Explore the RHS Facebook Archives, a rich repository of local history written by Carol Flynn. For two decades, Carol brought a deeply dedicated voice to public education at RHS. Her role as Facebook administrator through mid-2025 naturally extended her prolific research into meticulously detailed articles, most notably her multi-part historical series posts. Today, Carol continues her local history writing for The Beverly Review and other outlets.
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History of the Chicago Wards – Post 4 REVISEDNorth Beverly Joins the Chicago Ward Structure
In 1890, three parcels of land were annexed to the City of Chicago, forever changing the Ridge communities.
First, the unincorporated area between 87th Street and 95th Street, and between State Street and Western Avenue, which includes today’s North Beverly, was annexed.
This annexation included local communities whose names were on the stops along the Rock Island railroad line (now the Metra line) – Beverly Hills (91st Street) and Longwood (95th Street). Also included was a section of Englewood and the Brainerd neighborhood to the east. These communities were identified as “flourishing new suburbs” by the Chicago Tribune.
A new state law passed in 1889 allowed for incorporated areas and the cities with which they wanted to annex to hold elections on the issue. However, unincorporated areas still fell under the jurisdiction of the previous law referred to as the “James P. Root annexation law,” which allowed areas to annex by petitioning the city. A petition had to be signed by three-fourths of the legal voters and property owners representing two-thirds of the community’s value.
The voters and property owners of Beverly Hills,
Longwood, and the communities to the east, petitioned the Chicago city council to annex this territory, and the Judiciary Committee signed off on this petition, in April 1890. The city council then passed an ordinance to make the annexation official in May of 1890.
The Chicago city council assigned this land to the existing thirty-first ward, which had just been established the year before when 125 square miles of land was added to the city. The wards were reconfigured, and new ones were added at that time, bringing the total number of wards from twenty-four to thirty-four.
The two aldermen of the thirty-first ward became the first aldermen for the Ridge communities. They were Captain George F. McKnight and Edwin J. Noble. Both had just been elected the previous year when the ward was established.
Noble was a grain merchant and stock trader. He came to Chicago in 1876 from Pennsylvania, entered the grain business, and became a member of the Chicago Board of Trade. He was then appointed by the governor as chief grain inspector for the State of Illinois.
McKnight came to Chicago in 1869 from Buffalo, New York, after serving in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. He had a wide background in business and founded the Lake Gas Company in Chicago. He was appointed by the governor to the Board of Equalization which dealt with property tax appeals.
It was believed that the annexation of this land would open the door immediately for Washington Heights and Morgan Park to follow suit. This did happen with Washington Heights but not with Morgan Park.
The other two areas annexed to the City of Chicago by election in 1890 were the incorporated areas of Washington Heights and West Roseland. The official vote was entered into the Cook County records on November 21, 1890.
The next step was for the Chicago city council to pass an ordinance recognizing the annexation and adding the land to the ward system.
Next post: Washington Heights joins the ward system of Chicago
History of the Chicago Wards – Post 5Washington Heights Joins the Chicago Ward Structure
In November of 1890, the annexation of the Village of Washington Heights to the City of Chicago became official. At the same time, the Village of West Roseland to the southeast of Washington Heights was also annexed.
The next step was for the Chicago city council to pass an ordinance approving the annexation and adding the land to the ward system.
In 1889, with the annexation of 125 square miles of land into the city, the wards had been reconfigured and new ones created. The total number of wards had increased from twenty-four to thirty-four. When the area now known as North Beverly between 87th Street and 95th Street was annexed earlier in 1890, it was added to the thirty-first ward.
The determination of wards and their boundaries was a constant battle between the Democrats and Republicans on the city council to influence the election of aldermen according to political party affiliation. In 1890, Mayor DeWitt Clinton Cregier and the majority of the city council were Democrats, but that had gone back and forth through the early history of the city.
By 1890, Cregier was the fifteenth Democratic mayor. There had been five Whig mayors, and after this party merged to create the Republican Party in the 1850s, nine more Republican mayors. There had been five mayors with other or no political party affiliations.
It was generally assumed that Washington Heights would become its own ward – the thirty-fifth ward – when it was annexed. This new ward might also include West Roseland, or that area would be incorporated into an existing ward.
