Calumet Club

Calumet Club
Life Span: 1884-1892
Location: NE Corner Michigan Avenue and Twentieth Street
Architect: TBD

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1887

Calumet Club

Inland Architect and Builder, February, 1882, Volume I, No. 1

The Calumet Club Building.
As the future home of the Calumet Club of Chicago is now ready for the decorator and furnisher, & perspective view, from a drawing by the architects, Messrs. Burnham and Root, and a description of the main architectural features is presented in this issue.

The walls cover a corner lot, 82×150 feet, and are of plain and moulded Chicago pressed brick, the latter brick being in original designs especially made for this building. A meagre use of terra-cotta adds to the decoration of the walls. All the bearing walls are of brick. The roof is of slate, high, isolated in style, but with none of the features of the Mansard. The plan of the interior is very commodious. The entrance hall is about 22×50 feet. The three large rooms to the left of the main hall, which form the card room, library and dining room, are each 35×78 feet. The billiard room and café, which are to the right of the main entrance, are together 38×78, and the dimensions of the assembly room, directly above these, are the same. Connecting these large rooms are the small card rooms and dining rooms. Between the second and third stories is the entresol story, which is included in the height of the assembly room and large card room. The club bed rooms occupy the east half of the third and fourth stories. The stairways, which are not included in the dimensions of the main hall, are arranged in a wide center with two side fights, with a large straight landing, upon which are wide groups of windows decorated with stained glass, including cathedral, opalescent and jeweled glass. There is an elegant passenger elevator, besides one for freight, connecting with each floor.

It is the intention to give to this club house an interior decoration and furnishing in keeping with the wealth its owners represent. Stained glass will be largely used, representing the best English antique and American opalescent stained glass, and the frescoing is in the hands of one, of our best artists.

The building is situated on the northeast corner of Michigan avenue and Twentieth street. It will cost $150,000, not including the cost of lot or furniture. The latter, it is estimated, will figure about $25,000 additional.

Standard Guide to Chicago For the Year 1892

Calumet Club.—Located at the corner of Michigan ave. and Twentieth st. Take Wabash avenue cable line. Organized in 1878. The building which it occupies is a magnificent one, four stories high, with fronts on both the streets named. The grand hall is very handsome, with its broad fire-place, handsome staircase and stained glass windows. To the left are the drawing- rooms, with windows the whole length of the Michigan avenue front, and to the right the offices, the cafe and the billiard room. On the second floor are card rooms and the ball room, where, from time to time during the winter months, entertainments are given. The third floor is devoted to private apartments, and the top floor to the dining rooms and kitchens. The Club has a splendid collection of pictures. It aims to preserve the early history of the city and State, and its old settlers’ annual receptions have become famous. The Club is composed generally of the leading men of the South Side. Admission fee, $100; annual dues, $80.

The Chicago Clubs Illustrated, Published by Lanward Publishing Company, 1888

What the Union is to the North Side and the Illinois to the West, the Calumet is to the South Side. Organized in 1878, it occupied for the first few years of its existence the residence of the late General Anson Stager, at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Eighteenth Street. As the Club grew and these quarters became too restricted for its needs, a site was selected two blocks below (on the corner of Twentieth Street) and a magnificent building of lordly proportions was erected.

It is four stories high, with fronts on both Michigan Avenue and Twentieth Street. The hall is superb, reminding one (with its broad fireplace, handsome staircase and stainod glass windows,) of that of an old English manor house. To the left of the hall are the drawing rooms, with windows the whole length of the Michigan Avenue front, and to the right the offices, the cai’e and the billiard room. On the second floor are the card rooms and the ball room, where from time to time during the winter months entertainments of various sorts are given to the lady friends of the members. The third floor is devoted to private apartments, and the top floor to the dining rooms and kitchens. The Club possesses a fine picture gallery, in which great interest is taken, and to which donations are constantly made.

A feature of the Calumet is its Annual Reception to Old Settlers, where the first inhabitants of Chicago meet and talk over their early experiences, and are royally entertained by the Club. The admission fee to the Calumet is one hundred dollars, and the yearly dues eighty dollars.

The Presidents have been Messrs. Anson Stager, Edson Keith, and J. W. Doane. For 1888, the Board of Management is as follows : President, Mr. H. J. Macfarland; Vice-Presidents, Messrs. Alfred Cowles and J. J. Knickerbocker; Secretary, Mr. E. Walter Herrick; Treasurer, Mr. George L. Otis; Directors, Messrs. George F. Baldwin, E. L. Brewster, Alfred Cowles, E. Walter Herrick, J. J. Knickerbocker, H. J. Macfarland, Wm. Monro, Norman B. Beam, A. F. Seeberger, Moses J. Wentworth, and J. C. Whitney.

cyclo

Calumet Club before it was destroyed by a fire and after it was rebuilt. The rebuilt Calumet Club (right) remained their home till the Club disbanded in 1915. Comercial artists, Meyer-Both Co. occupied it immediately after for studio and office purposes

Chicago Tribune, April 25, 1882

THE OLD SETTLERS.
Deaths During the Year.
The Calumet Club will give its fourth annual reception to persons who were residents of Chicago prior to the 1st day of January, 1840, and were then 21 years of age, upon the 18th of May. The Calumet Club consists of over 500 members, and the use of their club-room will not permit them to increase the number of their guests as they expect to do when their large building now under process of construction shall be completed. From John Wentworth’s list of old settlers who have died since the let of January, 1881, has been made the following copy. If any names have been omitted, or any dates are wrong, he should be at once notified:

Chicago Tribune, May 17, 1882

Capt. Thomas S. Ell’s, of Jacksonville, Fla., a gentleman who came to Chicago in 1832, is in the city, the guest of Secretary Hotchkiss, of the Lumberman’s Exchange. Capt. Ell’s came here to attend the Old-Settlers’ Reunion, given annually by the Calumet Club, which takes place tomorrow evening. Yesterday afternoon a representative of The Tribune met the old gentleman at Mr. Hotchkiss’ office, and had an interesting talk with him about early Chicago. Although nearly 70 years of age, the Captain is still hale and hearty, and his wonder at the growth of Chicago he expresses without stint.

