Wikipedia

Charles B. Farwell

Charles Benjamin Farwell (July 1, 1823 – September 23, 1903)[1] was a U.S. Representative and Senator from Illinois.

Charles B. Farwell
United States Senator
from Illinois
In office
January 19, 1887 – March 3, 1891
Preceded byJohn A. Logan
Succeeded byJohn M. Palmer
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873
Preceded byNorman B. Judd
Succeeded byJohn Blake Rice
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 3rd district
In office
March 4, 1873 – May 6, 1876
Preceded byHoratio C. Burchard
Succeeded byJohn V. Le Moyne
In office
March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883
Preceded byHiram Barber, Jr.
Succeeded byGeorge R. Davis
3rd Cook County Clerk
In office
1853–1861
Preceded byEdmund S. Kimberly
Succeeded byLaurin P. Hilliard
Personal details
Born
Charles Benjamin Farwell

(1823-07-01)July 1, 1823
Painted Post, New York, US
DiedSeptember 23, 1903(1903-09-23) (aged 80)
Lake Forest, Illinois, US
Resting placeRosehill Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMary Eveline Smith
RelationsJohn V. Farwell (brother)
Charles Farwell Edson (nephew)
Charles Farwell Edson, Jr. (great-nephew)
Wayne Chatfield-Taylor (grandson)
Meg Whitman (great-great-granddaughter)
Sarah Kernochan (great-great granddaughter)
EducationElmira Academy
Signature

Early life

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Farwell was born in Painted Post, New York on July 1, 1823. He was a son of Henry Farwell (1795–1873) and Nancy (née Jackson) Farwell (1798–1887).[2] His younger siblings included John Villiers Farwell, Simeon Farwell, and Louise Farwell (mother-in-law of Katherine Philips Edson and grandmother of Charles Farwell Edson, Jr.).[3]

He attended Elmira Academy before moving to Illinois in 1838.[1]

Career

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He first tried his hand at surveying and farming before moving to Chicago in 1844, when he went into banking. From 1853 to 1861, he served as the Clerk of Cook County. Farwell was "one of the principal builders in [Chicago's] business district" in the last quarter of the 19th century.[4] That he was able to amass a sizeable fortune can be proven by the fact that he owned a mansion on Chicago's North Side.[5]

Political career

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Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives four times beginning in 1870, winning his first election to the House by a healthy margin over Chicago's "Long" John Wentworth (by some 5700 votes). Farwell went on to serve in the House of Representatives in the 42nd, 43rd, 44th and 47th Congresses.[6] In 1876, the Democrat-controlled Congress accepted John V. Le Moyne's challenge to Farwell's election and removed Farwell from office; Farwell declined to run again at the time of the general election later on in 1876. In 1880, he was elected to another term in Congress (the 47th Congress). Upon the death of John A. Logan in 1887, Farwell was elected to serve out Logan's term in the U.S. Senate, but refused to run for re-election to a full term.[7]

Significantly, in Farwell's first term as Senator, he supported the introduction of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would have granted women's suffrage rights (the right to vote) - simultaneously a landmark achievement of and a setback in the long struggle for voting rights for women that would not be overcome until the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920.[4]

Later life

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In 1879, Farwell and his brother John were part of a group of Illinois businessmen and politicians responsible for construction of the Texas State Capitol building. The Farwell's reward for this was to become owners of over 3 million acres of land in Texas, upon which they founded the XIT Ranch. The city of Farwell, Texas is named for the Farwell brothers.[8]

Personal life

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In 1852, Farwell was married to Mary Eveline Smith, a New Englander who received a private education. Together, they were the parents of nine children, only four of whom lived to adulthood:[9]

  • Charles Farwell (1853–1853), who died young.
  • Mary N. Farwell (1854–1861), who died young.
 
Farwell's grave at Rosehill Cemetery

After a long illness,[22] Farwell died in Lake Forest, Illinois on September 23, 1903.[1] He was buried at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.