However, Washington Heights was strongly Republican, and establishing it as a new ward would almost certainly result in the election of two new Republican aldermen, something the Democrats did not want. Mayor Cregier was in favor of adding Washington Heights and West Roseland to existing wards.
An ordinance was drafted calling for the creation of a new ward for Washington Heights, and submitted to the Judiciary Committee of the city council. At the same time, two other ordinances were also submitted, calling for Washington Heights to be assigned to the thirty-first ward, and West Roseland to the thirty-fourth ward.
Establishing the new ward was a contentious issue in the city council. One alderman was quoted as saying about the ordinance before the Judiciary Committee, “It will sleep the sleep that knows no waking.” This proved so. That ordinance died in committee, and the ordinances to assign the areas to existing wards were presented to the city council, and approved.
Washington Heights became part of the thirty-first ward on February 25, 1891. West Roseland became part of the thirty-fourth ward.
Election precincts had already been established in the interim. In addition to the regularly scheduled voter registration day for the entire city, a second day was arranged for the new Chicago residents to register to vote. The annual aldermanic election was scheduled for the first Tuesday in April.
The two aldermen of the thirty-first ward were Captain George F. McKnight and Edwin J. Noble. Both had just been elected the previous year when the ward was established. Both were Republicans and ran unopposed.
As reported in Post 4, Noble was a grain merchant and stock trader on the Chicago Board of Trade. McKnight had a wide background in business and founded the Lake Gas Company in Chicago.
On the city council, Noble was a member of the Licenses, Streets and Alleys South, and Elections committees. McKnight sat on the Wharfing Privileges, Local Assessments, and Health and County Relations committees.
Each new ward had elected two aldermen in 1890, and to fit the positions into the election cycle, one was elected for a two-year term, and the other for a one-year term. McKnight was elected for one-year, so he was up for re-election in 1891, but he decided not to run for a second term.
The first election as residents of Chicago that the Washington Heights/Beverly voters participated in was to elect a new alderman to replace McKnight. The regular Republican “machine,” and that term was used back then for both parties, nominated Edwin A. Plowman for the position. Plowman was chief of the abstracts department of the Cook County Recorder’s office. He had sought the alderman position in 1889 but lost the nomination to McKnight.
However, a faction of Republicans in the ward nominated A. C. Clarke, an insurance adjustor, known for taking stances that differed from the official Republican stances. Clarke insisted he was the official nominee from the Republican Party. Despite some very heated debates, the Republican party leadership prevailed, and Plowman was listed on the ballot as the Republican candidate. Clarke ran as an Independent. They were joined on the ballot by nominees from the Democratic and Socialist parties.
Plowman won the election, becoming the new alderman for the thirty-first ward, and he served for one term. The position of mayor was also on the ballot that year, and Cregier lost to the Republican candidate Hempstead Washburne.
Noble was elected several more times, and served as alderman for the thirty-first ward until 1896.
Next: The Thirty-first Ward up to 1914
History of the Chicago Wards – Post 6Beginning a Chicago Wards Timeline for the Ridge; Early Aldermen for the Ridge
A timeline has been started for the history of the Chicago wards on the Ridge.
1889, June – Lake Township was annexed to the City of Chicago, which included the land north of 87th Street, east of Western Avenue, which today includes the northern part of Dan Ryan Woods. This land includes the northern tip of the Blue Island Ridge so the land is connected geographically to the Ridge even though it is not considered part of North Beverly and is not part of today’s 19th ward. At the time of annexation, the land was part of the Sherman Farm estate. This land formed part of the new 31st ward.
The first two aldermen for any part of the Ridge were Edwin J. Noble and Captain George F. McKnight, Republicans from the thirty-first ward.
1890, April – The land from 87th Street south to 95th Street, Western Avenue east to State Street, included in the Calumet Township, was annexed. It had been unincorporated land before that. The land included what today is known as North Beverly. It was assigned to the 31st ward.
1890, November – The land from 95th Street south to 107th Street, Western Avenue east to a zigzag alignment of streets, was annexed. The municipality had been incorporated as Washington Heights, and included today’s Beverly Hills.
1891, February – The annexed land of Washington Heights was added to the 31st ward.
