a classic piece of literature read to children generation after generation.

Clement Clarke Moore was born on July 15, 1779, the only son of Benjamin and Charity Clarke Moore. The Moore family was a family of wealth and education. His father was a professor, then president, of Columbia College as well as an Episcopal bishop in New York City and the rector of Trinity Church.

Moore was home schooled during his early years, with his father tutoring him and both of his parents encouraging his natural tendency toward languages and music. Later he would attend Columbia College, and would graduate first in his class in 1798. At Columbia he would earn a BA and in 1801 a M.A.

He was thirty-four when he married nineteen-year-old Catharine Elizabeth Taylor in 1813, settling at Chelsea, in a country estate in Manhattan. They would have 9 children. Catharine would pass away in 1830 and leaving Moore with seven children between the ages of three and fifteen. Moore would not remarry, and would be solely responsible for his children’s upbringing and education.

The Moore family owned extensive land in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. Moore’s gift of sixty acres of land in 1819 made possible the establishment of the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1819. In 1821 Moore was made a professor at the Seminary, a position he would hold until 1850. While at the Seminary he taught Oriental languages, biblical learning, and the interpretation of scripture. Ten years before his helping to establish the Seminary, he would compile a two-volume Hebrew dictionary in 1809 to assist in the translation and understanding of the Old Testament titled “A Compendious Lexicon of the Hebrew Language”. Volume I contained "an explanation of every word which occurs in the Psalms"; while volume 2 was "a lexicon and grammar of the whole language." The Preface offers a mode of study which will enable "any person acquainted with the general principles of language, without the aid of a teacher, to read and understand the Holy Scriptures in the original Hebrew."

Moore is also considered as the savior of Greenwich Village in New York. When the state government was planning to extend a grid of streets into the Village, Moore anonymously authored a sixty-page pamphlet that contained such persuasive arguments against the plan that the street network never entered the Village, preserving its unique culture and atmosphere.

In 1822 Moore penned a story as a Christmas gift for his children. “A Visit From Saint Nicholas”, which later became recognized and popularly known from its first line “Twas The Night Before Christmas”, was intended for his family, and might never had been shared with the world if not for one of Moore’s relatives, a Miss Butler, who copied the poem and who would take the copy to the Troy Sentinel. There it would be published anonymously in the Sentinel on December 23, 1823, with Moore accepting credit of authorship in 1837. He did not want the poem published because he felt, as an academician, that the poem was a mere trifle, and it was beneath his professional dignity to have it published. Yet, the poem when published anonymously a year later, it was an overnight sensation. The Troy Sentinel would hint that Moore was the author in 1829. Moore would reluctantly include his poem in a book of poetry that he wrote in 1844.

An anecdote on the origin of the poem goes as follows:

“On Christmas Eve 1822, Reverend Clement Moore’s wife was roasting turkeys for distribution to the poor of the local parish, a yearly tradition discovered that she was short one turkey, she asked Moore to venture into the snowy streets to obtain another. He called for his sleigh and coachman, and drove “downtown” to Jefferson Market, which is now the Bowery section of New York City, to buy the needed turkey. Moore composed the poem while riding in his sleigh; his ears obviously full of the jingle of sleigh bells. He returned with the turkey and the new Christmas poem. After dinner that evening, Moore read the new verses to his family, to the evident delight of his children.”

As often happens, claims arose that Moore was not the author of the famous poem. In 2000 – nearly 180 years after the fact, Vassar professor Don Foster published a book claiming that “The Night Before Christmas” was actually written by a different New Yorker, Major Henry Livingston Jr. For details you can read the article here and arrive at your own conclusion. Despite the rise of other claimants, scholars in general still attribute the poem to Moore.

Moore would pass away at his summer residence in Newport, Rhode Island, on July 10, 1863 – just five days before his eighty-fourth birthday. He was buried at the Trinity Church Cemetery, Manhattan. Oddly enough, as much as he regarded his poem as a trifle, it is his poem that he is remembered – not for his academic works.

LOCAL LIBRARY RESOURCES:

There are no Clement Moore biographies at our local library.