“It seems to me,” he said. “that I have awakened from a Rip Van Winkle sleep in a fairy land. I came here fifty years ago, remained here seven years, and have not seen Chicago since 1839.”

“When did you come here?” asked the reporter.

“In 1832; and I remember my arrival well. My companion was Gordon S. Hubbard. whom I have just called on, and with whom I dine tomorrow. I declare he looks as young as be ever did, and he is over 80 years or age. Just as the evening gun at Fort Dearborn was fired we landed at the mouth of the river from a steamer from St. Joseph, Mich.”

“I do not suppose you saw much of a city.”

“No, I did not. As the steamer sailed up I had a good view of what is now known as the North Side. There were a few white wooden houses there, and one little brick and stone building. Beyond these was a vast stretch of timber and swamp lands. John Kinzie’s old white house, just over Clark street bridge, was quite noticeable.”

“How did the South Side look?”

“There were no buildings along the river until you reached Dearborn street, and there was not a brick building it sight.”

“Where did you stop?”

“At the Mansion House. I paid 50 cents for a blanket, which gave me the privilege of sleeping on the floor, and there were forty of us bunking there. The next day I visited the Indian camps and made the acquaintance of all of the braves. At that time there rust have been 6,000 or 7,000 Indians oucamped about here.”

The windows of Mr. Hotchkiss’ office overlook the river and the North Side, and Capt. Eells pointed out the places where Indian camps were.

“You could see their camp-fires burning every night in all directions,” he said.

“Do you recognize any old landmarks now?”

“Not one—except the mud. We had lots of mud here then, and I have often spent five hours in traveling nine miles.

“At the time of the canal celebration,” he continued, “buck in 1847, I remember we had no bell in the town, and, as we wanted to make a noise, we hung up a steel bar in front of a hardware-store and struck it with a hammer. It answered our purpose.”

“We had no jails here then,” he went on, “and the vagrants arrested were sold to the highest bidder, who made them work. One day I bid 10 cents on a vagrant, but he was knocked down to a big colored man named George White for 12½ cents.”

“Did you learn the Indian tongue?” asked the reporter.

“Oh, yes. Gurdon Hubbard taught me their language. One day I addressed a convention of Indians in their own tongue. The various bands came together for supplies, and $60,000 worth of all kinds of goods were spread out on the prairie before them. After the usual addresses had been made, Col. Kercheval, the Indian Agent here, gave the signal, and the 5,000 Indians made a rush on the supplies. In half an hour
not a thing was left on the prairie. It was a great scramble.

“Do you still remember the language?”

“Oh, yes. I guess Mr. Hubbard and myself are the only ones who will be at the reunion Thursday night who can converse in the Indian tongue,” and the Captain rattled off a speech for the reporter’s benefit, which, not being a Mayor Harrison, he could not respond to. “John L. Wilson, he continued, “has two letters that I wrote twenty-six years ago. One of them is in the Indian tongue.”

“What tribes were there then?”

“The Pottawatomies, Winnebagos, and some others.”

“How was the real-estate business at that time?”

“Well, in an auction sale of lots in Ogden’s Addition I bought ten lots for $150, and, thinking that I had paid too much, I gave Garrett, the auctioneer, $20 to let me off. I purchased ten lots in the Clybourn Addition for $100. That seems strange now.”

“I suppose every one in town was acquainted at that time?”

“O yes. I guess I knew every man, woman, child, horse, and dog within 100 miles of here then. There were only two houses between here and Milwaukee, which was then considered ‘out of the world.’ I remember wen Hubbard and Botsford started to build a mill at Milwaukee, and sent a woman on there to cook for the men. She was the first white woman who ever went to Milwaukee, and prayer was offered over her before she left for that wilderness.”

“I suppose you knew Mark Beaubien?”

“Of course I did. I have danced with him and to the music of his fiddle. I sold him a drove of bogs once for $1,000. One day he came to me and showed me a new brass knocker be had had put on the door. It bore his name, and he was very proud of it. I remember well his ‘Play fiddle like devil—keep hotel like h–l.'”

“Here.” he said, “is something I am going to present to the Calumet Club. It’s an old relic, and I guess they will accept it, producing a razor-hone, carefully wrapped up, accompanied by the following document:

“This hone was left with me in Chicago in 1833 by a discharged soldier from the United States army, who, after carefully sharpening his razor in my presence, said, ‘Keep this until I call for it.’ I have kept it forty-nine years: he has not called for it, and I hereby bequeath it to the Calumet Club, in trust, to be held until called for by the old soldier.

“He committed suicide the night of the day he left the hone with me,
THOMAS S. EELLS

Jacksonville, Fla.
“One of the old settlers of 1832.
“May 18, 1892.”

“Did he commit suicide with the razor he sharpened?”

“Yes; that same night he was found by some Indians lying in a vacant lot in the rear of John Kinzie’s house with his throat cut from ear to ear. The Indians called my attention to the body, and I recognized the old soldier. The Indians stole the razor.”

“When did you go to Florida?” asked the reporter.

“Twenty-six years ago, I went there to die, as the doctors had given me up. Since I have been there I have been sick but twice.”

“Are you in business there?”

“I am the marine underwriters’ agent for the east coast of Florida for vessels of all nations,” he said, producing a bundle of letters from all parts of the world addressed to him. “I spend most of my time traveling along the coast. It was I that sent the first dispatch about the Vera Cruz disaster to all parts of the world.”
Where and when were you born, Captain?”