1895, April – Isaiah T. Greenacre was elected the first alderman from the Ridge.
North Beverly and Washington Heights remained in the 31st ward until 1901, when population growth and shifts led to redistricting of the wards. The part of the 31st ward that included North Beverly and Washington Heights was split off into its own ward, and the renumbering of the city wards made this the 32nd ward. This will be covered in an upcoming post.
The aldermen of the 31st ward during the time it included North Beverly and Washington Heights, all Republican, were:
1889-1891: George McKnight
1889-1896: Edwin Noble
1891-1893: Edwin A. Plowman
1893-1895: James L. Francis
1895-1897: Isaiah T. Greenacre
1896-1898: Clark T. Northrop
1897-1899: Elliot W. Sproul
1898-1901: Joseph Badenoch
1899-1901: Henry F. Eidmann
McKnight, Noble and Plowman were covered in previous posts.
Francis was a prominent member of the city council’s special committee for the 1893 World’s Fair. He planned on seeking reelection in 1895 but he was ousted by the Republican “machine.” Later that year, Francis was charged with “boodling,” the term for various types of graft and corruption. He was accused of accepting cash and stock from the Mutual Electric Light and Power Company, located in Brainerd, in exchange for backing ordinances favorable to the company, charges he strongly denied.
Isaiah T. Greenacre was the first alderman elected from the Ridge. He played a considerable role in local, city, and state politics and he will be profiled in the next post.
Northrup was a prominent businessman who held the position of foreign representative with Smith and Co. before becoming a member of the Board of Trade. He had been a trustee for Lake Township.
Sproul was a contractor and builder. He later served in the U.S. House of Representatives as the Congressman from the 3rd District of Illinois from 1921 to 1931. This photo is of Elliot W. Sproul.
Next post: Isaiah T. Greenacre, first alderman elected from the Ridge.
The First Chicago Christmas Tree and the Ridge – Part I – Revised
Chicago’s first municipal Christmas tree was displayed in 1913. For the first time, on Christmas Eve, viewers witnessed a giant tree ablaze with strands of electric light bulbs set up on Michigan Avenue. Ridge resident Amalie Hofer Jerome was named an honorary vice president for the lighting event.
RHS profiled the Hofer family in the Winter 2013 RHS newsletter, which focused on the beginnings of the kindergarten movement in the U.S. The Hofer sisters led the way in Chicago in the establishment of kindergartens and training programs for kindergarten teachers. And that was only one of their accomplishments.
These 2021 posts will cover more on the Hofers, and then feature the 1913 Christmas event.
The Hofer family came of age during the Progressive Era of the late 1800s – early 1900s, a time of widespread reform in just about every area of American life, from education to business to government. This will be explored when Amalie Hofer’s career is reviewed in an upcoming post.
Amalie’s father was Andreas Franz Xaver Hofer, born in 1821 in Baden, a historical territory in south Germany and north Switzerland. He took part in the unsuccessful Baden Revolution of 1848 – 49, an attempt to overthrow the ruling princes. Forced to flee the country, he came to New York City in 1849.
His future wife, Mari Ruef, was born in 1836 in Baden, and came to New York in 1852. There she met Hofer and they married in 1853. Hofer died in 1904 and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery on the Ridge. Mari moved to California where she died in 1918. Hofer’s remains were then brought from Chicago to California to be buried with her.
The Hofers moved to Iowa from New York. Hofer fought with the Iowa Infantry of the Union Army in the Civil War. They became naturalized citizens of the U.S.
The Hofers were farmers and dry goods merchants in McGregor, Iowa. Hofer became known as a local expert on cultivating grapes and was active in the Iowa State Horticulture Society. They purchased a local newspaper, the McGregor News, which they ran for many years. The family was well known in the community.
Hofer‘s philosophy for the newspaper was “closely identified with the interests of the people and with successful government,” according to an article written in 1904 by his sons. He was involved in local politics and a leader of the temperance movement. Many of the beer breweries in the U.S were owned by German immigrants, and the newspapers made note of the divide in the German community over the alcohol issue. Hofer wrote temperance tracts in the German language which were published by the German National Temperance Association.
