THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1899.

FETE OF THE PIONEERS

TENTH REUNION OF CHICAGO OLD SETTLERS AT THE SHERMAN

Many men and Women Who Have Lived in This City for Fifty Years or More are Present – Fernando Jones Celebrates His Seventy-ninth Anniversary – The Speakers - Election of Officers – The Guests – Report of the Necrologist.

For the tenth time the Society of Chicago Pioneers met at the Sherman House last night and dined and listened to stories and reminiscences. Over 150 old settlers were present. No one who has resided less than 50 years in Chicago is eligible to membership. Of those who were present several had lived in Chicago since it had been a city, and when the scenes of old Fort Dearborn were displayed several others declared they remembered the old fort as well as their own names. The occasion also was the seventy-ninth birthday of Fernando Jones.

It seems as if there never was such an assembly of “first men” as were gathered in the parlors of the Sherman House, for hardly one of the old settlers was there who could not claim to have been the first in some enterprise. Alex Beaublen, the first white child to be born in Chicago; Mrs. Mary Clyburne, the fist white woman, now living, to reside here; Charles Raney Van Der Cook, the first man to open a hardware store; Lewis Isbell, the first colored barber in Clark Street; Ferdinand Link, the first carriage maker; John Anderson, the oldest editor; and Fernando Jones himself, the first authority on the old days.

Pioneers Play Before Meat

The pioneers commenced to gather early in the evening, and fully three hours were spent in conversation before they sat down to the banquet. Stories were exchanged and flirtations was rife between swains of 80 and maidens of 70, and some of the more sedate were horrified when a couple of the pioneers danced in the corridors of the hotel. Some interesting stories were told of the old days, and the map of Chicago in 1840, which was spread on the table, was the cause of many tales by those who remembered the streets and the town as they were in those days.

Fernando Jones was the central figure of the gathering and received many congratulations on his anniversary. In reply to the wishes that he might live to see many more he declared he had joined the 100-year club, and as he would forfeit his membership if he did not live to be 100 years old he was certain to do so.

No regular toast list had been prepared, and the absence of ex-Judge H. W. Blodgett, who was expected to deliver an address, was a disappointment. Informal addresses were made by ex-Judge Bradwell, Vice President of the association; Fernando Jones, James Wadsworth, and several others.

In the course of this speech ex-Judge Bradwell introduced Lewis Isbell, who he said had stolen more slaves from their masters than any other man now living, and as President of the underground railway in Chicago has shown many slaves the way to freedom. The old colored man was greeted with applause.

After the banquet scenes from the old days were thrown on the canvas and the guests sang “America.”

Election of Officers.

The election of officers resulted as follows:

President – Henry W. Blodgett.

Vice Presidents – Fernando Jones, James B. Bradwell.

Treasurer – Jacob Rehm.

Recording Secretary – George H. Fergus.

Corresponding Secretary – Charles J. Haines.

Directors – H. W. Blodgett, Fernando Jones, Redmond Prindiville, James B. Bradwell,

Albert G. Lane, Jacob Rehm, D. G. Hamilton, Cornellus Price, Henry H. Handy.

Among the Pioneers.

The old settles of the banquet and the dates of their arrival in Chicago were:

Alex Beaublen, ’22 Mrs. A. Beaublen, ‘42

Mary A. Clybourne, ’23 A. H. Haight, ‘43

J. H. Bradwell, ’32 M. A. Haight, ‘43

F. M. Barker, ’34 Mrs. L. D. Perry, ‘43

Mrs. M. C. Ingalls, ’34 D. H. Hammer, ‘43

W. H. Adams, ’34 Mrs. J. Dysanforth, ‘43

L. D. Taylor, ’34 Mrs. C. D. Daggitt, ‘43

F. A. Howe, 34 Mrs. M. A. Mitchell, ‘43

Fernando Jones, ’35 Mrs. S. B. Short, ‘43

W. H. Whitehead, ’35 Mrs. J. F. Eberhart, ‘43

D. E. Healy, ’53 Mrs. E. Beardsley, ‘44

N. Lay, ’35 D. J. Lake, ‘44

Mrs. E. Adams, ’35 F. H. Waite, ‘44

Mrs. H. E. Sayre, ’35 J. Clark, ‘44

Martha E. Sherman, ’36 J. B. Fergus, ‘44

Mrs. E. P. Furbeck, ‘36 B. F. Chase, ‘45

F. T. Haines, ’36 J. Anderson, ‘45

G. S. Wheeler, ’36 J. Wadsworth, ‘45

A. Price, ’36 P. Cornell, ‘45

Mrs. J. Peacock, ’36 Mrs. M. B. Safford, ‘45

J. Prindiville, ’36 Mrs. M. Crowe, ‘45

R. Prindiville, ’36 Mrs. W. E. Waite, ‘45

P Warden, ’36 J. N. Black, ‘45

G. S. Kimberly, ’37 H. W. Hinsdale, ‘45

C. D. Hill, ’37 W. Sollitt, ‘45

J. Rehm, ’38 Mrs. W. Sollitt, ‘45

A. C. Ellithorpe, ’38 J. N. Barker, ‘45

H. H. Yates, ’38 A. J. Haugh, ‘46

W. S. Elderbrooke, ’38 Mrs. H. L. Pearce, ‘47

Mrs. R. S. Warner, ’38 Mrs. J. L. Pearce, ‘47

C. R. Van der Cook, ’38 B. F. Monroe, ‘47

L. Isbell, ’38 Mrs. J. M. Wall, ‘47

C. D. Peacock, ’38 M. Kearns, ‘47

N. Buschwalt, ’39 C. J. Haines, ‘47

Mrs. M. F. Dennis, ’39 Mrs. G. J. Hess, ‘48

Mrs. J. Clark, ’39 J. D. Parker, ‘48

P. F. Roflnit, ’40 C. S. Page, ‘48

C. R. Haderty, ’40 Mrs. G. H. Fergus, ‘48

Mrs. Z. Eastman, ’40 M. Walt, ‘48

Mrs. L. P. Pinney, ’40 C. L. Boyd, ‘49

Mrs. F. A. Winkelman, ’40 Miss F. A. Speer, ‘49

Mrs. M. Link, ’40 Mrs. W. Clingman, ‘49

C. W. Waite, ’40 J. S. Price, ‘49

Harriett A. Buschwalt, ’41 W. E. Mortimer, ‘49

A. E. Ebert, ’41 G. S. Bowen, ‘49

B. W. Thomas, ’41 F. W. Smith, ‘49

Mary E. Allen, ’41 Mrs. H. W. Hinsdale, ‘49

N. G. Watson, ’42 Mrs. J. Rowntree, ‘49

Guests present, who came to Chicago in 1850 or later were:

S. C. Eastman, ’50 Mrs. L. Pearce, ‘52

H. H. Handy, ’50 Mrs. C. R. Haderty, ‘52

Mrs. C. F. Babcock, ’50 F. A. Winkleman, ‘52

F. Link, ’50 J. Duncan, ‘53

W. Lowe, 51 J. F. Eberhardt, ‘55

J. L. Pearce, ’51 Mrs. A. D. Peacock, ‘55

Mrs. W. E. Mortimer, ’51 Mrs. A. M. Titus, ‘58

G. W. Newcomb, ‘52

Report of the Necrologist.

James b. Bradwell made the report of the necrologist. He said that during the last year more than fifty men and women who came to Chicago more than half a century ago have passed away. Among them were:

Mrs. Elizabeth Lorch J. J. Boggs

John O’Conner Phoebe Ann Norton

Mrs. L. M. Hubbard Maria Clark

Mrs. Margaret Robinson Devillo R. Holt

O.A. Crain James A. Sexton

A. A. Munger Dr. T. S. Hoyne

Mrs. Elizabeth Fuller David Bradley

Rev. Luke Hitchcock Mrs. Caroline J.Mills

Geoarge M. High John McNally

Mrs. H. E. Henderson J. H. B. Daly

J. J. Philbin William Blair.

Ferdinand Link, Chicago Pioneer