CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRA

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CORNELL
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME
OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT
FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY

HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE

 
 
 

 
MEMORTAL. 3 Ee a

OF

MARK SKINNER.

September 13, 1813—September 16, 1887.

*

READ BEFORE THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY, DEC, 13, 1887

BY

El wi? BLATCHFORD.

CHICAGO:
FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY.
| 1888.

V7,
 
MARK SKINNER.

f ARK SKINNER was born at Manchester, Vermont,
September 13, 1813.

His father, Richard Skinner, one of the prominent men
of New England in his day, was born in 1778 at Litch-
field, Conn., at whose celebrated law-school he was edu-
cated, and where he was admitted to the bar in 1800. He
removed to Manchester in 1802, where, at this early age his
rare character was recognized, and honors were rapidly con-
ferred upon him. He was elected State’s attorney for
Bennington County, and judge of probate; was a member
of the general assembly in 1815-18; and the last term was
speaker-of-the-house; was member of congress, and as-
sistant-judge of the supreme court. He was elected chief-
justice, but declined; afterward, however, accepting the
high office, in which he served for five years, when he de-
clined a reélection. From 1820 to ’24, he was governor of
the State. He was a prominent member of the Congrega-
tional Church, in Manchester. As a jurist, a statesman, a
christian gentleman, he left an enduring record. He died
May 23, 1833. At the same time that Richard Skinner
_ held the office of governor, his brother Roger was chief-
justice in the State of New York. The grandfather of
Judge Skinner, Gen. Timothy Skinner, was a soldier of
6 MARK SKINNER.

the Revolution. He and his ancestors for several genera-
tions, resided in Litchfield, Conn., or in its neighborhood.

Frances Pierpont, the mother of Judge Skinner, was
born in New Haven, Conn.,in 1782. She was descended
from along line of distinguished ancestors—the family be-
ing traced from Sir Hugh de Pierrepont, of the Castle* of
Pierrepont, in the south confines of Picardy, A.D. 980.
His grandson, Sir Robert de Pierrepont, came over from
France to England, 1066, as a commander of the army of
William the Conqueror,+ by whom he was ennobled for his
conduct at the battle of Hastings. Descended from him
was John Pierrepont, the first of the name in this country,
who settled near Boston, in 1640.t Mrs. Richard Skinner
was a woman of rare character—a devoted mother, an
earnest christian, exercising a commanding influence in
the community, where her memory is still revered, though
nearly half a century has elapsed since her beneficent
life ended.

In a home, presided over by such parents, united in har-
monious and consecrated purpose, should we not expect
the development of a character like that to which we to-

night pay our tribute of honor and affection?

* The place derived its name from a stune bridge, with which Charlemagne
supplied the place of a ferry.—“The Pierpont Family. Compiled by Edward
J. Marks, New Haven, 1881.” Page I.

+ From whom he received great estates in the counties of Suffolk and
Sussex, among which was the Lordship of Hurst Pierrepont, (or planting of
Pierrepont)—J0id, page I. i

+ Hon. John Pierrepont, born in London, 1619, settled near Boston in
1640, leaving his father in London. In 1656, he purchased three hundred
acres, now the site of Roxbury and Dorchester. Died, Dec. 7, 1682, having
been an influential citizen of Roxbury, and a representative of the general
court.—J/bid, page 18. -
MEMORIAL SKETCH. 7.

Mark Skinner was the only son who grew up to matur-
ity, his brothers having died in infancy. He received a
thorough education. At the age of ten he was placed in
a school at Bennington, and subsequently in one at Troy,
New York. His preparation for college was received at
the Pittsfield Academy, Mass., then under the charge of
Prof. Dewey, an eminent teacher of that day. In 1830,
he entered the sophomore class of Middlebury College,
Vt., then in the height of its prosperity, under the able
presidency of Rev. Joshua Bates, D.D.; and after Yale and
Harvard, equal to any of the New-England colleges, a
statement abundantly verified by the list of distinguished
graduates, who in the different professions have reflected
honor upon their a/ma mater and their native State.

Inheriting from his father a predilection for the law, im-
mediately upon his graduation, in 1833, he entered upon
the study of his profession. Two years were spent at Sara-
toga Springs, with Judge Ezek Cowan, eminent as a jurist
and author, and continued his studies in the office of
Nicholas Hill of Albany, one of the most accomplished
lawyers of the New-York bar. One acquainted with Mr.
Hill characterized him to me as “at the front of the bar of
Albany, and one of the foremost lawyers of the State of
New York.” <A third year was spent at the New-Haven
Law-School, attached to Yale College, under the instruc-
tion of Judges Daggett and Hitchcock.