He used the newspaper to advance his platforms and this did not always go over well with the subjects of his commentaries. In one court case that was followed closely by the public, the newspaper and its publishers, A. F. Hofer and Sons, were sued for $5,000 by a saloon keeper claiming the paper had damaged his character. The paper had accused the saloon keeper of keeping a gambling house. The saloon keeper was backed by the local liquor league. The case went to court, and the Hofers won the case – the charges against the saloon keeper were “fully sustained.”
The Hofers had eight children, five daughters and three sons. They were mostly self-educated, and as youths were all involved with the newspaper, leading to careers that included writing, editing, and publishing.
The family sold the McGregor News in 1890. By then, the sons, Ernest (1855-1934), Frank Xaver (1856-1905), and Andreas F., Jr., (1861-1913), who made the newspaper and publishing industries their lifetime careers, had moved to Salem, Oregon. “E.” and “A. F.” took over the Capital Journal, an evening paper. Ernest later ran the Industrial News Review, which advocated for “policies essential to the well-being of our country.” Frank owned half of one newspaper and was the founder of another.
In the 1890s, Mr. and Mrs. Hofer moved to Chicago from Iowa. They settled on the Ridge at 1833 W. 96th Street. In Chicago, they were surrounded by their daughters, who were educators and social activists.
Next post: The Kindergarten Movement and the Hofer sisters
Photograph: Andreas Franz and Mari Hofer and their eight children. User-submitted on Ancestry.com.
The First Chicago Christmas Tree and the Ridge –
Part 2 – The Kindergarten Movement and the Hofer Sisters
Amalie Hofer Jerome, from the Hofer family who lived on the Ridge, was an honorary vice president for the lighting ceremony for the first Chicago municipal Christmas tree displayed in 1913.
The Hofer family had three sons and five daughters.
The sons were mentioned in the previous post. The family had owned a newspaper in Iowa, and the sons all moved to Oregon and stayed in the newspaper and publishing business.
The five daughters in the family all went into education, writing and publishing, and social reform work. They were leaders in establishing kindergartens and training programs for kindergarten teachers. They were covered in a 2013 RHS newsletter, and those pages are presented here in jpeg form. A PDF version is also available that can be sent by Messenger upon request.
Next post: Amalie Hofer Jerome and the Civic Music Association
The First Chicago Christmas Tree and the Ridge –
Part 3 – Amalie Hofer Jerome and the Civic Music Association
Amalie Hofer Jerome came from a distinguished family of educators, writers, musicians, and publishers that lived and ran a school on the Ridge. She was an honorary vice-president for the lighting of the first Chicago Christmas tree.
Amalie was born in 1863, the sixth of the eight Hofer children, the third of the five girls who all went into education and social reform. She was raised in McGregor, Iowa, and attended McGregor High School. Amalie had training as a kindergarten teacher with Elizabeth Harrison, a pioneer in early childhood education who established programs in Iowa and Chicago.
Amalie and her sisters became leaders in the kindergarten movement, which was covered in the previous post. She was the editor and publisher of the Kindergarten Magazine, the leading publication of the movement, and other related publications.
Moving to Chicago, she was involved in the kindergarten-training schools her sisters established, including serving as principal.
Her work with the kindergartens led her to become involved with many more causes.
This was the era of “settlement houses,” made most famous by Jane Addams’ Hull House in Chicago. These were institutions of the “Progressive reform era” in which social workers, clergy, educators, and other concerned people came together, often living together in the institution, to offer services to the poor, new immigrants, and others in need. They usually started with outreach to mothers and children, and established day care services, kindergartens, and playgrounds; English lessons; household training; and arts and crafts.
Amalie married Frank Jerome, a furniture merchant, in 1909. For several years, she was head resident of Fellowship House Social Settlement at 831 West 33rd Street, established in 1895. She resigned in 1916, but still stayed on the board, managing the settlement house activities.
Amalie was a founder of the International Kindergarten Union and the Playground Association of America. She traveled the world studying kindergartens and childhood education, and wrote articles and gave talks on the topics around the country.
In 1913, Amalie was a founder of the Civic Music Association in Chicago. For several years, free concerts had been given in the field houses of the city’s parks by notable musicians, and the time had come to organize the activities. As a leader of the Playground Association and also of the Chicago Woman’s Club, Amalie had been instrumental in arranging the concerts. She now took on the role of chairman of the executive committee of the new organization. Numerous groups, such as the Northwestern University choir and the Illinois Theater orchestra, provided free concerts in the parks.
