Timothy Blackstone

Last updated

Timothy Blackstone
Timothy.B.Blackstone.png
Mayor of La Salle, Illinois
In office
1854–1855
Personal details
Born(1829-03-28)March 28, 1829
Branford, Connecticut
DiedMay 26, 1900(1900-05-26) (aged 71)
Chicago, Illinois
Spouse(s)Isabella Farnsworth Norton
ResidenceChicago, Illinois

Timothy Beach Blackstone (March 28, 1829 – May 26, 1900) was an American railroad executive, businessman, philanthropist, and politician. He is descended from William Blaxton, an early settler of New England. He worked in the railroad industry for most of his life after dropping out of school. At the time of his death, his estate was worth US$6 million ($186.6 million today).

Contents

Blackstone served as president of the Chicago and Alton Railroad from 1864 through 1899, was a founding president of the Union Stock Yards, and served one term as mayor of La Salle, Illinois. He was the benefactor of the James Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford, Connecticut, and his widow donated the Blackstone Memorial Library to the Chicago Public Library in 1902, the first dedicated branch of the Chicago Public Library system. [1] The Blackstones also funded Blackstone Hall for the Art Institute of Chicago Building, [2] and his mansion became the site of the Blackstone Hotel and the Blackstone Theatre.

Early life

Blackstone was born in Branford, Connecticut, the sixth child, and fourth son, of James Blackstone and Sarah Beach. His father, James, served in the Connecticut Senate representing the sixth district. [3] James had also served in the Connecticut House of Representatives and the Connecticut militia. [4] The family is descended from William Blaxton, an English settler who arrived in New England in the seventeenth century and became the first European settler in Rhode Island. [3] William Blackstone, an English judge and jurist, is a distant cousin. [3]

Health issues caused Blackstone to drop out of school in 1847, and he began working for Roswell B. Mason, surveying the New York and New Haven Railroad (NY&NH). He only worked on the NY&NH for a year before becoming an assistant engineer on the Stockbridge and Pittsfield Railroad. [5] Again, he only remained with the firm a short time before leaving for the Vermont Valley Railroad. In 1851, Roswell invited Blackstone to supervise construction of the Illinois Central Railroad between Bloomington and Dixon, Illinois. [6] Blackstone accepted the job and moved to La Salle, Illinois. [3]

Career and life

Blackstone was elected mayor of LaSalle in 1854 and served a single term, his only foray into politics. After leaving office, he returned to working on railroads, first as chief engineer of the Joliet and Chicago Railroad, which would eventually become the Chicago and Alton Railroad. [3] Blackstone became president of the Joliet and Chicago Railroad in 1861, [3] and he kept the line solvent while other divisions were filing for bankruptcy. When the system was reorganized, he was named president of the board of directors for the company, serving with John Drake. [7] Although Blackstone served with the Alton Railroad for more than a quarter century, he refused a salary. When the directors voted to pay him $10,000 per year, he turned it down. [8] In addition to his employment and activities with the railroads, Blackstone was the first president of the company that controlled the Union Stock Yards. [9]

Although Blackstone had refused a salary from the railroad, he was an investor in it. In 1899, a competing group of investors headed by E. H. Harriman wanted to purchase the Alton Railroad but Blackstone disapproved of the sale. After many months of wrangling, Blackstone transferred all of his stock in the company to the United States Trust Company and resigned as president, effective April 1, 1899. This action allowed the Harriman-led group to assume control of the line. [10]

In 1868, Blackstone married Isabella Farnsworth Norton, the daughter of a successful businessman from Norwich, Connecticut. [11] Blackstone died of pneumonia on May 26, 1900, in Chicago, Illinois. His funeral was held at the Second Presbyterian Church and was then transported to Norwich, Connecticut for burial. [8]

Blackstone Mansion

Blackstone built a 19th-century mansion for himself at 252 Michigan Avenue in Chicago in what is now the Historic Michigan Boulevard District. [8] The property later became the site of the Blackstone Hotel and the Blackstone Theatre. [7] Following the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, he invited his friend John Crerar to stay with him, which Crerar did for twelve years. Crerar donated the John Crerar Library and Blackstone continued to donate funds toward the maintenance of the building throughout his life. The Crerar Library has now merged with the University of Chicago. [12]

Bequests

Plaque by William Couper at Blackstone Library Timothy Blackstone Library Plaque.jpg
Plaque by William Couper at Blackstone Library

Blackstone donated a library of 5,000 books and a building to the city of Branford, Connecticut with the only stipulation that it be named in honor of his father. A charter was devised for the library by the Connecticut State Legislature vesting control of the library in a self-perpetuating board of trustees consisting of six residents of Branford and the librarian of Yale University. [14] The building was designed by Chicago architect Solon Spencer Beman. [14] The library was constructed from 189396. [15]