“I was born in Middletown, Conn., in 1814, and am now 68 years of age.”

The Captain here expressed a desire to see Lincoln Park, and the reporter accompanied him as far as the car. During the walk the subject of the great fire was brought up, and the old gentleman said:

“I was one of the first firemen here. We had an old engine that we used to run with, but there were no fires then, as there was no insurance.”

And the Captain bade the reporter good-by and boarded a Wells-street car.

Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1892

The Calumet Club gave its fourth annual reception to “The Old Settlers of Chicago” last evening. As on the three previous occasions there was a large attendance, and the reputation of the club for hospitality was splendidly sustained. Death has been busy gathering in the veterans who lived here prior to 1840, no less than thirty-five of the 414 who are known & Chicago’s old settlers having gone to their rest during the year. Among them was Daniel Lyman, who built the first grist-mill; Lathrop Johnson, who carried the first mail between Milwaukee and Chicago, his horse making ninety-nine miles a day; William A. Hall, who was employed at Fort Dearborn as a gunsmith; Adam Schoch, a soldier of Napoleon in the Italian and Spanish wars; William A. Stow, a member of the first fire company and of the first Board of Aldermen, and who erected the first frame building west of the river; Seth T. Otis, the originator and founder of the Young Men’s Christian Association; and Levi D. Boone, who was Mayor in 1855. The ranks of the old settlers have not visibly diminished, however, as new ones are constantly being discovered by the club through information furnished by those who are aiding it to reach all who are living, in order that its record of names may be complete. Several photographs have been added to the gallery since May, 1881, the noteworthy ones being those of Mary Ann (Wolcott) Gilbert, granddaughter of Capt. William Wells, who was killed in the massacre of 1812, and whose wife was the daughter of the celebrated Indian Chief, Little Turtle; the Rev. Isaac T. Hunton, the second Baptist minister who came here: Isaac R. Gavin, Sheriff in 1838-’40, who hung the first man, John Stone, ever hanged in what is now Cook County, Alonzo Huntington prosecuting him, and Robinson Tripp and John Wentworth serving as jurors; Lathrop Johnson, who started the first livery-stable and ran the first stage from Chicago to Milwaukee: Rebekah Heald, wife of the celebrated Capt. Heald; and John Watkins, one of the first school-teachers.

The Rendezvous.
The veterans of a by-gone age began arriving promptly at 7 o’clock, some coming on foot, others in street-cars, and the more wealthy in their carriages. They were met at the door by the Old-Settlers’ Committee of the club, consisting of Silas B. Cobb, May, 1833; Horatio G. Loomis, May, 1834; Arthur G. Burley, May, 1835; Frederick Tuttle, January, 1836; Marcus C. Stearns, August, 1836; John Wentworth, October, 1836; Joel U. Walter, June, 1837; John M. Van Osdel, June, 1837; Jerome Beecher, July, 1838; Alexander H. Morrison, October, 1838; Mark Kimball, September, 1830, and Franklin D. Gray September, 1839.

