User:Buster7/The McCormick Mansions of Chicago

"McCormickville"
At one time there were so many of the McCormick clan ensconced in the vicinity of Rush and Erie that the neighborhood was familiarly referred to as "McCormickville". (LC, pg 33)

McCormick family
ROBERT McCORMICK (the first) was born in 1738 in Hanover Township of Lancaster County. He married Martha Sanderson, daughter of George Sanderson and Jane Ross, in 1770. He moved to Fermanagh Township in 1755 and was married there. In July 1779, he sold his farm and moved to The Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. His new land was part in Augusta County and part in Rockbridge County. He fought in the Virginia line at Cowpens in the Revolution. The first Robert McCormick (I) was 1)the son of an Ulster immigrant, 2) fought in the American Revolution under Nathanael Greene and 3)helped bottle-up Cornwallis in Yorktown.

Children

 * 1) - +George Elliot McCORMICK,  b.9 May 1771,and married Jane Steel
 * 2) -  Martha McCORMICK,  b.1773, and married Richard Brient. They remained in Rockbridge County
 * 3) -  Elizabeth McCORMICK,  b.1774, married Hugh Gibson and they moved to Henderson, Kentucky
 * 4) - +William McCORMICK,  b.12 Apr.1776 Fermanagh Juniata Co., PA, married first Mary Steel and then married Sarah McClelland
 * 5) - +James McCORMICK,  b.7 Jan.1778 Juniata Co., PA, married three times. To Irene Rogers, Rachel Nisonger, and Rachel Clark.
 * 6) - +Robert McCORMICK,  b.8 June 1780 Walnut Grove, Rockbridge Co., Virginia.

The Second
(Martha died in 1807 and Robert died October 12, 1818, both in Augusta County, Virginia) The second Robert McCormick (II) was born in 1780. Inventor Robert McCormick (II)(1780–1846). His wife'e name was Mary Ann Hall of Steele's Tavern, Virginia. The McCormick family wealth is descended from the grandfather of modern agriculture. Robert McCormick born June 8, 1780 and married Mary Anna Hall. He moved to Rockbridge County, Virginia. In 1806, he invented a reaper and it was improved upon by his son Cyrus McCormick. This is the famous McCormick Reaper.
 * Their children were:

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Incomplete Family Tree

 * Robert McCormick (Virginia inventor) (b.1780/d.1846)...Wife is Mary Ann Hall McC... has 3 prosperous sons (Cyrus Hall McC) (plus 5 other off-spring;2 boys, 3 girls)
 * Cyrus Hall McCormick (b.1809, d.1884)...wife is Nancy Fowler McCormick aka "Nettie" Fowler McCormick.
 * They had seven children:
 * Cyrus Hall McCormick Jr. was born May 16, 1859.
 * Mary Virginia McCormick was born May 5, 1861.
 * Anita McCormick was born July 4, 1866, married Emmons Blaine on September 26, 1889, and died February 12, 1954.
 * Alice McCormick was born March 15, 1870 and died less than a year later on January 25, 1871.
 * Harold Fowler McCormick was born May 2, 1872, married Edith Rockefeller, and died in 1941.
 * Stanley Robert McCormick was born November 2, 1874, married Katharine Dexter (1875–1967), and died January 19, 1947.


 * William Sanderson McCormick (b.1815)...wife is Mary Ann Grigsby McC, married June 11, 1848
 * Five children (and one who died young):
 * Robert Sanderson McCormick (1849–1919) Diplomat. He married Katie, the daughter of Chicago Tribune publisher Joseph Medill, and children included U.S. Senator Joseph Medill McCormick, and publisher  Robert R. McCormick.
 * William Grigsby McCormick was born June 3, 1851 He married Eleanor Brooks on October 23, 1873 and had seven children before dying on November 29, 1941. His son, Chauncey Brooks McCormick (1884–1954), was the father of Brooks McCormick (1917–2006) who was the last McCormick to lead the family firm.
 * Emma Louise McCormick (October 14, 1854 – March 4, 1893) married Perry H. Smith on June 18, 1878.
 * Anna Reubenia "Ruby" McCormick (May 22, 1860 – 1917) married Edward Tyler Blair on May 29, 1882 and was the mother of banker William McCormick Blair (1884–1982).
 * Lucy Virginia McCormick (April 11, 1865 – ?) married Samuel Rountree Jewett on October 9, 1888.