WEB RESOURCES:

Jewish Virtual Library
New York Institute for Special Education
The Night Before Christmas
Urban Legends
Virtualogy
Wikipedia

PHOTO SOURCES:

01. Handwritten copy of Twas the Night
02. Portrait of a young Moore
03. Portrait, Wikipedia

04. Cover by Mary Clement Ogden, Moore’s daughter
05. Gravestone, Find-a-Grave by Erik Lander

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June 19: "I don't think the facts of this case call out for a period of incarceration…”

Do you know who this is?
-His nickname was ‘Beau James’.
-He fled the county on charges of corruption, but came back to work for government.
-He worked as a songwriter prior to entering politics.

The September 16, 1940 Time Magazine wrote:

“Last week New Yorkers rubbed their eyes at finding the names Walker-Roosevelt-La Guardia tied together again. After lunch at the White House, Mayor LaGuardia flew back to Manhattan and, as he explained upon landing, at 7,000 feet up in the air it suddenly occurred to him to appoint James Walker "tsar" of industrial and labor relations of Manhattan's giant cloak & suit industry. Salary: $20,000. Gravely David Dubinsky, head of the International Ladies' Garment Workers, and ardent pro-Roosevelt campaigner, hailed James Walker's "wide executive experience" as fitting him for the complex job of impartial labor arbitrator.”

Jimmy Walker, son of an Irish-born New York alderman, was born in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York, on June 19, 1881. Walker’s full name would be James John Joseph Walker, though he would acquire the nicknames of ‘Beau James’ and the ‘Night Mayor’. He would use his gift of talk, good looks, winning smile, and political connections to work his way through the New York political system, ultimately becoming the mayor of New York during the Prohibition years.

His education involved attending Xavier High School in New York City, then studied law at St. Francis Xavier College and New York University law school. He was admitted to the bar in 1912. Seven years earlier, in 1905, Walker had toyed with the idea of embarking on a songwriting career, and wrote the words to a number of Tin Pan Alley songs, including “There’s Music in the Rustle of a Skirt” and “Will You Love Me In December As You Do In May” – which became a popular hit song of the era. A 1907 recording is here, and the chorus line is:

“Will you love me in December as you do in May,
Will you love me in the good old fashioned way?
When my hair has all turned gray,
Will you kiss me then and say,
That you love me in December as you do in May?”

His father encouraged him to enter politics, and Walker began his climb up the political ladder. He served as a member of the state assembly from 1910 to 1914, then a state senator from 1915 until 1925. He would rise to the position of President pro tempore of the New York State Senate – where he would support liberal legislation - from 1923 to 1924. He resigned from the state senate in in 1925 order to begin his campaign to become mayor of New York City – a post he held from 1926 until his resignation in 1932. With the help of Governor Al Smith and the Tammany Hall organization, Walker would defeat incumbent John F. Hylan in the 1925 Democratic Primary for mayor.

It was the era of the “Roaring Twenties”, and Prohibition – a Constitutional Amendment forbidding the sale of alcohol – was in full swing, and it was unpopular in New York as well as most of the rest of the nation. Under Walker’s administration, Prohibition was not enforced, and the nightclubs stayed open – and the illegal liquor flowing. At one point it was estimated that there were between 30,000 and 100,000 illegal speakeasies in New York City alone. While Walker fulfilled the role of mayor by day, he frequented the nightclubs and speakeasies by night, hence earning his “night mayor” nickname. Walker had said:

"I like the company of my fellow human beings. I like the theatre and am devoted to healthy outdoor sports. Because I like these things, I have reflected my attitude in some of my legislation I have sponsored -- 2.75 percent beer, Sunday baseball, Sunday movies, and legalized boxing. But let me allay any fear there may be that, because I believe in personal liberty, wholesome amusement and healthy professional sport, I will countenance for a moment any indecency or vice in New York."