The old settlers were each given a buttonhole-bouquet as they entered the parlors, where were gathered the members of the club, who, as usual, vied with each other in their attentions to their venerable guests. There was no necessity for introducing the latter to one another. In such a small town as Chicago was forty-two years ago everybody knew everybody else. Many of them, of course, had not met for years, separations having come about by emigration elsewhere, but memory retained names and often countenances, notwithstanding the changes wrought by time. So they fell to talking about former times and dead friends as soon as they care together. By 8 o’clock the parlors, ample for the club’s purposes, were uncomfortably crowded; but the inconvenience due to the jam was not complained of, so glad were they to see one another again. At that hour there were in the house the following-named guests—118 in number—while the number at the third reception was 160:
Names of Old Settlers Present, Residents and of Age Prior to 1840.
Adams, William H., 451 Wabash avenue, Chicago.
Allen, Edward R., Aurora, Ill.
Allen, Thomas, Glencoe, Ill.
Ambrose, Rev. J. E., Geneva Lake, Wis.
Balsley, Jon, 217 Latlin street, Chicago.
Bascom, Rev. Flavel, Hinsdale, Ill.
Bassett, George, Chicago.
Batcheier, Ezra, Chicago.
Bates, John, 275 State street, Chicago.
Beaubien, Medore B., Silver Lake, Kas.
BerRs, Rev. Stephen R., Plainfield, Ill.
Berdel, Charles, 201 West Randolph street, Chicago.
Bishop, James E., Denver, Colo.
Blackman. Edwin, 70 La Salle street, Chicago.
Bradley, David, 63 North Desplaines street, Chicago.
Brown, Nathaniel, Lemont, Ill.
Buel, James M., Chicago.
Campbell, James, 296 Calumet avenue, Chicago.
Carpenter. Philo, 57 Ashland avenue, Chicago.
Carter, 1. B., 55 Twentieth street, Chicago.
Caton, John Dean, 1900 Calumet avenue, Chicago.
Chacksfield, George, Chicago.
Clarke, Henry 92 Washington street, Chicago.
Clift, James, Racine, Wis.
Cook, Isaac, St. Louis.
Dennis, E. M., Chicago.
De Wolf. Calvin, Vincennes avenue, Chicago.
Dexter, A. A.., Union Stock-Yards, Chicago.
Dickinson, Augustus, 198 Twenty-fifth street, Chicago.
Dodge, Usual S., La Porte, Ind.
Doty, Theodorus, 273 Thirtieth street, Chicago.
Drury, Benjamin C., Hainesville, Lake County,
Eastman, Z., Maywood, Ill.
Eells, Thomas S., Jacksonville, Fla.
Egan, W. M., Chamber of Commerce, Chicago.
Ellis, Joel, 83 West Jackson street, Chicago.
Ewins, John A., Danvers, Ill.
Fennimore, Richard, 194 West Monroe street, Chicago.
Fergus, Robert, 244 Illinois street, Chicago.
Flood, Peter F., 93 South Sangamon street, Chicago.
Freeman, Robert. Naperville, Ill.
Gale, Abram, care Gale & Blocki, Chicago.
Gates, P. W., 52 South Canal street, Chicago.
Goodrich, T. W.. Milwaukee, Wis.
Goold, Nathaniel, 216 Prairie avenue, Chicago.
Graft, Peter, 43 Curtis street, Chicago.
Grannis, S. W. Park Ridge, IlL.
Gray, Charles M., Michigan Southern Railroad, Chicago.
Gray, Joseph H., Hyde Park, IIL
Gray, W. B. H., 3849 Lake avenue, Chicago.
Granger, Elitu, Chicaro.
Guild, Dr. E. C., Bartlett, Cook County, III.
Hackett, John, Beloit, Wis.
Haines, E. M. Waukegan, Ill.
Hamilton, P. D. Michigan avenue and Forty-fifth street, Chicago,
Hanchett, John L., 5 Hubbard court, Chicago.
Hannah, J. M., care E. H. Neymann, 97 Maiden lane, New York,
Harmon, William, Oak Park, Ill.
Herrick, Charles, Racine, Wis.
Hoffman, Michael, 446 North State street, Chicago.
Holden, Charles N., 563 West Monroe street, Chicago.
Hosmer, C. B., 79 Clark street, Chicago.
Hugunin, James R., 68 Elm street, Chicago.
Ives, A. B.. Bloomington, Ill.
Jetterson, Hiram, Desplaines, Ill.
Jones, Fernando, Chicago.
Kellick, James E., Clybourn avenue bridge, Chicago.
Kinball, Martin N., 151 Lake street, Chicago.
Kimball, Walter, 291 Oak street, Chicago.
Kingston, John T., Necedah, Juneau County, Wis..
Lane, Elisha B., 321 West. Madison street, Chicago.
Lane. George W., Morris, Il.
Lathrop, Samuel, Bristol, III.
Marshall, James A., 2906 Indiana avenue, Chicago.
McClennan, Hugh, Lake Forest, Ill.
McChintock, James, Gower, Ill.
McDonnell, Charles, 312 West Randolph street, Chicago.
McFarren, John H., 20 Ogden avenue, Chicago.
Milliken, Isaac L., Monee, Will County, Ill.
Morgan, P. R.. 705 Carroll avenue, Chicago.
Myrick, Willard F., 2967 Vernon avenue, Chicago.
Nelson, Andrew, 248 Superior street, Chicago.
Oliver, Jobn A., 867 West Lake street, Chicago.
Parker, John, Hinsdale, Ill.
Peacock, Elijah, 98 State street, Chicago.
Peacock, Joseph, 196 South Peoria street, Chi-cago.
Peck, Charles E., 112 State street, Chicago.
Pennoyer, Henry, Grand Haven, Mich.
Porter, A. D., La Porte, Ind.
Price, Cornelius, 1826 Indiana avenue, Chicago.
Ragan, John G., Waukegan, Ill.
Reader, D. L., Aurora, Ill.
Rue, John C., 131 South Jefferson street, Chicago.
Rumsey, Julian S., 70 La Salle street, Chicago.
Saltonstall, F. G.. 125 La Salle street, Chicago.
Satterlee, M. L., 2704 Michigan avenue Chicago.
Sawyer, Dr. Sidney, 301 Ontario street, Chicago,
Scott, Willis, 199 West Washington street, Chicago.
Scoville, William H., Chicago.
Smith, Dr. David S., 1255 Michigan avenue, Chicago,
Smith, Joseph F., 83 Warren avenue, Chicago.
Sollett, John, 157 South Jefferson street, Chicago.
Stearns, Marcus C., 475 Wabash avenue, Chicago.
Sturtevant, A. D., 180 Warren avenue, Chicago.
Stewart, Alexander, Binghamton, N. Y.
Sullivan. Eugene, 151 West Van Buren street, Chicago.
Taylor, Lewis,D., Glencoe, Cook Co., Ill.
Tanner, William A., Aurora, Ill.
Taylor, A. D., 398 West Taylor street. Chicago.
Taylor, E. D., Mendota, Ill.
Taylor, Francis H., Niles, Mich.
Tripp. Dr. Robinson, 1408 Wabash avenue, Chicago.
Turner, John M., 2731 Indiana avenue, Chicago.
Tuttle, Frederick, 2022 Michigan avenue, Chicago.
Vandercook, Charles R., Austin, Ill.
Van Osdel, John M., 41 Clark street, Chicago
Warren, Col. J. M., Warrenville, Ill.
Warner, Seth P., Austin, Sook County, Ill.
Wayman, Samuel, 142 Aberdeen street, Chicago.
Wayman, William, 251 Fulton street, Chicago.
Weare, Jobn, Cedar Rapids, Ia.
Wentworth, John, Sherman House, Chicago.
Wheelock, O.L., 1250 Wabash avenue, Chicago.
Whitehead, Rev. Henry, 73 Randolph street, Chicago.
Wicker, Charles G., 99 Dearborn street, Chicago.
Wolcott, Alexander, City-Hall, Chicago.
Wood, Alonzo C.. 240 Lexington street, Chiengo.
Yates, H. H., 19 South Peoria street, Chicago.