 * Leander James McCormick (b.1819)......wife is Henrietta Hamilton McC, married Oct 22, 1845
 * Children:
 * Robert Hall McCormick was born September 6, 1847, married Sarah Lord Day on June 1, 1871, became executor of the estate, and died in 1917.
 * Elizabeth Maria McCormick was born on May 2, 1850 but died young on March 31, 1953.
 * Henrietta Laura McCormick was born April 22, 1857, married British barrister Frederick E. McCormick-Goodhart (1854–1924) on November 14, 1883 and died in 1932.
 * Leander Hamilton McCormick was born May 27, 1859, married Constance Plummer on February 14, 1887, and died on February 2, 1934.

20 East Burton Place
On the northwest corner of Astor and Burton places in Chicago's Gold Coast, you will find this Georgian building, commissioned in 1891 and completed in 1893 by Chicago Tribune chief Joseph Medill as a wedding present for his daughter Elinor "Nellie" (Medill) Patterson (the sister of Katie Medill McCormick). Stanford White was the architect. The historic Patterson McCormick Mansion was designed by Stanford White and expanded in 1927 by David Adler. Warm Roman brick and terra cotta trim contribute to the distinctive aura of this grand palazzo-style home, which was built as a wedding gift for the daughter of the Chicago Tribune's Joseph Medill. The mansion was converted to condominiums in 1978. Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins is rumored to own one of the units. With 12-foot ceilings......

Patterson
Robert Wilson Patterson, son of the Rev. Robert W. Patterson (pastor of the Second Pres. Church which was the church of Cyrus McC) was an attorney turned a journalist, making this life-altering decision in 1873. Eventually, he became the managing director of the Chicago Tribune and he married Elinor Medill (a tall, handsome. strong-minded redhead like her older sister Katherine who married Robert Sanderson McC ) the youngest of Tribune publisher and owner Joseph Medill's two daughters, in 1878. The Pattersons purchased a vacant lot in 1890 at the corner of Astor Street and Burton Place, which was then located in a relatively undeveloped Chicago neighborhood just a block south of Lincoln Park. Elinor selected New York architect Stanford White, whose firm McKim Mead & White was the place to go during the Gilded Age, to design a house for her prominent corner lot. White's Italian Renaissance-inspired palazzo seemed a perfect fit for this Midwestern City, but by the time of her father's death in 1899 - when ownership of the paper passed to Elinor and her sister Katherine (((is this Katie?)))...and Robert took over as editor-in-chief. Elinor moved to Washington D.C., leaving her husband behind in Chicago. After Robert died in 1910 and Elinor was unable to convince her son Joseph Medill Patterson to move-into the Burton Place residence with his wife and three daughters, the buff-toned brick house was sold in 1914 to another scion of Chicago, Cyrus H. McCormick, Jr. aka Cyrus Hall McCormick II
 * Katherine, the older sister, had 3 children. Oldest-Joseph Medill McC, Middle- a girl who died in infancy, Youngest-Robert R "The Colonel" McC.

McCormick House
McCormick rented-out the place until 1921 and the house remained empty until he married his late wife's secretary in 1927. Deciding that the 10,000-square-foot mansion wasn't quite big enough for the two of them, local architect David Adler designed a rear addition that was twice as large as the existing house, and after McCormick died in 1936, his wife had the whole place to herself, until remarrying two years later.

The Bateman School
In 1950 Alice Bateman Craig purchased the house and moved her Bateman School from the former Edith Rockefeller McCormick mansion to Edith's former brother-in-law's mansion. Bateman was a small, 300 student school with children from nursery age to teenage attending classes daily. Craig pulled kids from the nearby Gold Coast population and thrived for the next 15 years. By the mid-70s the school was in trouble. Parents weren't paying tuition, mortgages taken to keep the school afloat were coming due, and the building's maintenance was wanting. Craig held on until 1973 when the school finally closed, and she put the building up for sale. In January, 1976 with the banks sniffing at the door and the structure falling into further disrepair, Craig filed for a demolition permit with the city. Her plan was to tear down the old house, act as the developer of the property, and build a zoning-permitted, high-rise apartment tower to generate income, then use that money to reopen the school in a new location.