At the completion of his term of study, he was strongly
urged by Mr. Hill to join ‘him in a co-partnership for the
practice of law in New-York City; but a friend, who had
spent a short time at the West and in Chicago, returned
8 MARK SKINNER.

with such glowing accounts of the wondrous possibilities
of this new city, with its inducements to young men of
energy and enterprise, that he was led to change his
partly-formed plans, and in July, 1836, came to Chicago.
He was admitted to the bar immediately on his arrival,
and in the autumn entered upon the active practice of the
law, associated with George Anson Oliver Beaumont, as.
partner. In 1839-40, during the mayoralty of Alexander
Loyd, he was elected city, attorney, and transacted the
law business of the city with eminent success. He was
master-in-chancery for Cook County for many years, but
his first purely-political appointment was that of United-
States district attorney, by President Tyler, to succeed
Justin Butterfield; the district then embracing the entire
State. Having held the office and familiarized himself
with its routine of duties, it was only natural that he
should desire to retain it,and when Mr. Polk’s administra-
tion came in, he sought a second term, his claim being
contested by Isaac N. Arnold. The contest between the
two applicants was a very protracted and animated one—
so animated, indeed, that a compromise was effected by
conferring the office upon a third party—but the struggle
had given Mr. Skinner an impressive view of the descents.
a man must make to obtain the federal patronage, and he
resolved that this struggle for federal office should be his.
last. ,

The year 1841 was made memorable to him, in his
truest life, by his marriage, on May 21, to Elizabeth
Magill Williams.

Mr. Skinner was elected a member of the Illinois legis-
MEMORIAL SKETCH. 9

lature in 1846, the session being held from the first Mon-
day in Dec. (7), 1846, until March 1, 1847. In the light
of subsequent history, we recognize the priceless value of
the arduous, broad, and enduring work accomplished by
him during this brief period. ‘‘He was made chairman of
the committee on finance, at that time the most important
committee in the house. During the time that he occu-
pied this position, he drew up and procured the passage
through the house of a bill refunding the State debt—a
bill which was far-reaching in its influence upon the finan-
ces of the State. It reduced all the multiplied forms of
State indebtedness—there being six or eight different
styles of State bonds—into a convenient and manageable
shape, ascertained the limit of the debt, and effectually cut
off the possibility of frauds in issuing new and unauthorized
issues of bonds. In fact, the bill evoked method and sys-
tem out of financial chaos, brought the debt of the State
into an intelligible condition, and, correspondingly, placed
its credit upon a healthy basis. This session was also
memorable as the one calling the State convention which
formed the second State constitution. Upon the question
of apportionment of delegates to this convention, Northern
and Southern Illinois were arrayed against each other. The
southern members claimed that the apportionment should
be made upon the basis of the census of 1840, which
would have given their section—that is, the counties south
of Springfield—the majority in the convention; and, vice
versa, the northern members claimed that it should be
made upon the basis of the census of 1845, which, in turn,

would have given the northern counties the majority. As
10 MARK SKINNER.

the construction of the phraseology of the old constitu-
tion could be made favorable to either side, the contest
was naturally a very excited and bitter one. The cham-
pionship of the northern side of the question in the house,
by tacit consent, devolved upon Mr. Skinner; and, after a
long struggle, his energy and excellent management car-
ried the day. At this session, also, Mr. Skinner’s influence
was felt in the passage of the measure to recommence a
partial payment of the interest on the State indebtedness.
Up to that time the interest had been in default for many
years, with a disposition to repudiate, which had long been
manifest in some quarters, thereby giving the State credit
a very unfavorable reputation at the financial centers of
the country. It was this same question of the State debt
which gave interest to the sectional contest on the appoint-
ment of delegates to the State convention, and entailed
upon this apportionment the most important financial re-
sults; for, however the southern counties might stand upon
the question of payment of the debt—and there were
grave fears as to their attitude—it was very well known
that the northern counties were unanimously in favor of
paying the interest in full, and of liquidating the principal
at maturity, or as soon thereafter as the condition of the
State finances would admit.

“In 1851, Mr. Skinner was elected judge of the Cook-
County court of common pleas, now the superior court
of Cook County. He declined a reélection in 1853, on
account of ill-health. The labors of the bench at that
time were almost insupportable, especially when one’s
strength was limited. Judge Skinner was the sole judge
MEMORIAL SKETCH. If

of the court, and practically did the business appertaining
to the higher courts of the county at that time, the cir-
cuit court holding but two short terms annually, and the
recorder’s court not yet being in existence. All. the
criminal and nine-tenths of the civil business of the county
was transacted in this court, and imposed an enormous
burden of care and responsibility.” I make the above
extract from a writer familiar with those early days.

Seldom is it that a professional career, so limited in
time, leaves so profound and lasting an impress as did these
seventeen years which included his practice at the bar, and
his occupancy of the bench. During this period, he was
associated with a body of men who did honor to the legal
profession in Chicago. Among them are the familiar
names of John Dean Caton, James H. Collins, J. Young
Scammon, Justin Butterfield, Buckner Smith Morris,
George Manierre, Ebenezer Peck, Isaac N. Arnold, Richard
Jones Hamilton, Grant Goodrich, Samuel Lisle Smith,
Norman Buel Judd, Thomas Hoyne, Edwin Channing
Larned.