Well Welcomed.
Vice-President Done welcomed the guests of the eveming in the following happy vein:

Gentlemen: You who are old settlers of Chicago. Through the unavoidable absence of the President it falls to my lot again to welcome you to the hospitalities of the Calumet Club; and, though I cannot make you a speech, the duty that I have to discharge is a very pleasant one, for the welcome that I extend on behalf of the Calumet Club is a welcome of the heart. We greet you as friends. We honor you for all that you have done towards the building up of a large and magnificent city. We recognize in you all that there is left of the men who, while Chicago was yet in the future, had the courage and sagacity to stop here upon the unpopulated and unbroken prairie and commence the foundations of a city which in the meantime has proven to be, in a commercial point of view, the second largest city of this country. For this Chicago owes you an eternal
debt, and the Calumet Club know of no better way to acknowledge in some small degree the obligation than to invite you annually to their parlors, and as often renew these assurances. We rejoice to see so many of you here who have lived to see and rejoice at the results of your own hands: and, while we congratulate ourselves upon the large attendance of the old settlers here this evening, we do not forget that your ranks have been broken in upon, and that no less than thirty-five of your associates have been called away by the Angel of Death during the last twelve months. Neither do we forget that the names of the living must grow less and less as the years roll by. But as long as there is one of your band yet alive he will be welcomed to the Calumet Club as you are tonight, and the doors of the club’s house will never be closed against him. [Applause.]

“Long” John’s Response-Chicago Then and Now-The Fort Dearborn Massacre-An Historical Relic of a Bloody Epoch.
The Hon. John Wentworth, on behalf of the old settlers, responded as follows:

Mr. President: I have been requested by the early settlers of Chicago to thank the members of the Calumet Club for this, their fourth annual entertainment, and also to thank you for your very flattering words of welcome. It adds pleasure to your entertainment to know that many of your members are the descendants of Chicago’s early pioneers, who, after living honorable lives in this city, have preceded us in the road to the grave. It seems to us tonight as if their fathers were with us, and that in honoring us they are doing honors to their fathers also. Did time permit, it would please me to cali by name some of Chicago’s representative men here tonight who have never before met with us, and to narrate some interesting event in our city’s history with which each one has been associated. But it is desirable that these reunions should be, as far as possible, of a social character, leaving perfect freedom to pass to each one around the room and converse with such individuals as may seem most desirable to him. Therefore 1 shall omit many things that I might desire to say in order that the ceremonious part of this entertainment may be as brief as possible. To many of us this will be our last occasion of meeting, as we now miss some whom we met last year, and as at every previous meeting we have missed some whom we had met before.

Mr. President, you have done tonight what a citizen of no other place could do, ever did do, or ever will be likely to do. You have addressed people who are the living witnesses of the progress of an uninhabitated tract of land to a city of 600,000 people, with every prospect of its having a million at the next census. And its growth in population is not exceeded by its growth in wealth, in patriotism, in intelligence, in morals, and in everything else that tends ornament the highest state of civilization. Here is some one to speak of

Every Phase of Chicago’s History
from actual observation. Here are men who have not only been witnesses of the principal events that have transpired in Chicago, but who have rendered themselves conspicuous in shaping them. Here are men who helped organize our City Government and have taken a prominent part in its conduct from that time to this. Here are men who took an active part in the very able and interesting discussion as to the advantages of our people asking the Legislature for a city charter. Both sides of that great debate are represented here tonight, and the distinguishing features of that debate have been agitated to a greater or less extent from that day to this; one side favoring haste in the adoption of any measure that would increase the value of real estate, and the other retarding any measures that would tend to increase taxation without bringing a sure equivalent. Here is a member of the first Board of Trustees, when the Town of Chicago was organized in 1833. Here are voters in the Chicago precinet of Peoria County in 1830, and one of the clerks of that election. Here are residents of Chicago when it was not even organized as a voting precinct, and was a part of Fulton County. And we have at least one man who was here before the State of Illinois was admitted into the Union. In early times there was a military fort in what was then the extreme Northwest called Fort Dearborn, and when the military authorities were asked where that fort was the reply came: “At the mouth of Chicago Creek, Lake Michigan.” That fort was destroyed by the Indians in 1812, but the creek remained, and there is one man here who found that creek without an inhabitant upon its banks. He now sees it leading into the heart of the Liverpool of America. God made that creek, and He made the richest country in the world tributary to it. The old settlers of Chicago claim no credit for making Chicago a great commercial point. They know that if they had not been here others would have been to have participated in the profits of handling the products of the fertile country that surrounded us. They knew from the beginning that Chicago was to be a great commercial point, and that commerce had ever been a law unto itself. ney had read in the history of the whole world that commerce had made and unmade cities, and was continually doing it. They expected that as the country was developed Chicago would be

fort

The Fort Dearborn Massacre on the 15th August, 1812
By Samuel Page.
The painting represents Mrs. Helms being rescued from her would-be slayer Nau-non-gee by Black Partridge. To her left os Surgeon Van Voorhes falling mortally wounded. Other characters depicted are Capt. William Wells, Mrs. Heald on horseback, Ensign Ronan, Mrs. Ronan, Mrs. Holt, Mr. John Kinzie, and Chief Wau-bun0sie. In the background are Indians, the wagons containing children, and off on the lake is the boat bearing Mr. Kinzie’s family to safety.

The Second City on the Continent,
and they wanted to make it the first; and in their studies they found that Chicago must become a Manchester as well as a Liverpool, and they thought that, by uniting the characteristics of those two European cities they could make Chicago superior to New York. The commercial importance of New York, like that of Chicago, was a fixed fact; but New York, by its high taxation, consequent upon its extravagant and corrupt government, had driven from its limits manufactures that otherwise would have been established therein. Consequently the old settlers of Chicago have invariably been for such an honest and economical government and such a small indebtedness and taxation as would make us a Manchester as well as a Liverpool, and would make our superior manufacturing advantages over New York counterbalance New York’s superior commercial advantages, and thus make us the first city on the continent.

Indelibly engraven upon the hearts of the old settlers is the sentiment that high taxation and great indebtedness tend to drive manufactories from the city, and thereby deprive its laborers of work, and consequently their families of bread. Many of us remember the struggles that were made in early times to have our city subscribe to the stock and bonds of railroads. Nothing was subscribed. Yet the railroads have all the time been adequate to the wants of our city.