Although she was recognized throughout Chicago for her many accomplishments, it was in her role as a leader of the Civic Music Association that Amalie was named one of the fifty-plus honorary vice-presidents for the lighting ceremony for Chicago’s first municipal Christmas tree.
Next post: Chicago’s First Christmas Tree
Ridge Historical Society
The First Chicago Christmas Tree – Part 4
By Carol Flynn
Chicago displayed its first municipal Christmas tree in 1913. This was the first time a giant tree lit with electric bulbs was displayed in a public space for everyone in the Chicagoland area to enjoy. A lavish lighting ceremony was held on Christmas Eve.
New York City displayed the first municipal tree in 1912, and Chicago, Boston, and other cities followed the next year. In Chicago, the Municipal Christmas Festival Association was formed to plan and manage the activities. The honorary president was Mayor Carter H. Harrison. There were over fifty honorary vice-presidents representing business and industry, civic associations, churches, newspapers, welfare and social agencies, and education. Amalie Hofer Jerome, from the Hofer family on the Ridge, represented the Civic Music Association. Artists including the famous sculptor Lorado Taft donated their design talent to create the display.
The tree was set up off of Michigan Avenue, just north of the Art Institute on land considered part of Grant Park then.
The tree was created from a 35-foot Douglas spruce mounted on a 40- foot base, covered by smaller trees, topped with a star of Bethlehem. The trees were donated by Frederick A. Jordan, of Roselawn, Michigan. He was the partner of the late Captain Herman Schuenemann, whose “Christmas Tree Ship” had gone down in Lake Michigan the year before while bringing trees to Chicago.
The tree was set in a 25-foot-tall arcade composed of arches and smaller Christmas trees, all lit with colored lights. Commonwealth Edison supplied the lights for the tree and arcade. Steam train engines from the Illinois Central Railroad were behind the arcades, blowing steam to create a special effect of fog. The tree was doused with water and frozen first, then slowly lit for a dramatic, icy effect.
A hospital station with volunteer doctors and nurses was set up to deal with injuries and lost children.
The lighting event on December 24th was almost curtailed by a blizzard earlier in the day. The streets were impassable and local transportation was impeded. Thousands of men poured out from lodging houses to help clear the snow – there was not enough work for all of those who showed up to help. The snow was soon cleared, and the event was able to go on as planned.
Thousands of free train tickets were made available for children so that families could come to the event, and over 100,000 people showed up.
The lighting ceremony started with a parade down Michigan Avenue, which included the police force and mounted Illinois National Guard cavalry. Speeches, and musical performances from a variety of sources, including the Chicago Grand Opera Company, followed, broadcast through huge megaphones. Motion pictures for children, mostly public safety features, were shown on a huge screen near the Art Institute.
Mayor Harrison pushed the button to illuminate the tree around 6:15 p.m., and the crowd gave out “lusty cheers.” The mayor’s speech was included in the record for the City Council. He stated that he hoped this would inaugurate a long series of celebrations for the city, and that the lights may serve as an inspiration to charity, the greatest of all virtues.
The festivities went on for several hours. There were a few minor glitches – the train engines, promised to be silent, were not, and drowned out some of the performances. The star of the opera who was promoted for the event was a no-show. Children were confused about the identity of Mayor Harrison – he was not fat enough to be Santa Claus.
The program was completed with the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner.
The police had assigned 250 men to detail the event. The officer in charge declared the crowd to be the “biggest, happiest, most cheerful, best and easiest handled” crowd he had seen.
The tree was illuminated nightly until the New Year.
The great success of this first tree led to the tradition that has now been going on for 108 years.
Image: The first Chicago Christmas Tree, 1913.
Next post: Some background information on early electrical technology in the City of Chicago.
New Year’s Eve, 1921
What was happening on the Ridge one hundred years ago? To answer that question, RHS turned to its old friend, the news correspondent from the Ridge for the Englewood Times back then, Pauline Palmer.
And according to Mrs. Palmer, Mrs. George Gale of 2325 W. 108th Place held a “watch night party on New Year’s Eve.”