In the State too, Judge Skinner was brought into.con-
tact with men whose names are known beyond the limits
of State and Nation, an association brought about by the
extent of the jurisdiction of both the United-States and
‘State judicial circuits. The fifth judicial circuit under the
“Statutes of Illinois” embraced fifteen counties. The
United-States circuit and district court—called the Dis-
trict of Illinois, held their terms at Springfield, the seat of
government. If I may trust the legal annals of those
days at hand, with the testimony of men still living, who
12 MARK SKINNER.

were actors, there was no state west of the Alleghanies
which possessed a body of. men equal to those who prac-
tised law in the courts of Illinois. There were Thomas
Drummond, Charles S. Hempstead, Elihu B. Washburne,
Joseph P. Hoge, Joseph B. Wells, Benjamin Mills, and
Thompson Campbell of Galena. Of Quincy: Archibald
Williams, Chas. B. Lawrence, Orville H. Browning, Nehe-
miah Bushnell, Isaac N. Morris, and Wm. A. Richardson.
At the Springfield bar were Stephen Trigg Logan, Abra-
ham Lincoln, Edward Dickinson Baker, John Todd Stuart,
Stephen Arnold Douglas, John J Hardin, and Lyman
Trumbull; and at Peoria: Lincoln B. Knowlton, and: On-
slow Peters, Norman H. Purple, Amos L. Merriman, Julius
Manning, Thomas Ford, and William L. May. Among
these, Judge Skinner stood a peer.

In looking at his legal career, I may say that litigation
for its own sake, possessed for him no attractions. He
could only enter the arena and deal vigorous blows when
convinced that justice was his ally. His thorough educa-
tion in the principles of law and equity, secured for him,
under all circumstances, the respect of the bar and the
bench. He had a stronghold on his clients, through an
unbending rectitude, a shrewd insight into the cardinal
principles involved, and also a delicate sense of honor.
With an unusual quickness of perception he united moder-
ation in action—a rare combination.

The same cause which led Judge Skinner to decline re-
élection to the bench, operated to prevent him from resum-
ing the general practice of his profession.

During Judge Skinner’s residence in Chicago he had
MEMORIAL SKETCH. Le

been frequently consulted by Eastern capitalists in regard
to investments here both in purchases of real estate and
loans. His comprehensive knowledge of the law, as ap-
plied to real estate, and his accurate business habits, emin-
ently fitted him for the successful management of such
business. It may be stated, on good authority, that no
person in this country has invested for non-resident capi-
talists anything like the amount of money that has passed
through the hands of Judge Skinner; and in individual in-
stances, single sums, ranging all the way from $5000 to
$600,000, have been carefully and judiciously loaned. Spe-
cially prominent was his long and honorable connection
with the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company;
and here, | am permitted to read a Memorial presented to
the board of directors of this company, on the occasion of
Judge Skinner’s death, and prepared by his warmly-at-
tached friend, the president, Col. Jacob L. Greene—a docu-
ment, I am quite sure, wholly unprecedented in the history
of trust relationship:

“The directors of this company having learned of the
death of the Hon. Mark Skinner, who was for more than
thirty years its financial correspondent, arid their own
trusted, confidential advisor at Chicago, entered upon their
records this minute, desiring thereby to recall and to mark
their sense of the peculiar importance and value of his
services to it in that relation, involving the investment of
over $27,500,000, the acquistion by unavoidable foreclosure,
and the subsequent sale of large amounts of real estate,
and the personal oversight and handling of these great in-

terests during all the dangerous and trying vicissitudes,
14 MARK SKINNER.

which fell upon the country at large, and upon his own
city in particular, during that most eventual period; the
singular intelligence, foresight, sound judgment, delicacy,
courage, fidelity, and single heartedness with which he
treated every question, faced every emergency, and dis-
charged every duty; his untiring watchfulness of every in-
terest involved; his equally wise and kindly zeal for the
welfare of the company’s debtors in times of financial dis-
tress; that unfailing courtesy which made a long associa-
tion with him a pleasure as well as a high privilege; and
their deep sense of loss and their sympathy with his be-
reaved family” —a document impressive even to a stranger,
but of vastly increased significance to those who know
from personal acquaintance its absolute truthfulness.
These duties, so conscientiously performed, and in their
broadening scope making large demands upon time and
strength, he was compelled, on account of increased deli-
cacy of health to resign on June 30, 1886,

There is another trust of which I would speak, to which
Judge Skinner gave his best thought, and perhaps no
other work of his will project itself forward with more
enduring and potent influence upon our city and country
—lI refer to his work as executor and trustee under the
will of the late Walter Loomis Newberry. He was,
during the long years of their residence in this city, Mr.
Newberry’s intimate friend and confidential adviser. He
drew his will, and how much we are indebted to him for
the munificent bequest which in the establishment of the
Newberry Library is now being executed, we may never
know. It was so clearly drawn that its validity has never

$
MEMORIAL SKETCH. 15

been assailed. A purely collateral question, touching the
time for the division of the estate, after one of the severest
contests known in our State courts, was decided against
the contestants, in favor of the plain intention of the
testator, as evidenced in the language of the will. In
the simple and broad provision for the establishment and
conduct of the library, enabling those upon whom may
devolve the important trust of its development, to meet
the varying and unknown exigencies of the future, we see
his sagacity, and his thoughtful appreciation of this grand
provision for the interests of literature and sound learning.