And in doing this, he was doing what the ‘common man’ of New York was doing. New Yorkers, in general, were not outraged by Walker’s behavior – he was one of them! He passed legislation favoring the workers of the city – including maintaining the five-cent subway fare despite the threat of a strike, legalizing Sunday entertainment such as baseball and boxing, and a host of other laws. He listened to everyone, and often responded to complaints ranging from government salary increases to poor with a winning smile, a nod, and humming a popular tune of the day. His personality was immune to verbal attacks – once when a rival unmercifully attacked him, Walker remarked to a friend, "That's odd. I don't remember ever doing him a favor."

His popularity – even though he was in Europe at the time - was such that when he divorced his first wife, Janet Allen, in 1933 to marry a showgirl. Walker found that his popularity was not unduly impaired. The showgirl was Betty Compton, who had been a member of the Ziegfield Follies, and would divorce Walker in 1941.

The mid-1920’s was a prosperous time for New Yorkers, and Walker supported a number of public works projects – providing jobs for the growing population of the city. He unified the public hospitals into a more efficient system, created the department of sanitation, and backed the adoption of an extensive transit system. He was popular enough to be returned to office in 1928, defeating his opponent, Fiorello LaGuardia.

Rumors – supported by exposure through the press - of fraud and political corruption reached the state legislature, and the legislature ordered Samuel Seabury to launch an investigation. Extensive corruption was revealed through the investigation, and it was known that politics demanded that heads roll. During the investigation Walker commented “There are three things a man must do alone. Be born, die, and testify.” As a result of the investigation, in 1932 fifteen charges were leveled at the mayor – Jimmy Walker. In order to head off a possible prison sentence, Walker resigned in September 1932 – before the hearings were closed. He went to tour Europe, living there for several years until the risk of criminal prosecution grew remote.

Walker stated of the investigation:

“I think probation would have been a more appropriate sentence. I don't think the facts of this case call out for a period of incarceration…”

Walker returned to the United States and in 1940 was appointed by Mayor LaGuardia as the ‘tsar’ of negotiations with the giant New York garment industry.

Jimmy Walker would pass away at the age of sixty-five on November 18, 1946, in his beloved New York City. He was buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

Walker reflected the decade during which he governed New York. The Roaring Twenties was more than a name of an era – it reflected the life-styles of those living in this fast-paced era. When the crash occurred, plunging the nation into the Great Depression, Walker would find that he too reflected the troubles faced during this time.

LOCAL LIBRARY RESOURCES:

Herbert Mitgang: Once Upon A Time In New York: Jimmy Walker, Franklin Roosevelt, and the Last Great Battle of the Jazz Age

WEB RESOURCES:

Answers
Bowery Boys Blog
Political Graveyard

Time Magazine
Wikipedia
Wikitree

PHOTO SOURCES:

Walker 01. Jimmy Walker Pose, Library of Congress
Walker 02. Music Cover, Halcyn Days Music
Walker 03. Walker with a tea cup, Library of Congress ID # DN-0082506
Walker 04. Betty Compton, Movie Weekly
Walker 05. Walker in a hallway, Library of Congress ID # ichicdn n082550

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June 15: "...I found I could do anything I turned my hand to..."

Do you know who this is?
-He is known as “Chicago’s Founder”.
-He successfully managed a lumber mill when he was sixteen.
-He was Chicago’s first mayor.

William Butler Ogden was born in the village of Walton, located in western New York, on June 15, 1805, to a pioneer family that had migrated from New Jersey. He attended the country schools that dotted the counties of the early 19th century, and had plans on becoming a lawyer. Those plans, however, where put aside when his father became ill and Ogden, at the age of sixteen, took over his family’s property and logging interests. His father soon died, but Ogden proved that he was a successful businessman, and would prosper. He later wrote:

"I was born close to a sawmill, was cradled in a sugar trough, christened in a mill pond, early left an orphan, graduated from a log schoolhouse and, at 14, found I could do anything I turned my hand to and that nothing was impossible..."

He would briefly attend law school, but business interests overrode educational interests. He assisted his brother-in-law, Charles Butler, in a number of business ventures. While business interests was his forte’, Ogden briefly entered the political arena in 1834, when he was elected to the New York State legislature, where he voted to finance the Erie Railroad - promoting business and commercial interests.