A little research revealed that Mrs. Gale was the former Alma Demers, born in Canada in 1878. George Gale was born in Illinois in 1872 and was an inspector at the stockyards.
A little more research revealed that “watching the old year out” was the general theme of New Year events back then, as opposed to welcoming in the New Year as is done today.
The custom was to open the front door at the stroke of midnight so the old year could exit and join all the years of the past, and the “baby new year” could enter and begin its life. The guests would form a circle and sing “Auld Lang Syne.”
Although we don’t know the exact details of the Gales’ New Year’s Eve party in 1921, some clues as to what they might have done can be found in “Novel Entertainment for Every Day in the Year” written by Ellye Howell Glover, published in 1921.
A suggested menu was a “Jack Frost” dinner, composed of raw oysters on ice, cream of corn soup with whipped cream on top, turkey cutlets, mashed potatoes, cauliflower in ramekins, fruit salad in white chrysanthemums, vanilla pudding and cakes rolled in coconut. Obviously, the theme was white food!
A recommended table decoration also included party favors. The top of an evergreen tree (suggested was the top of that year’s Christmas tree) could be turned into a “New Year’s wish tree.” For each guest, a tiny envelope attached to a gilded wishbone could contain a personal good wish from the hostess to the guest, or a suitable quotation. A variation could be little boxes filled with good luck talismans.
After supper, the evening was filled with games and dancing.
There was also “Dennison’s Christmas Book” of 1921 that included ideas for New Year celebrations.
Dennison books were a great source for party planning for several holidays – the company had “Bogie” books for Halloween, also. Every year, the books contained new ideas for party themes (such as “Sailing into the New Year”), decorations, games, and party favors. Of course, the books also served as catalogs for Dennison’s line of products, which included a variety of crepe paper decorations.
Prohibition had started the year before with the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution which banned the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The consumption of alcohol was never illegal under federal law; the issue would have been procuring it legally.
Happy New Year from the Ridge Historical Society.
The Ridge Connection to the Rose Bowl
On January 1, 1890, the Valley Hunt Club, a private social club in Pasadena, California, held a parade. The purpose was to showcase the wonderful climate and living opportunities in Pasadena while cities in the north – like Chicago and New York – were buried in snow. Many of the residents of Pasadena had relocated from the Midwest and East coast.
The parade featured horse-drawn carriages covered in flowers, followed by foot races, polo matches, and a tug of war in the “town lot.” About 2000 people attended. Because of the abundance of flowers, it was decided to call the parade the “Tournament of Roses.”
The parade became an annual event and grew in size. Marching bands and ostrich races, automobile floats and bronco busting all became part of the festivities. The town lot was renamed “Tournament Park.”
In 1902, to offset the costs of the parade, a special football game was held following the parade. By then, the parade was attracting national attention. The University of Michigan football team was having a stellar year with a record of 11 – 0, scoring a total of 501 – 0 points, and was invited for an all-expenses-paid trip to Pasadena to play against Stanford University of Stanford, California.
The game was billed as the Tournament East-West Football Game. Admission was $.50 to $1.00. About 8,500 people attended the game. Stanford was no match for Michigan and even asked to end the game early. Michigan won 49-0. This was the first Rose Bowl game, the first post-season “bowl” game ever.
And the connection to the Ridge: On that Michigan team was Herbert Graver, the man who would build the Graver-Driscoll House at 10621 S. Seeley Avenue that is now owned by and serves as headquarters for the Ridge Historical Society.
Herbert Spencer Graver, Sr., was born in 1880 in Pennsylvania, the sixth of seven children of William and Christina Penman Graver. William Graver started the Graver Tank Works in 1858 to craft metal tanks to store oil. The business relocated to East Chicago in the 1880s.
After graduation, Herbert worked for one year as a college coach but then joined the family business. All five Graver sons were employed with the Graver Tank and Manufacturing Company and held officer positions. Herbert served as corporate secretary.
Herbert married Anna T. Thorne in 1910 and they had one son, Herbert S., Jr.
In the early 1900s, the five Graver sons all moved to the Beverly/Morgan Park area. Herbert built his house on the Ridge with entrances on Longwood Drive and Seeley Avenue in 1921-22. The Tudor Revival-style manor house was designed by the noted architect, John Todd Hetherington.