However, the month before, the Chicago City Council had declared the area a landmark district which meant that the house couldn't be destroyed until hearings were held and the request reviewed. Under the landmark law, which is typical of landmark laws around the country, the city - as the government entity - either had to issue the permit, or buy the building. The situation caused quite a ruckus. No one had ever sought to tear down a designated landmark, and no one knew what was going to happen. The city denied the permit, but before Alice could go to court and seek restitution, the banks stepped-in and took over the house. In 1978 a pair of local developers purchased the property and converted the rumored-to-be, 90-room mansion into 9 condominium units, which is where the landmarked house stands today.

The Reaper King's Mansion (?)
Cyrus Hall McCormick I (1809–1884) m. Nettie Fowler McCormick. "The Reaper King", entrepreneur, publisher, father of modern agriculture, and founder of McCormick Harvesting Machine Company (International Harvester). At a young age he, along with his brothers, (William Sanderson and Leander J.), improved (1831) and later patented (1834) his father's mechanical reaper. From Robert McCormick (Virginia inventor); ''By 1831, he (Robert) had completed a reaper. He was encouraged by Polly to give it to their assertive and business-minded son Cyrus, who was able to improve and patent it in 1834. He and his brother and sisters moved to Chicago in 1847. He was a candidate for U.S. Representative from Illinois 1862. A devout Presbyterian, he was the primary benefactor of the McCormick Theological Seminary. Eldest brother of William Sanderson McCormick and Leander James McCormick

675 Rush Street

 * Old Chicago Houses by John Drury
 * 3 story structure, brownstone facade @ 675 Rush Street. Designed by the firm Cudell and Blumenthal, architects, it was modeled on one of the recently completed pavillions of the Louvre Lost Chicago by David Lowe. The interior was designed and installed by L. Marcott and Company of New York.


 * Begun in 1875, moved into by Cyrus in 1879 at age 70. Died in the residence 5 years later, 1884<--->(per tree)
 * Mrs. McCormick, the former Nettie Fowler of Clayton, New York, died in 1923 at the age of 88, leaving an estate worth $10 Million
 * Mansion was taken over by her son, Harold Fowler McCormick, and he has managed it since till (1975?
 * Coach house now houses the McCormick Historical Association
 * Mansion demolished in 1955
 * Mansion demolished in 1955

660 Rush Street/Robert Hall McCormick Mansion
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-11-20/entertainment/9204160100_1_wright-designed-frank-lloyd-wright-houses

Robert R(?) McCormick Mansion(?)
At 660 N. Rush St. stands the 3 1/2-story McCormick mansion. The mansion was built in 1875 by Robert Hall McCormick of the McCormick clan (which included Col. Robert R. McCormick, the late publisher of the Tribune). Around the turn of the century, it was said to contain one of the largest and most expensive private art collections in the country. Robert Hall McCormick lived here until his death in 1917. Today it houses the elegant French restaurant Chez Paul.


 * The Colonel, editor of the Chicago Tribune, Great-uncle was Cyrus Jr.


 * current home of Lauries-Prime Rib restuarant (since 1965)
 * fire in 1968
 * also had mansion outside the city, near Wayne, Cantigny. Bequethed by his grandfather, John Medill, also Chgo Trib publisher
 * DuPage Hunt Club aka Wayne-DuPage Hunt Pony Club


 * Industrialist, Philanthropist, Art Collector, son of Leander J.(James) McCormick who is one of two brothers of Cyrus, Sr.
 * OCH, pg 106
 * 3 1/2 story
 * completed in 1875, just 4 yrs after the chgo fire. "....one of a group of such mansions all of which were once occupied by McCormicks and all of which stood within a radius of two blocks from this homestead."
 * across the street from Cyrus R McC Mansion, the uncle of R.Hall
 * died in 1917, occupied for a time after his death but soon closed.
 * From WP....Robert Hall (Note:there is some question about the middle name "Hall") McCormick was the patriarch of the Family. His son, Cyrus Sr, "The Reaper King", also had a son he named Robert Hall McCormick who was born May 24, 1810 and died June 29, 1826.
 * pg 107...mistress of the house was Sarah Lord Day McCormick, dinners/social functions were the outstanding social events before and after the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.
 * pg 108... R. Hall McC served as Superintendant of Manufacturing for McC Harvesting Machine Company.
 * They had 5 children;
 * Robert Hall
 * Henrietta
 * Elizebeth D.
 * Phoebe
 * Mildred D.