In 1904, Isabella Blackstone donated the T.B. Blackstone Memorial Branch Library to the city of Chicago. Located at the intersection of Blackstone Avenue, Lake Park Avenue, and Forty-Ninth Street, the library is modeled after the James Blackstone Library in Branford, Connecticut. Blackstone Avenue running along the 1436 east block from 4900 south (starting behind Blackstone Library) to 10350 south is named after him. [6]

Also, the Blackstone's funded Blackstone Hall in the Art Institute of Chicago Building. The two-story ground level gallery was added next to the east wall of the original building for display of architectural and sculptural casts. [2]

The New York Times published details of his will. When Blackstone died, his will directed the disposition of his assets that amounted to US$6 million ($186.6 million today). Of that total, $375,000 was bequeathed to relatives and $250,000 to public institutions (Chicago Art Institute, Chicago Orphan Asylum, Home for the Friendless at Chicago, St. Luke's Hospital, Passavant Memorial Hospital, Chicago Relief and Aid Society, $25,000 each and James Blackstone Memorial Library Association, $100,000). The remainder went to his widow. [16] Blackstone was also a close associate of his cousin, William Eugene Blackstone.

Related Research Articles

Branford, Connecticut Town in Connecticut, United States

Branford is an affluent shoreline town located on Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, about 6 miles (10 km) east of downtown New Haven. The population was 28,273 at the 2020 census.

Branford Center, Connecticut United States historic place

Branford Center is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Branford, Connecticut, United States. The CDP encompasses the traditional town center area and the area known as Branford Point. The population of the CDP was 5,819 at the 2010 census.

Blackstone may refer to:

James Gamble Rogers American architect

James Gamble Rogers was an American architect. He is best known for his academic commissions at Yale University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and elsewhere.

Alton Railroad

The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad, was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 and was controlled until 1942 when the Alton was released to the courts. On May 31, 1947, the Alton Railroad was merged into the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Jacob Bunn had been one of the founding reorganizers of the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company during the 1860s.

The Blackstone Hotel Historic hotel in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States

The Blackstone Hotel is a historic 290-foot (88 m) 21-story hotel on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Balbo Drive in the Michigan Boulevard Historic District in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Built between 1908 and 1910, it is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Blackstone is famous for hosting celebrity guests, including numerous U.S. presidents, for which it was known as the "Hotel of Presidents" for much of the 20th century, and for contributing the term "smoke-filled room" to political parlance.

William Blaxton

Reverend William Blaxton was an early English settler in New England and the first European settler of Boston and Rhode Island.

Solon Spencer Beman American architect

Solon Spencer Beman was an American architect based in Chicago, Illinois and best known as the architect of the planned Pullman community and adjacent Pullman Company factory complex. Several of his other largest commissions, including the Pullman Office Building, Pabst Building, and Grand Central Station in Chicago, have since been demolished. Beman designed numerous Christian Science churches and influenced the design of countless more.

Blackstone Library Library and building in the Chicago Public Library system in the United States

T. B. Blackstone Memorial Library is a building that is part of the Chicago Public Library System and is named after Timothy Blackstone. The building was designed by Chicago architect Solon S. Beman. It is now known as the Chicago Public Library – Blackstone Branch and commonly referred to as Blackstone Library, or Blackstone Branch and sometimes Blackstone for short. The Concord Granite building's two-year construction started in 1902, and it was dedicated on January 8, 1904. Blackstone Library marks the beginning of the Chicago Branch Library System as the first dedicated branch in the system. Blackstone is also the only branch of the 79-branch Chicago Public Library branch system that was constructed using private funding. The Blackstone Library was designated as a Chicago Landmark.

John Crerar (industrialist)

John Chippewa Crerar was a wealthy American industrialist and businessman from Chicago whose investments were primarily in the railroad industry. Although he had a successful business career he is most well known for his philanthropic efforts, his activism in the Presbyterian Church, and his investment in the John Crerar Library.

Sunbury Township, Livingston County, Illinois Township in Illinois, United States

Sunbury Township is located in Livingston County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 229 and it contained 103 housing units.

Art Institute of Chicago Building

The Art Institute of Chicago Building houses the Art Institute of Chicago, and is part of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The building is located in Grant Park on the east side of Michigan Avenue, and marks the third address for the Art Institute. The main building was built for the joint purpose of providing an additional facility for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and subsequently the Art Institute. The core of the current complex, located opposite Adams Street, officially opened to the public on December 8, 1893, and was renamed the Allerton Building in 1968.