Thus from various sources is briefly sketched the
distinctively professional and business life of Judge Skin-
ner. His connection in both spheres were extensive.
While not entering the field of politics, which at one time
opened to him, or the attractive field of authorship or
journalism, for which his thorough historic studies, and
careful observation of current events, with his masterly
command of the pen so rarely fitted him, his influence
was yet more potent and extended than that of the poli-
tician, or orator, or journalist, in shaping the history of
this city; and erecting for Chicago and the Northwest a
standard of life and morals whose influence will be felt as
the years roll on.

Of the political views of Judge Skinner, one who knew
him in the early years of his residence in Chicago, writes:
“His character and education gave him a leading position
as a straightforward, reliable member of the democratic
party, although it can not be said that he has ever been a
professional politician.”
16 MARK. SKINNER.

At a later date, when the conflict which distinctly
involved the anti-slavery sentiment of the country had
begun, the following incident indicates Judge Skinner’s
attitude: “In April 1854, a meeting of prominent Chicago
and State politicians, including democrats and whigs who
were opposed to the course of Stephen A. Douglas in the
senate, was held in room 4, Tremont House. There were
present, Abraham Lincoln, Lyman Trumbull, Mark Skin-
ner, Orville H. Browning, John T. Stuart, David Davis,
Norman Buel Judd, J. Young Scammon, Francis C. Sher-
man, and others equally well known. Those present
pledged themselves to the support of an anti-Nebraska
party, and appointed a committee to agitate the subject.
This led to that fusion of sentiment that revolutionized
the politics of the entire northern part of the State.”

Two years after, on Saturday evening, May 31, 1856,
one of the earliest and most enthusiastic Kansas meetings
ever gathered in the Northwest, was held in the court-
house square. Here Norman B. Judd presided, and the
following resolutions were adopted:

“Resolved, That the people of Illinois will aid the free-
dom of Kansas. -

Resolved, That they will send a colony of five hundred
actual settlers to that Territory, and provision them for
one year.

Resolved, That these settlers will invade no man’s
rights, but will maintain their own.

Resolved, That we recommend the adoption of a simi-
lar policy to the people of all the States of the Union,

ready and willing to aid; and also, a thorough concert
MEMORIAL SKETCH. 17,

and cooperation among them, through committees of cor-
respondence, on this subject.

Resolved, That an executive committee of seven, véz.:
J.C. Vaughn, Mark Skinner, George W. Dole, Isaac N.
Arnold, Norman B. Judd, and Edward I. Tinkham, be
appointed with full powers to carry into execution these
resolutions.”

A finance committee was also appointed to raise and
distribute material aid. The resolutions were passed
amidst the most enthusiastic and prolonged cheering.

The deep conviction thus wrought into Judge. Skinner's
life prepared him to take the strong position he assumed
as a member of the republican party when the civil war
came upon us. During a journey taken with him to
Washington, in the summer of 1861, after the commence-
ment of hostilities, in the prosecution of the duties
devolved upon us in connection with the needs of the
army, I well remember his emphatic and clear exposition
of the underlying principles of the great conflict—his
abhorence of the injustice and unsound philosophy of the
state-rights views, advocated by the Southern leaders,
then widely disseminated in this country and England;
and the manner in which his acute mind stripped off
every specious pretense from their plausible reasoning.
In contrast, he dwelt upon the principles of right enun-
ciated in the then recent action of congress, and their
accordance with the truths laid down by the founders of
our government, of which the constitution was the legiti-
mate and beneficent outgrowth. All this made upon my

mind an indelible impression.

2
18 MARK SKINNER.

The large demands made upon private means for aid
in the outset of our war, found in Judge Skinner a gen-
erous response. And here we naturally turn from a con-
sideration of his business and professional career to his
work as a philanthropist.

I notice first that which Judge Skinner himself consid-
ered, in many respects, the most valuable work of his life
—his connection with the United-States Sanitary Com-
mission. This is not the occasion for the statement of
the momentous and hurrying events, which made neces-
sary this service, auxiliary to our military department.

From a peace basis, which gave employment to a few
thousand troops, there suddenly sprang into existence
an army of a hundred thousand men, finally increased to

a million, utterly uninured to the trying vicissitudes of a

soldier’s life. Bloody battles soon followed, creating

necessities on the field and in hospitals with which our
recently-improvised medical bureau was unable to cope.
Then came the call for aid which found quick response
among all patriots, especially in the hearts of loyal women
whose dearest ones were at the front.