 * pg109... "Kentucky Serves a Meal", a tearoom run by Mr and Mrs L.C. Levering, leased from Surgical Publishing Co, who published the journal of the Amewrican College of Surgeons, next door in Erie Street

L. Hamilton McCormick Mansion
Down the street is another McCormick mansion, the L. Hamilton McCormick mansion at 631 N. Rush. Lawry`s steak house occupies the space, but for many years it was the home of the Kungsholm Scandinavian Restaurant, a popular Chicago institution that served Danish food and miniature opera puppet theater.
 * 631 North Rush

Hamilton McCormick (as he was known) was born in Chicago, May 27, 1859.
 * grandfather Robert McCormick of Virginia invented agricultural machinery.
 * father, Leander J. McCormick (1819–1900), was partner with his brothers, Cyrus and William Sanderson McCormick in International Harvester.
 * the youngest of four children of his mother Henrietta Hamilton McCormick.


 * In 1886, while touring Europe, he met Constance Plummer, the daughter of Edward Plummer, of Canterbury, England, whom he married on February 15, 1887.
 * They had three sons:
 * Leander James McCormickborn January 6, 1888
 * Edward Hamilton McCormickborn August 3, 1889
 * Allister Hamilton McCormick born August 3, 1891


 * died on February 2, 1934.
 * buried at Woodlawn Park Cemetery in Miami, Florida.

Edith Rockefeller McCormick Mansion

 * [] Women in World History: A biographical Encyclopedia, the Gale Group, Farmington, MI (HighBeam Reseach article retrieved 3/12/2013)
 * Born "Edith Rockefeller" in Cleveland, 8/31/1872
 * Died of Liver Cancer, 8/25/1932
 * Mrs Harold Fowler McCormick who was the son of Nettie and Cyrus
 * Heiress to the Standard Oil Fortune of her father, John Davison Rockfeller.
 * She was Chicago's premier hostess and most formitable "gran-dame" throwing opulent soirees at the McCormick mansion @ 1000 Lake Shore Drive

Children of Edith
These people were the grandchildren of Cyrus McCormick SR, inventor of the mechanical reaper, and of Standard Oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller. .


 * John Rockefeller McCormick (1896–1901) was the eldest son of Harold Fowler McCormick and his wife Edith Rockefeller McCormick. Died of Scarlet fever.
 * Editha McCormick (1897–1898)
 * Harold Fowler McCormick, Jr. (1898–1973) who married Anna Urquhart Brown-Potter. She was the daughter of Cora Urquhart Brown-Potter, and was previously married to James A. Stillman
 * Muriel McCormick Hubbard (1903–1959)
 * Mathilde McCormick Oser (1906–1947)

Brooks McCormick Mansion

 * 1906
 * 590 acre estate near Warrenville, Dupage County
 * 5 millionn dollar endowment to tear it down 15 months after his death at his bequest.

Prairie Avenue

 * 1800 South Prairie Avenue
 * John J. Glessner House. Glassner was a business associate of the McCormicks via International Harvester


 * Glessner was one of the individuals who partnered w/the McCormick's to create International Harvester. (History: 3 McCormick's moved to Chicago in 1847 and started the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. The McCormick reaper sold well, partially as a result of savvy and innovative business practices. Their products came onto the market just as the development of railroads offered wide distribution to distant market areas. They developed trend-setting marketing and sales techniques, and created a vast network of trained salesmen able to demonstrate operation of the machines in the field.) In 1902 the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company, along with three smaller agricultural equipment firms (Milwaukee; Plano; and Warder, Bushnell, and Glessner—manufacturers of Champion brand) merged to create the International Harvester Company.

Katherine McCormick

 * wife of Stanley Robert MvCormick, comtroller of family business.