The year after the burning of the fort there came to this them uninhabited country a family without means:

A child began work by picking up the nails from the ashes of the burned fort, and

That Child Is Here Tonight,
having a long time been one of our most honored citizens, but more recently a citizen of Kansas. Thus began the progress of our present Chicago. Here, Mr. President, is the grandeur of the spectacle tonight. No pen or pencil can do justice to the panorama spread out before us; covering the scene beginning with that boy’s climbing over the charred timbers of the old fort in search of nails, and terminating with the Chicago of this day.
Call over ever minute of time, Mr. President, from 1813 to the present hour, and there is some one here tonight to represent each minute, as a participant in the works of that minute that have been handed down to us. The personal history of Chicago is all here tonight.

These reunions, besides personally being very pleasurable, are eminently advantageous in many respects, and more especially in real-estate matters since the destruction of the records by the fire of 1871. They are a terror to that whole class of shysters who live by blackmailing the owners of land with titles defective of record. There are many questions that individuals, when appealed to, cannot answer correctly; but they can refer the interrogator, through this organization, to persons who can probably give him the desired information. Within a few days we have found the residences of several early settlers that were not known before, and some were supposed to be dead. Real-estate men often make the observation that the old-settler records of the Calumet Club are only second to the records in the abstract offices. I know of many disputed titles that have been honestly settled by information derived from our organization, which otherwise would have had to contribute largely to the pockets of professional land-sharks. This organization is advantageous in another respect. Great injustice is often done to

The Memory of the Dead
by the vanity of the living, who are constantly having their autobiographies published in the various unreliable catch-penny publications of the day, with portraits, styling themselves “leading men of Chicago.” Many of these persons have published several of these autobiographies at different times; and it is noticed that the last one always appropriates some merit that properly belongs to some person who has died since the previous one was published; and it has occurred to us old settlers that, if one of these autobiographers should survive all the balance from reading his work it would be concluded that none of the rest of us had ever lived, or, if we had lived, that we had been but the passive spectators of his mighty works.

Some comers of a recent date in their autobiographies contend that there was but little done before they came here, and then proceed to discuss the rapid growth of the city from the date of their arrival, as if we old settlers had not been their contemporaries all the while, and as if we had not provided them with a boarding-place and a newspaper to announce their distinguished arrival. We hope that what they claim for themselves will prove true of every person who may hereafter come here, and that all may be able to say that much was done after they got here to make Chicago the greatest manufacturing city on the continent. Our commerce will take care of itself. I feel as if I ought to say this much to the sons of Chicago’s old settlers, that, whilst they contribute to keep up this organization, they are contributing to protect the memory of their worthy fathers from vampire autobiographies.

I take great pleasure in announcing that it was upon the motion of one of the old settlers here tonight that the Chicago Historical Society gave an expression of discouragement to all such publications. They are not histories; nor are they truthful.

Since our last meeting quite a number of our old settlers have died. A list of them has been kept, and will be read to you, if desired. But it has already been published.

I have been presented by the children of the late Hon. James Wolcott, of South Toledo, O. with some books containing the autograph of their grandfather,

Capt. William Wells,
who was killed in the massacre at Chicago, Aug. 15, 1812, and also with his peace-pipe and tomahawk, with the request that I disposed of them as I think most appropriate for the preservation of Chicago’s early history. The books I have given to the Chicago Historical society, and the peace-pipe and tomahawk I now propose to present to the Calumet Club. Although the history of that massacre is well known to our early settlers, I hope it will not be considered inappropriate for me to make a few remarks concerning Capt. Wells. He was stolen when a boy from the residence of the Hon. Nathaniel Pope, of Kentucky, by the Miami Indians, and was adopted as a son by their chief, Little Turtle, one of the most distinguished warriors. He married Little Turtle’s daughter and lived with the Indians and fought upon their side until the approach of Gen. Wayne’s army. He helped defeat Gen. Josiah Harmon in 1790 and Gen. Arthur St. Clair in 1791. Soon after the latter defeat, either influenced by the supposition that he might be fighting against his own kindred and might kill some of them in battle, or fascinated by the reputation of Geo. Anthony Wayne, who was in command of the United States troops, he resolved to sever his connection with the Indians. He invited his father-in-law, Little Turtle, to an interview about two mies from Fort Wayne, and thus addressed him:

Father, we have long been friends. I leave you now to go to my own people. We will be friends until he sun reaches its midday height. We will now part, and after that we will be enemies.

Immediately he set out for Gen. Wayne’s army, and was made by him a Captain of a company of spies, and fought with him until the treaty of peace at Greenville in 1795. After that he lived with Little Turtle at Fort Wayne, and traveled with him to all the Eastern cities, including Washington City. He was appointed Justice of the Peace and Indian Agent at Fort Wayne, Ind. His brother, Col. Samuel Wells, was a noted Indian fighter, and had been fighting against the Indians ever since his brother William had been stolen. Col. Samuel Wells was the father of the wife of Capt. Nathan Heald, who was in command of the fort at Chicago, and when Gen. Hull ordered the abandonment of Fort Dearborn Capt. Wells volunteered to come with a band of Miami Indians and escort the troops to Fort Wayne.