On June 9, 1861, the secretary of war issued an order
appointing certain gentlemen “a commission of enquiry
and advice in respect of the sanitary interests of the
United-States forces.’ Work for the sanitary needs of
our soldiers was at once undertaken, much was accom-
plished during the months that followed, and on Oct. 17,
the organization of the Northwestern Sanitary Commis-
sion was effected at an enthusiastic public meeting held

in our city. A committee of seven was chosen, who at
‘ MEMORIAL SKETCH. 19

once organized by the election of officers, Judge Skinner
being the unanimous choice for president. Time forbids
that I should even outline the steps by which from mod-
est beginnings, this beneficent work developed into its
wonderful proportions. In it all, especially in securing
the large benefactions from city and country, which made
such success possible, we recognized our indebtedness to
the influence, the words, the pen of our honored President.

As an interesting illustration of his conception of the
duties of the Sanitary Commission, and also of the pru-
dence and tact which he brought to that most difficult
and delicate department of work—army and_ hospital
inspection—I quote from his letter of instructions to the
gentlemen who made the first inspection ordered by the
commission, of our suffering troops in Missouri.

* * * “From Sedalia your route will naturally be,
as is supposed through Warsaw to Springfield, the head-
quarters of the army under the command of Maj.-Gen.
[David] Hunter; with whom and with Dr. [Joseph K.}
Barnes, we trust you may have such conference, and
from whom obtain such information and suggestions, and
also such authority for yourselves, for this Commission,
and for its authorized agents hereafter to be appointed,
as may best conduce to the carrying out of the charita-
ble objects we have in view.

“Your special attention is called to this branch of your
- instructions, as the future operations of the Commission
must depend in a great measure for success on the facili-
ties which the military authorities extend to the Commis-

sion, in the way of securing prompt and safe transmission
20 MARK SKINNER.

of stores, safe and proper passage of our agents and
inspectors, and their respectful treatment by officers of all
grades, soldiers, and others in the employ of the govern-
ment.

“You will inform yourselves as accurately as possible
where the places of greatest destitution on the part of
the sick and suffering soldiers are, what particular points
will be most proper as locations for our inspectors, what
articles are most needed for the relief of the sick and the
wounded, and, generally in what way our Commission
can render the most efficient aid in the relief of, and pre-
vention of, suffering by our troops.

“It is desired that no communications for the public
press be furnished by you, unless the suggestion should
come from Gen. Hunter, or other respectable authority.
It is also requested that in your intercourse with the
soldiers, criticism of the conduct of officers be avoided.
Thorough inquiries, however, should be made, as to the
causes of disease, the kinds of disease, the competency
of surgeons of all grades, and the care and conduct of
officers in regard to the health and comfort of the troops
under their command.”

Among the many irreparable losses resulting from the
Great Fire, there was perhaps none more serious to his-
tory, than that of the archives of the Northwestern Sani-
tary Commission, comprised in several hundred carefully-
indexed volumes. Here were gathered reports, letters, doc-
uments, detailing events on the march and in camp, on the
battlefield and in hospital, in every department from the
valley of the Mississippi to the ocean, written without fear

 
MEMORIAL SKETCH. PR

or favor, by the faithful agents of the Commission; and
here too were copies of the letters of Judge Skinner,
correspondence, embracing the whole work of the Com-
mission. These letters, written often under pressure, and
upon subjects requiring peculiar delicacy of treatment,
were models of epistolary style. They were direct, clear,
forcible, admirable in diction, and on all occasions char-
acterized by that true courtesy which insured their candid
consideration.

Until early in the year 1864, Judge Skinner remained
at the head of this patriotic work, whose grandeur, like
mountain ranges, grows more impressive as they recede.
Impaired health compelled his resignation at this time.
The blessing of thousands is the reward of such self-
denying labor.

Let me here quote a characterization of this work, as
presented on a recent occasion, by Judge Skinner’s pastor:

“We can not forget—we who love these United States,
we who bless that Omnipresent wisdom that went forth
with our armies, that it was this man who represented the
heroic love of this great Northwest, as the indefatigable
head of that Sanitary Commission whose heart and hand
went forth to mother those devoted legions, whose front
of loyalty held the Thermopylae of civilization.”

In recognition of these patriotic services, the Loyal
Legion of the United States, in accordance with the pro-
vision of its charter, elected Hon. Mark Skinner and
Ezra Butler McCagg, his equally zealous successor in the
presidency of the Commission, companions of the order.
By an extended notice and resolutions adopted Oct. 13,
22 MARK SKINNER.

1887, the State Commandary fittingly testified to his
character and services.

I may not forbear to speak of the greatest gift, which
as a father, he bestowed upon his Country in her hour
of need. Richard Skinner his only remaining son, who
had recently, with honor, graduated at Yale,’ heard the
call of duty and responded to it. After brief and honor-
able service he fell in the trenches before Petersburg,
June 22, 1864.