Worthy S. Streator

Worthy Stevens Streator was an American physician, railroad developer, industrialist and entrepreneur after whom the city of Streator, Illinois is named. He was instrumental in the creation of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway in Ohio, was president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) and financed the first large-scale coal mine operation in Northern Illinois in 1866. He served as an Ohio State Senator in 1869, and was the first mayor of East Cleveland, Ohio. He was an influential in the development of many civic institutions in his home city of Cleveland, Ohio. He co-founded the Christian Standard magazine, he was an original endower of Case School of Applied Science and was a principal in the creation of the James A. Garfield Monument; the first true mausoleum created in the United States in honor of President James A. Garfield. He was a pallbearer at President Garfield's funeral in 1881.

Blackstone, Illinois Unincorporated community in Illinois, United States

Blackstone is an unincorporated community in section 7 of Sunbury Township, Livingston County, Illinois, United States. Blackstone is 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Streator and 13 miles (21 km) west of Dwight, Illinois. Blackstone has a post office with ZIP code 61313. It is part of the geographic region known as Streatorland.

John Crerar Library

The John Crerar Library is a research library, which after a long history of independent operations, is now operated by the University of Chicago. Throughout its history, the library's technology resources have made it popular with Chicago-area business and industry. Though privately owned and operated, the library continues to provide free access to the public for the purpose of conducting research in science, medicine and technology.

<i>Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State</i>

Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State is a 9-foot (2.7 m) tall bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln in Grant Park, in Chicago. Created by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and completed by his workshop in 1908, it was intended by the artist to evoke the loneliness and burden of command felt by Lincoln during his presidency. The sculpture depicts a contemplative Lincoln seated in a chair, and gazing down into the distance. The sculpture is set upon a pedestal and a 150-foot (46 m) wide exedra designed by architect Stanford White.

James Blackstone Memorial Library

James Blackstone Memorial Library is a public library located in Branford, Connecticut. It is commonly referred to as the Blackstone Library or the Branford Library. The library was commissioned by Timothy Blackstone as a memorial to his father, James Blackstone. It was designed by Chicago architect Solon Spencer Beman. Construction on the building began in 1893 and was completed in 1896. The building was dedicated on June 17, 1896.

Morton Freeman Plant was a United States financier.

D. Everett Waid

Dan Everett Waid (1864–1939) was a prominent 20th century architect operating primarily in Illinois and New York. As chief architect for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, he and his partner designed the Home Office Building at 11 Madison Avenue along with dozens of other commercial, religious, residential and academic structures. He was appointed architect for the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. He was also President of the American Institute of Architects (1924–1926).

References

  1. "Blackstone: About this Library". Chicago Public Library. Archived from the original on March 18, 2009. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies", The Art Institute of Chicago Buildings 1879-1988: A Chronology, 14, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1988, p. 10, ISBN   0-226-02813-5
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ida Hinman. "Biography of Timothy B. Blackstone." Methodist Book Concern Press, 1917.
  4. Borgemeister, Peter. "Branford's James Blackstone Memorial Library". Town of Branford. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  5. Hinman, Ida (1917). Biography of Timothy B. Blackstone. Methodist Book Concern Press. pp.  15–17.
  6. 1 2 Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee, Streetwise Chicago, "Blackstone Avenue", p. 12, Loyola University Press, 1988, ISBN   0-8294-0597-6
  7. 1 2 Berger, Miles L., They Built Chicago: Entrepreneurs Who Shaped a Great City's Architecture, Bonus Books, Inc., Chicago, 1992, p. 155., ISBN   0-929387-76-7.
  8. 1 2 3 "T.B. Blackstone. Former Alton President. T.B. Blackstone Is Dead". Chicago Daily Tribune . May 27, 1900. p. 6.
  9. Peggy Sullivan, "Naming the Branches," Journal of the Caxton Club, June 2006, p.1.
  10. "Blackstone Gives It Up". Chicago Daily Tribune . March 31, 1899. p. 3.
  11. Hill, Everett Gleason (1918). A modern history of New Haven and eastern New Haven County. S.J. Clarke. p. 720.
  12. "About the John Crerar Library". June 24, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  13. Couper, Greta Elena, ‘’An American Sculptor on the grand Tour: The Life and Works of William Couper (1853-1942) TreCavalli Press, Los Angeles, California, 1988 p. 101
  14. 1 2 "History of the James Blackstone Memorial Library". James Blackstone Memorial Library. Retrieved February 16, 2007.
  15. "tory of the James Blackstone Memorial Library". James Blackstone Memorial Library. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  16. "Will Of Timothy B. Blackstone; Chicago Railway Magnate Bequeathed $250,000 to Public Institutions" (PDF). The New York Times . July 19, 1900. p. 9. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
Preceded by
None
President of Chicago and Alton Railroad
1864 1899
Succeeded by