He Brought With Him His Peace-Pipe,
hoping to take a friendly smoke with the Indians that were here menacing the fort. The troops marched out, with Capt. Wells and his Miami Indians as an escort, and they were attacked, and, as is known, a general massacre took place. During the engagement Capt. Wells rode up to his niece, Mrs. Rebekah (Wells) Heald, with blood streaming from his mouth, and requested her (if she should survive) to inform his wife that be had fought bravely and had killed seven Indians before he was shot. Soon his horse was shot, and as his horse fell his foot was caught in the stirrup, and he was held under the dead horse some time. Whilst in this position be killed his eighth Indian. He was relieved from his position just in time to meet his death from a bullet. The Indians cut out bis heart, divided it into pieces, and ate it while warm, under the superstition that to eat a brave man’s heart would inspire them with bravery. He had upon his person this pipe and tomahawk when he fell, and a friendly Indian carried it to his wife. His children were well educated, one of his sons graduating at West Point, but dying soon after. Two of his daughters are favorably mentioned by the Hon. J. L. Williams in his history of the First Presbyterian Church, at Fort Wayne. His widow married a Mr. Turner, who was a brother of Dr. William Turner, who married his daughter Ann. His daughter Mary married Judge James Walcott, whose children have enabled me to make this present to the Calumet Club. His daughter Jane T. Wells, the widow of John H. Griggs, now lives, with a large family of children, at Peru, Ind. When our city was laid out, one of its principal streets was named in honor of him. He volunteered to come to Chicago and

William Wells’s pipe tomahawk, as drawn by Ephraim Morrison c. 1810 for gunsmith George Brier. Of the weapon, Morrison’s brother wrote that “the main part of the axe is brass, only the edge being steel.”

Lost His Life In Its Defense.
The men who laid out our streets thought his name was worthy to be perpetuated with Presidents Washington, Jefferson. and Madison, Gen. George Rogers Clark, and Gen. Henry Dearborn, and the pioneer La Salle. Whilst these other names remain, that of Capt. Wells has been removed from the street named for him upon the South Side. It was attempted to extend the new name to the North Side, but it is due to the patriotic gratitude of the people of the North Side to state that there was not a single resident of the street that did not resent the proposition. The cause of this change of name, after due investigation, I gave in my historical lecture of April 11, 1875, in these words:

Inefficient city officers allowed gamblers to settle thereon, and with them came the disciples of Potiphar’s wife, and that crowd of moral and social outcasts which gamblers instinctively draw around themselves wherever they go, and when at last more efficient officers exterminated them, the property holders thought they would wipe out the disgrace which official incompetency and degeneracy had inflicted upon them by erasing from the street the name of one who so heroically gave up bis life on the ever-memorable 15th day of August, 1812.

The present name represents nothing except it may be a street once fashionable in New York City, but now losing its importance. The Fifth avenue of Chicago is not the fifth street from the Chicago River, nor from Lake Michigan, and it may creditably have its name changed to

Wells Avenue.
And I am anxious it should be done ere that infant child (the only one remaining of large family), made fatherless in defense of Chicago, shall pass away. Our Mayor is a Kentuckian. So was Capt. Wells. He is descended from the best families of the State of Virginia. So was Capt. Wells. Our Mayor’s name is Harrison. and the grandchildren of Capt. Wells, in writing to me, say: “Do nor suppose we are giving to you all the valuable relics that have come to us from our honored grandfather, who died in defense of Chicago. We still have, among other things. a dress -sword presented to him by Gen. William H. Harrison.” With these associations between our Mayor and Capt. Wells, and with his innate sense of justice, is it too much to ask of him that he may use his influence to restore the name of Capt. Wells to the street where our pioneers originally placed it? What better thing can be done than to have our Council meet on the 15th of next August, the anniversary of the massacre, and then do justice to the bravest man that ever distinguished himself for the safety of Chicago?

Mr. President, invite you to take a smoke from the peace-pipe of Capt. William Wells, who lost his life in defense of Chicago, and then to pass it around among the members of the Calumet Club, with the hope that it may be brought into use at every returning anniversary of your entertainment of Chicago’s early settlers.

Inter Ocean, January 18, 1893

Fire broke out at sunset last evening and destroyed the beautiful home of the Calumet Club at Michigan avenue and Twentieth street. Filled with rare old bits of bric-a-brac and paintings possessing artistic value of a degree sufficient to make the club famous for its works of art, if for nothing else, the fire proved to be particularly unfortunate. Perhaps more than any other semi-social organization the Calumet Club has posed as the custodian of Chicago’s history and in the collecting of paintings and other works of art which should form a connecting link between the Chicago of the days when Shabbona was chief of the Pottawattomies and the evening of the day when the city gives a reception to which all the world has accepted an invitation. The Calumet Club stood foremost of all Chicago clubs. All these works have passed away in an hour of smoke. Beautiful paintings and rare old bric-a-brac, valuable either from its historic worth or from its artistic value, went up in smoke last evening so rapidly that any attempt to save it would have been an act of foolhardiness rather than bravery.

It was early in the evening that the fire was discovered by Mrs. Maggie Dempsey, an employe of the club.

She went up to one of the upper stories and discovered that from room No. 13 there was the odor of smoke. She rushed down stairs and reported the matter to tho steward, who turned in a fire alarms The first alarm was quickly followed by others, including a “4-11,” which brought plenty of engines to the scene. The fire had obtained sufficient headway before Mrs. Dempsey discovered it to prevent saving the Calumet Club building, but by hard work the adjoining buildings were saved and the fire was confined to the place of its inception.

Could Save Nothing.
The fire raged so fiercely from the time of its discovery, about 5:30 o’clock, that it was impossible to save anything from the building. and the occupants of the adjoining houses thought themselves fortunate that they were able to save any of their property. The property adjoining on Michigan avenue is owned by C. C Doolittle, and when the fire in the Calumet Club was discovered the Doolittle family lost its appetite and sought refuge from the dinner table in the homes of the neighbors. In the dining-room, located in the basement, the water was about two foot deep slier Captain Foley had his engines all working, and although there was no necessity of moving the furniture the Doolittle family did not sleep at home last night, partly owing to the sleep-destroying announcement of the firemen that the walls of the house were li-, a bio to fall at any moment.