So far as I can discover, with every philanthropic
agency in the history of this city, broad, true, permanent
in character, do we find Judge Skinner associated either
officially, or through personal influence, or by financial
aid. ;

From the first years of his residence in Chicago, he
was the reliable friend of the common school. His early
New-England associations naturally produced his high
estimate of education. .In 1842, he was elected one of
the seven school-inspectors, of whom J. Young Scammon
and Grant Goodrich still survive. Upon the city schools
and the conservation of the school-fund he bestowed
much time and thought. His broad views during those
formative years of our public-school system were shown
by his interest in securing codperation among tlie friends
of education throughout the State. This was accom-
plished by organizing school-conventions, in which the
Teacher's Institute had its origin, which has continued as
a valued educational auxiliary to the present time. At
one of these early school-conventions held at Peoria,
Oct. 8, 1854, Judge Skinner attended as delegate from

 
 

MEMORIAL SKETCH. 23

this city, accompanied by such men as William H. Brown,
William Jones, Richard J. Hamilton, John H. Kinzie,
Norman B. Judd, Isaac N. Arnold, J. Young Scammon,
and others. We turn with gratitude to these men who,
at a sacrifice of time and money, as well as personal
convenience, laid foundations of strength upon which
after-generations have built. In 1850, the city did itself
honor, in perpetuating the services of a faithful citizen,

in naming one of its most commodious school-buildings

_—erected at the southeast corner of Aberdeen and West

Jackson streets— The Skinner School. To this school
his gifts have been frequent, especially to its carefully-
selected library—the last bill for books, amounting to six
hundred dollars, being paid by his order, while he was
upon his sick-bed at Manchester.

In the earliest effort made for the intellectual and
social improvement of the young men of this city, Judge
Skinner took a prominent part. On the evening of Jan.
10, 1841, a few gentleman met in the hardware-store of
Seth T. Otis, to take measures for securing a reading-
room and library. . Judge Skinner drew up a subscription
paper and all present signed it. This preliminary meet-
ing was followed by another on the 30th of the same
month, held in the chamber of the common council, in
which the organization was completed under the name
of The Young Men’s Association of Chicago, afterward
changed to The Chicago Library Association—the pre-
decessor of the present Public Library. There were
present at this meeting, Walter Loomis Newberry, Hugh
Thompson Dickey, Peter Page, Walter Smith Gurnee,
2A: MARK SKINNER.

and William Linnzus Church. Mr. Newberry was elected
president, Mark Skinner vice-president, and Judge Dickey
corresponding-secretary. Thus was established the first
reading-room in the city, at the southwest corner of Lake
and Clark streets, which was furnished with the principal
newspapers and periodicals of the day. The nucleus of
a library was furnished by a selection of books presented
to the association by Walter L. Newberry, on April 24,
succeeding.

The Chicago Lyceum had been instituted on Dec. 2,
1834, of which the late Thomas Hoyne stated: “It was
the foremost institution in the city when he came here in
1837.” At that time, he says: “Not a man of note, not
a man in the city of any trade or profession, who had
any taste for intellectual and social enjoyment, who loved
books, conversation, and debate, but belonged to the
Lyceum,” of this Lyceum, Judge Skinner was a leading
member.

Judge Skinner was ever alive to calls for alleviation of
suffering. The County Hospital was first opened March
30, 1847, and two years after, on Oct. 29, 1849, was incor-
porated under the name of The Illinois General Hospital
of the Lake, the charter-trustees being Hon. Mark Skin-
ner, Hon. H.T. Dickey, and Dr. John Evans. Dr. Nathan
Smith Davis delivered a course of four lectures in the
city hall for its benefit, and the hospital was opened in
the .old Lake House, with beds for twelve patients on
Nov. 23, 1852. On Nov. 30, the board of trustees met,
and adopted a code of by-laws for the government of the
hospital, and elected Mark Skinner president, Dr. John
MEMORIAL SKETCH. 25

Evans secretary, Capt. Richard Kellogg Swift treasurer,
Dr. Daniel Brainard surgeon, Dr. Nathan S. Davis physi-
cian, and Dr. John Evans physician to the female wards.
On the opening of the Mercy Hospital in. 1853, this
general hospital was discontinued.

The Chicago Home for the Friendless was organized
in 1858. To this Judge Skinner gave his advice, and
experience, and was one of its early presidents, in 1860-1.

The Illinois Charitable Eye-and-Ear Infirmary—an
institution now known in two continents—was opened in
May, 18:8, in one room, in a small wooden building, at
60 North-Clark Street,.on the northeast corner of Michi-
gan. Judge Skinner was a member of the first board
of trustees, of which W. L. Newberry was president. Of
that board and officers but one now remains—Ezra B.
McCagg, long its treasurer.