Herbert was a sports celebrity and occasionally made public appearances as one of the original Rose Bowl players. He enjoyed sports his entire life, and in fact, in 1954, he suffered a fatal heart attack while watching wrestling matches at the International Amphitheater. At the time of his death, he was still the sales manager for the family company. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.
The Ridge Historical Society was founded in 1971. The plans for the 100th anniversary of the Graver-Driscoll House and the 50th anniversary of RHS were put on hold last year because of the COVID pandemic. The plan is to celebrate this year so stay tuned for further announcements and more historical information on the Gravers, the house, Hetherington, and RHS.
History of the Chicago Wards – Post 7Isaiah T. Greenacre
Washington Heights, which included the land from Western Avenue east between 95th Street and 107th Street (today’s Beverly), and the unincorporated land north of 95th Street to 87th Street (today’s North Beverly), were annexed to the city of Chicago in 1890, and became part of the 31st ward in 1891.
Isaiah Thomas Greenacre was the first man who lived in Washington Heights to be elected to serve as alderman for the 31st ward. He served for one term, from 1895 to 1897.
It’s appropriate to take a detour from exploring the history of the wards on the Ridge to take a look at Greenacre. He grew up in the community and became thoroughly immersed in its workings. There were likely few people who knew more about the community than he did.
Being an alderman was just one brief accomplishment for Greenacre. This man, a product of this community, had a lasting impact on the entire country.
Isaiah Thomas Greenacre was born in 1863 in Illinois. His father was Isaiah Greenacre and his mother was Lucinda Young Greenacre. The son always went by Isaiah T. or I. T. Greenacre.
The original Isaiah Greenacre, the father, was born in England in 1828 and came to the U.S. in 1852. He and Lucinda Young from Kilkenny, Ireland, born in 1831, married in New York in 1853, and moved to Chicago. On the 1860 U.S. Census, they were listed as living in Chicago ward six, which was centered around Van Buren and Jefferson Streets. Greenacre’s occupation was given as carpenter.
The birth of one child, Isaiah Thomas, was recorded, in Will County in 1863.
On the 1870 U.S. Census, the family is reported as living in Chicago ward 15, which was north of Chicago Avenue and west of the Chicago River. Greenacre also shows up on the census that year in Escanaba, Michigan, living with other carpenters and engineers with the Bushnell family, owners of a “brandy house.” He was perhaps there on a job.
By 1874, the family had moved to the southside closer to the Ridge. That year, the residents voted to incorporate as the Village of Washington Heights, and Greenacre was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees. The area was experiencing substantial growth as people left the city for the suburbs after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, and the railroads made the area more accessible.
Greenacre usually served as president pro tem of the Board when the president, the Rev. D.S. Heffron of the Bethany Union Church, could not be in attendance. The trustees dealt with all aspects of the new, growing village, including installing sewers and sidewalks; grading and graveling streets; approving new developments; building schools; establishing a police force; determining assessments for improvements; and appropriating funds for salaries and other expenses. One line item was for $150 for the “village calaboose,” the jail.
Issues with the railroads that ran through the area were dealt with, such as removing old tracks so streets could be extended, and cleaning out and covering a well on railroad property and turning it over to the village for use by the residents.
Everyday life was the business of the Board of Trustees. Liquor licenses were granted in the beginning years of the village and there were saloons to regulate. Other issues included everything from the benign such as strawberry festivals at local churches, and residents securing their cows so they did not wander the village streets, to the more sinister such as an increase in home burglaries. Dealing with the throngs of people who came to the community by train on Sundays to picnic and party in the scenic wooded groves of the Ridge was a constant challenge. There were disturbing occurrences, including the accidental shooting and killing of a woman during one July 4th revelry in the local woods.
This was the world in which Isaiah T. Greenacre grew up. By 1884 at the age of 21, he was already involved in politics and practicing law.
The Greenacre parents moved to California in 1892. Isaiah died in 1897, and Lucinda in 1901. Their remains were returned to Chicago for burial in Mount Hope Cemetery on 115th Street.
Next post: The life and career of Isaiah T. Greenacre.