With the attaches of the Calumet Club it was simply a question of speed in getting out of the building, and not only did they make quick time, but they sensibly ignored any attempt to save the furniture or works of art belonging to the club. A fumble on the part of the electrical service occasioned some little delay in the arrival of the Ninth Battalion, but even if they bad arrived as soon as possible there was no hope of saving the building and the firemen were well content with having been able to save. the adjoining structures.

Chicago Tribune, January 19, 1893

The directors of the Calumet club met last evening at the residence of N. K. Fairbank, Eighteenth street and Michigan avenue, to outline action for the club. It was the spirit of the meeting that immediate steps be taken toward securing temporary quarters and commencing the work on a new structure. In view of the approaching busy summer when the social resources of the club will be taxed heavily, no delay can be permitted.

At the meeting the only question presented was the selection of temporary quarters. This was an especially important matter in view of the variety of buildings that can be secured. A largo number of residences in the vicinity of the ruins has been offered for the use of the club until the club-house can be rebuilt. These houses vary so much in arrangement and price that the directors decided to inspect each buildmg and a decision will be reserved until the next meeting, which will be held tomorrow evening at Mr. Fairbank’s residence.

“Will work of reconstruction be commenced at once,” was asked by a reporter for The Tribune.

“There is no question about that, although nothing definite can be decided upon until the insurance is settled.”

“Is any trouble anticipated in that direction?”

“No, but the fire was a very peculiar one in some respects, according to the varying statements regarding possible salvage and many questions may be raised that will take a little time to settle.”

Valuables Cannot Be Replaced.
The large picture “The Peace Makers,” by G. P. A. Healy,. burned in the Calumet club fire, had a remarkable history. It was presented by Mr. Healy to E. B. McCagg, and at the time of the great fire in 1871 was in an art gallery near the site of the present Columbia Theater, as Mr. McCagg had no convenient place in is own home for so large a picture. It was saved from destruction at that time by cutting the canvas from the stretcher, and was rolled up and sent to St. Louis. It was afterwards returned to Mr. McCagg, and when Gen. Grant was given a reception upon his return from his trip around the world it was borrowed by the club for a reception to him and alter that remained in its possession.

The subject showed President Lincoln, Gen. Grant, Gen. Sherman, and Admiral Porter in council in the cabin of an excursion boat on the James River, where they met to consider the project of Sherman’s march to the sea.

Another important and valuable work of art which was destroyed was a portrait of Gen. Henry Dearborn, from whom Fort Dearborn was named by Gilbert Stuart. It was presented to the Calumet club by the Commercial club and was valued at $2,000, though is historical worth, and the fact that it was by Stuart would make it of greater value.

In addition to Le Clere’s portrait of Gen. Grant, those of Anson Stager and Edson Keith by Pine, of J. W. Doane and H. J. Macfarland by Rice, of John Wentworth by Healy, and of John McCullough as “The Gladiator,”, by Pelligrini of London, there were several pictures of value among them, “The Bridge of Sighs,” by Douglas Volk, and a large pastoral picture with sheep and figures by David Col and another Munich artist. Besides these, many pictures owned by members were burned, among them several owned by William O. and J. B. Goodman and Albert S.Ludlow of Waukesha. A large collection of cabinet photographs and a few crayon portraits of early settlers of Chicago was also burned. Among the interesting relics of early Chicago which were lost were a tomahawk cabinet which was found near the body of Capt. Wells after the Fort Dearborn massacre, and a whetstone which was given to Capt. Eells for safe keeping by a man who told him to keep it until he should call for it. The man had been using the stone to sharpen a razor, with which he cut his throat a few moments later. The stone was given to the club to hold in trust until called for.

The history of the picture of Gen. Grant and how it came to Chicago is interesting. A few months before his death ex-President Arthur requested Thomas Le Clere to paint a portrait of Grant to be placed in the White House. Mr. Le Clere accepted the order on condition that the General would give him sittings for two pictures. This was agreed to by Gen. Grant, who afterward gave forty- eight sittings ere the pictures were completed. One was delivered at the White House, where it still remains; but John F. Stafford at once formed plans to secure the second picture for Chicago.

Shortly after the pictures were painted Arthur, Grant, and the artist died within a brief period of each other. Mr. Stafford, being an old friend of the artist and his family, opened a correspondence with heirs and obtained permission to dispose of the picture at a fixed price, knowing that other cities would soon be competitors for the prize. The subject was placed before the officers of the Calumet club, who acted promptly and secured the painting for $6,000. When the fact became known in New York that Chicago was negotiating for the picture prominent men of that city made a bid of $10,000 for the work, another city offering, still more. All the letters, telegrams, and papers in connection with the transaction were delivered to and were in the keeping of the Calumet club at the time of the fire, among them a letter from the famous artist Albert Bierstadt pronouncing the picture to be the greatest work of art ever painted on the American continent.

Mark Beaubien’s fiddle was also burned up. For sixty years the fiddle held a warm place in the memory of early Chicagoans. It furnished dance music for two generations. When Mark Beauoien came to Chicago in 1826 he brought the fiddle with him. It was made in Paris. Mark played for the little neighborhood dances. If one string would break he’d play on three, if two snapped he’d play on two, if all broke he’d whistle the rest of the tune, and the dancing would proceed uninterruptedly. When Beauoien lay on his deathbed in 1881, at Kankakee, he called to his side his son, now Lieut. Frank Beaubien of the City Police Department, and said :

I want you to give my fiddle and the painting of the little Indian squaw, Pinto, to Long John Wentworth. Give the painting of old Fort Dearborn to M. Stearns.

The requests were carried out. The paintings found their way into the Historical Society and Long John gave the fiddle, with some attendant ceremonies, to the Calumet club, where it was handsomely framed as the “Dancmg Orchestras of early Chicago.”

Calumet Club
Robinson Fire Insurance Map
1886

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