Ogden travelled west to the village of Chicago in 1835 on behalf of his brother-in-law’s business interests. Butler had invested $100,000 in land in and around Chicago in anticipation of profits to be gained during a land rush that was occurring in the Midwest. Ogden investigated, and – standing ankle-deep in mud - was not impressed with the purchase, writing to Butler that he had been “guilty of the grossest folly. There is no such value in the land and won't be for a generation." Ogden then used his business acumen to drain the land, and then set up streets and lots. He would sell of a third of the property to regain Butler’s investment, in the process placing a higher value on his opinion of the town. He moved to set up a permanent home in Chicago in 1836.

Seeing the future for Chicago, Ogden became busy as a businessman in the budding community. He became well known as an industrious visionary, and many identified him with growth because of a variety of business enterprises created by him around Chicago. His focus was on speculative investments in real estate, but he always kept transportation in his mind. He used his contacts in New York to establish a link between the East and the West that benefited Chicago. When Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, Ogden was elected as its first mayor and served a two-year term. Ogden, running as a Democrat, would defeat the Whig candidate, John Kinzie. After his term was over, he would become an alderman for the city. In his political positions he taxed the citizens for streets, sidewalks, and bridges. When the building projects outran the funds available from taxes, Ogden and his land speculation partners in New York would pay for the improvements from their own pockets.

The primary means of mass transportation in the early 19th century was the development of the railroad, and Ogden was one of the originators of a movement that led to the building of the Chicago and Galena Railroad - the city's first. It would be Ogden's money and financial promises that financed the construction of the railroad as it stretched westward toward Elgin, Illinois. He would become president of the railroad in 1847.

He also provided funds and support for the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and served on the Chicago Board of Sewage, and designed the first drawbridge over the Chicago River. He was a major investor in the Chicago Canal and Dock Company, and at one point hired a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln to help him gain clear title to property bordering the Chicago River and Lake Michigan.

Over time, Ogden became one of Chicago's wealthiest citizens. When his secretary told him he was worth more than a million dollars, Ogden exclaimed: "By God.... that's a lot of money!" Then he proceeded to make more money by developing land that he owned, or having city projects buy that land.

He was involved, however, not only in the politics and the business interests of the growing city, but also influenced the various aspects of living in a growing city by being involved in the development of Chicago's charities, it's cultural centers, and it's educational institutions, including funding the first medical center in the city.

In 1862 the visionary Ogden was picked as the first president of the Union Pacific Railroad. His vision of a transcontinental railroad linking the two oceans bordering the United States was close to being a reality. At the age of fifty-seven Ogden took on the raising of funds, using political connections to secure right-of-way, and personal supervision of the laying of track to complete this huge project. He also made Chicago the hub of east-west rail traffic.

The Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed most of his possessions - and on the same day (October 8th), a lumber mill he owned in Wisconsin burned down. The lumber mill was a part of a huge lumber empire that Ogden had been building in Wisconsin.

Ogden would move back to New York after the fire, and would marry late in his life. He was sixty-nine years old when he married Marinna Arnot of Elmira, New York, on February 9, 1875, and would have two sons – John and Hiram. Ogden would die on August 3, 1877, and was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Bronx, New York.

Ogden altered the American Midwest in a tremendous way. His vision of what could be done in the swampland that made up early Chicago created an industrial center and transportation hub that served a growing nation.

A biography of Ogden will be released this fall. The Railroad Tycoon Who Built Chicago, by Jack Harpster, will be released in September 2009.

LOCAL LIBRARY RESOURCES:

There are no biographies of William Ogden available at our local library at this time.

WEB RESOURCES:

Encyclopedia of Chicago
Famous Americans
Genealogy Trails
Ogden books
PBS
Wikipedia

PHOTO SOURCES:

01. Portrait of William Ogden: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-37333)
02. Map of 1835 Chicago: Encyclopedia of Chicago
03. Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Depot: Chicago Historical Society

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