His daughter Rose inherited his estate, Fairlawn, at 965 E. Deerpath in Lake Forest.[23] Upon her death in 1918, his other daughter Grace inherited the mansion, and when it burned in 1920, the McGanns hired New York architects Delano and Aldrich to rebuild it in a Federal style with neo-Palladian brick and was finished in 1923 with original landscape was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.[24]

Descendants

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Through his daughter Anna, he was a grandfather of Ethel Leroy De Koven (1885–1943), who married broker Hans Kierstede Hudson.[25] Through his daughter Grace, he was a grandfather of Grace Farwell McGann (1907–1949), who married James H. Douglas Jr., the Secretary of the Air Force and the Deputy Secretary of Defense (his father helped found the Quaker Oats Company).[26]

Through his youngest daughter Rose, he was a grandfather of four: Adelaide Chatfield-Taylor (1891–1982), who was awarded a Croix de Guerre for her work running a canteen in Boston during World War II,[27] (grandmother of politician and businesswoman Meg Whitman);[28] Wayne Chatfield-Taylor (1893–1967), who served as Under Secretary of Commerce and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt;[29] and Otis Chatfield-Taylor (1899–1948),[30] a writer, playwright, editor, theatrical producer;[31][32][33] and Robert Farwell Chatfield-Taylor (1908–1980).[34]