Judge Skinner was one of the incorporators of The
Chicago Relief-and- Aid Society, whose charter was
granted in February, 1857, and in the autumn of the same
year it was thoroughly organized, a board of manage-
ment was elected, and the constitution, general rules, and
by-laws were adopted. To its early management and
plans he gave much attention and wise direction. At
first, voluntary visitors were engaged to examine into the
wants and worthiness of applicants, but this was soon
found to be an unreliable method, and paid visitors were
employed by the society, with a general superintendent,
and persons in charge of its special relief. The strength
and wisdom of the management thus adopted, was evi-
denced by the fact that ten years later, the three other
26 MARK SKINNER.

organizations of relief work in the city, the Christian
Union, the Citizen’s Relief, and the relief department of
the Young Men’s Christian Association, called a meeting
for consolidating their work with that of the Chicago
Relief-and-Aid Society, which was accomplished. Little
_did these founders anticipate the vast work for which
they were preparing so efficient an organization.

Judge Skinner took a prominent part in the founding
of the Chicago Reform School, whose location, many of
us remember, in the southern part of the city, now Ken-
wood, and whose influence for good we could ill-afford to
spare. No institution has since filled its place in our city.
He was made the first president of the board of direc-
tors, a position for which he was eminently qualified, and
which he held for years. To the organization and man-
agement of this excellent institution he devoted time and
personal attention without stint. “He visited and inspected
the reformatory institutions of the Eastern and Middlé
States, and carefully studied the documentary records of
similar schools in England, France, and Germany. The
result was a decided conviction that the family system of
reforming juvenile offenders was infinitely preferable to
the congregated system in practice in this country. He

labored zealously to effect this change, and finally suc-
ceeded in grafting the system upon our own institution.
The result of Judge Skinner’s labors supplementing those
of the admirable superintendent, Geo. W. Perkins, whom
he secured, was a school for reform, which was truly
considered the first of its class in this country.”

Of Judge Skinner’s intimate connection with the
MEMORIAL SKETCH. 27

Chicago Historical Society, our records bear constant
testimony. In its original planning and organization, in
the growth of its collections and the building erected
before the fire, and in the restoration since, his wise
counsel, his active codperation, and liberal contributions
have been recognized. |

At the earliest meeting, held at the suggestion and
through the efforts of Rev. William Barry, April 24,
1856, which resulted in the organization of The Chicago
Historical Society. William H. Brown was elected
president, William B. Ogden and J. Young Scammon
vice-presidents, Samuel Dexter Ward treasurer, Rev.
William Barry recording-secretary and librarian, and Dr.
Charles H. Ray corresponding-secretary. In addition to
’ the above, first on the list of members was the name of
Mark Skinner. Of these first officers and members, I
believe there now remain with us four—J. Y. Scammon,
S. D. Ward, Dr. N. S. Davis, and E, B. McCagg.

On Feb. 7, 1857, the society was incorporated, Judge
Skinner being one of the incorporators; and of the names
here appearing, the same four, I believe, are the only
ones living. In a copy of the “Constitution and By-
Laws of the Society, with a List of Officers,” issued in
1856—Judge Skinner is chairman of the Committee on
Library and Cabinet, with Mr. McCagg and Rev. Dr. A.
E. Smallwood associates; and also chairman of the Com-
mittee on Civil History, with J. Y. Scammon and E-; B.
McCagg associates. In the list of officers for 1858-9,
Judge Skinner appears on the Committee on Publica-
tion with Rev. Wm. Barry and Dr. Hosmer A. Johnson
28 MARK SKINNER.

associates. In the years since then, we have all appre-
ciated his constant interest in this institution—at the time
of his death, he was a member of the Executive Com-
mittee and a trustee of both the Jonathan Burr and
Lucretia Pond Funds. His éstimate of the value of the
Historical Society was high. We have often heard him
express in his emphatic way, his clear conception of its
important function in the community, as the conservator
of material for the history of our city and country.

In this connection it is natural to speak of Judge
Skinner’s love of books, and his cultivated, literary taste.
His library was his chosen retreat. Its richly-laden shelves
now bear witness to his scholarly taste and _ historic
research. Particularly choice is the large collection of
Americana, for whatever related to early New-England
history and literature had for him a keen attraction. The
total loss of his book and art treasures by the great fire,
was a subject on which he could not speak unmoved.
From his own lips I know of the persistency with which
he clung to his early-formed habit of studious reading,
even in the midst of the busy life which pressed upon
him. Hence the enjoyment derived from this source in
later years. He experienced the truth of Cicero’s words:
“Hace studia adolesentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant.”

For New England, for its early history, for the develop-
ment of civil and religious liberty in the mother country,
for the struggles of the founders on these shores, where
nature and savage man joined forces to oppose, Judge
Skinner ever cherished the most profound and reverential
affection. He was one of the founders of the New-
MEMORIAL SKETCH. 29

England Society of this city, as 1 learn from the records,
and nearly forty years since, on Dec. 22, 1848, he deliv-
ered an address before the society, which at the request
of a large number of citizens was published. “‘A Vindi-
cation of the Character of the Pilgrim Fathers’ was the
theme, and in close historical study of the subject, in
clear convincing argument, and eloquence of diction, the
oration was one of the most remarkable addresses deliv-
ered in Chicago.”