Philanthropy

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In 1876, at his wife's urging, Farwell underwrote the construction of College Hall, North Hall and a gymnasium at Lake Forest College.[9] The couple also donated additional land to the college which had been struggling since the end of the Civil War.[35] Part of their philanthropy was to ensure a co-ed liberal arts college near home for their daughter, Anna, who graduated from Lake Forest College in 1880. Anna later married the composer Reginald de Koven, and became a successful socialite, novelist and amateur historian. His daughter Rose was married to Hobart Chatfield-Taylor.[36]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Ex-Senator Farwell Dead.; Decease of the Well-Known Octogenarian Due to Heart Disease". The New York Times. Chicago. September 24, 1903. p. 9. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time. J. T. White Company. 1910. p. 228. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  3. ^ Smith, Catherine Parsons (2007). Making Music in Los Angeles: Transforming the Popular. University of California Press. p. 284. ISBN 978-0-520-93383-5. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Steffes, Patrick (December 31, 2011). "Bertrand Goldberg in Tower Town Part 1: Bertrand Goldberg's Commune". forgottenchicago.com/. Forgotten Chicago. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  5. ^ "Charles B. Farwell mansion, 120 E. Pearson St., Chicago, IL (1905)". www.memory.loc.gov. Library of Congress, courtesy Chicago History Museum. 1905. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  6. ^ "Nominating Conventions.; Charles B. Farwell and Sidney Smith Nominated for Congress in Chicago". The New York Times. October 21, 1874. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  7. ^ "FARWELL, Charles Benjamin". history.house.gov/. Offices of the Historian, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives. n.d. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  8. ^ Leonard, John William (1908). Men of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries. L.R. Hamersly. p. 812. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Pedley, John G. (2012). The Life and Work of Francis Willey Kelsey: Archaeology, Antiquity, and the Arts. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-11802-1. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  10. ^ "ANNA F. DE KOVEN, AUTHOR AND POET; Widow of Composer Dies at 92 in Northeast Harbor, Me.--Also Wrote for Periodicals". The New York Times. January 13, 1953. p. 27. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  11. ^ "Reginald De Koven Buried.; His Own Compositions Played at Services in Cathedral of St. John". The New York Times. January 21, 1920. p. 7. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "WALTER FARWELL, FINANCIER, IS DEAD; Member of Old Chicago Family, Son of Late U. S. Senator-Stricken Here at 80 DIRECTOR OF LONDON FIRM Brother of Mrs. Reginald de Koven--Late Wife Was War I Correspondent in Russia". The New York Times. August 1, 1943. p. 39. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  13. ^ "Mrs. Walter Farwell". The New York Times. April 7, 1941. p. 17. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  14. ^ "Mrs. Robert G. M'Gann". The New York Times. March 30, 1949. p. 25. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  15. ^ "Dudley Winston's Death.; Chicago Lawyer Expires on the Train While Coming to This City -- A Rumor of Suicide". The New York Times. April 12, 1898. p. 9. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "A Fashionable Wedding.; Marriage of United States Senator Farwell's Daughter". The New York Times. December 5, 1888. p. 5. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Times, Special to The New York (June 13, 1906). "R. G. McGann to Wed.; Will Marry Mrs. Winston, a Relative of the De Kovens, To-morrow". The New York Times. Chicago. p. 4. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Mrs. de Koven's Sister Weds; Mrs. Grace Farwell Winston Becomes Mrs. Robert G. McGann". The New York Times. June 15, 1906. p. 9. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Mrs. Hobart C. Chatfield-Taylor". The New York Times. Santa Barbara, California. April 6, 1918. p. 15. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "History - Onwentsia Club". www.onwentsiaclub.org. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  21. ^ "H. C. Chatfield-taylor; Author, Authority on Moliere, Dies in California at 80". The New York Times. January 17, 1945. p. 21. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  22. ^ Times, Special to The New York (March 11, 1903). "Ex-Senator Farwell Ill". The New York Times. Chicago. p. 1. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Coventry, Kim; Meyer, Daniel; Miller, Arthur H. (2003). Classic Country Estates of Lake Forest: Architecture and Landscape Design, 1856-1940. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-393-73099-9. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  24. ^ Pennoyer, Peter, Peter; Walker, Anne (2003). The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-393-73087-6. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  25. ^ "Mrs. H. Kierstede Hudson; Wife of Broker, Daughter of Late] Reginald de Koven, Composer". The New York Times. February 14, 1943. p. 48. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  26. ^ "James H. Douglas Jr. Dead at 88; Served Presidents and the Military". The New York Times. February 28, 1988. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  27. ^ "H. H. Whitman, 66, Textile Man, Dead; Chairman of William Whitman Co., Manufacturers, Succumbs in France on World Cruise". The New York Times. March 19, 1950. p. 94. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  28. ^ "Meg Whitman to Wed June 7". The New York Times. April 20, 1980. p. 71. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  29. ^ Times, Special to The New York TimesThe New York (November 23, 1967). "Wayne Chatfield Taylor Dead; Roosevelt and Truman Aide, 73; Banker Held Major Posts in Commerce, Treasury and the Export-Import Bank In Many Public Posts Envoy at Trade Meetings". The New York Times. p. 33. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  30. ^ "Writer is Killed When Auto Skids; Otis Chatfieid-Taylor, Long Known in Theatre and Press, Fatally Hurt at Croton". The New York Times. January 18, 1948. p. 63. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  31. ^ "Three Divorces in Reno.; Chatfield-Taylors, R.E. Sherwoods and J.D. Pierces Parted". The New York Times. June 16, 1934. p. 13. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  32. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths CHATFIELD TAYLOR, MAROCHKA". The New York Times. November 4, 1999. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  33. ^ "Marochka Anisfeld Wed; Daughter of Chicago Artist Bride of Otis Chatfield-Taylor". The New York Times. May 7, 1936. p. 26. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  34. ^ "Valborg E. Palmer Wed.; Becomes Bride of Robert Farwell Chatfield-Taylor". The New York Times. November 8, 1928. p. 32. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  35. ^ Ebner, Michael H. (Summer 2007), "North Shore Town and Gown", Chicago History, p. 6
  36. ^ Bluff's Edge Estate Archived June 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 1st congressional district
1871–1873 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 3rd congressional district
1873–1876 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 3rd congressional district
1881–1883 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 3) from Illinois
1887–1891
Served alongside: Shelby M. Cullom 		Succeeded by
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