In this connection should be mentioned the peculiar
attachment he cherished for his early home-—Manchester,
Vermont—a love so deep and strong that it constituted
a part of his very life—drawing him year by year, as a
devoted son, with irrestible attraction, from the pressure
and care of an active life to feel the renewing touch of
beautiful nature, intensified by the treasured associations
of childhood and youth.

One of his last drives, was to the home of relatives,
a short distance south of the village. It was a brilliant,
August day. He rested, seated upon the piazza. Behind
him stretched the Taconic Range, crowned by Mount
Equinox, its king. Before him lay in incomparable
beauty the valley of the Battenkill, and the Green-
Mountain Range beyond. In quiet thought he sat, his
eye commanding the line of hills for a distance of forty
miles, from north to south. Then memory awoke, of
boyhood, manhood, age, and from Mount Anthony on
the south overlooking the battlefield of Bennington, to
Mount Tabor, which terminates the field of vision to the
northward, did he point out each peak, telling its former
30 MARK SKINNER.

and present name, the historical associations and tradi-
tions, with memories of men, who had among them lived
and died—a scene which will to many loving hearts ever
make consecrate this spot. |
Of Judge Skinner’s religious life, I may briefly speak,
though in a true and lofty sense, all his life was religious
in his allegiance to duty. Upon the organization of the
Second Presbyterian Church in 1842, under the pastorate
of Rev. Robert Wilson Patterson, D.D., he became a
regular attendant,and was for several years a trustee.
He united with the church on profession in May, 1858,
and in 1866, was chosen a ruling-elder. After the remo-
val of his residence to the north side, he transferred his
church relationship to the Fourth Presbyterian Church,
in which he was an elder at the date of his death, which
occurred at Manchester, Vermont, on September 16, 1887
The struggle was a long and painful one, but met with
the fortitude and submission of a christian. Into that
chamber, whence the freed spirit took its heavenward
flight, and into the home thus stricken, I may not enter.
On that September day, under the trees shaded with
autumnal tints, all that was mortal of Mark Skinner, was
carried by loving hands from the house in which he was
born, to the resting-place chosen by himself beside his
parents and sons. This sacred spot in the guardianship
of the eternal hills, will ever speak of his loving thought-
fulness and generous gifts, which make it a consecrated
memorial. As we turn away, there comes a voice of
peace and consolation suggested by the sculptured angels
which guard the gate of entrance: “I am the resurrection
MEMORIAL SKETCH. RE

and the life, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall.
; never dies,

Thus have I attempted to'bring before you, with such
inadequate portraiture as limited time and material have
allowed, the varied activity of this earnest, useful, and
consecrated life—a life which, in the formative period of
our city and country, has touched so many interests, and
touching has transmuted perishable material to gold. In
him we see exemplified what each one of us is called upon
to achieve, character—the noblest product of humanity
when obedient to the gracious intimations of the divine
will—character, subtle as the fragrance of the flower, yet
pervasive as the atmosphere, and more potent than the
mightiest forces of art or nature.

“The world wants men—true men—
Who can not be bought or sold:

Men who will scorn to violate trust—
Genuine gold.

The world wants men—-pure men—
Free from the taint of sin:

Men whose lives are clean without,
And pure within.”

You who knew Judge Skinner, will recall the character-
istic traits which combined to make him the man he was.
among us—the delightful companion, the faithful friend.
and counselor, the strong reliance in the hour of exigency,
the honored example. Yet it was not his conversational.
powers and flashing wit alone, though these he possessed

preéminently; it was not his fidelity and wisdom alone,,.
32 MARK SKINNER.

though in these, few equalled’ him; it was not insight into
character and thoughtful consideration for the needs and
the weaknesses of others, though many can testify to
these traits; it was not his consistent christian life alone;
but it was the harmonious blending of all these native
gifts and acquirements which makes us mourners for his
absence, as we meet tonight.

Many and large have been the gifts of New England
to the West. Her means have builded our railroads,
tunneled our mountains, spanned our rivers with structures
which challenge the wonder of the world. Her wealth
has done more, it has furnished our school-houses and
academies, it has endowed our colleges and’ seminaries,
has given books to our libraries, and builded our churches;
but greater than all these has been the gift of her sons,
of men educated in New-England principles, who have
brought them hither, and on prairie and in city have 7
taught them, possibly not by pen or tongue, but by that
most potent of all influences—the logic of a true life.
Thus today are Harvard and Yale, Amherst and Middle-
bury, Dartmouth and Bowdoin, speaking in living words,
reiterating in the valley of the lakes and the great river,
on the plains and beside the mountains, and on the
Pacific Coast, the principles of truth, energy, integrity,
perseverance, learning, christianity. Such a gift to our
young city in days long gone was Mark Skinner, in such

utterance will he be heard, as time rolls on.

 

 
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