155-421: John Whitfield Bunn (June 21, 1831 – June 7, 1920) was an American corporate leader, financier , industrialist , and personal friend of Abraham Lincoln , whose work and leadership involved a broad range of institutions ranging from Midwestern railroads, international finance, and Republican Party politics, to corporate consultation, globally significant manufacturing, and the various American stock exchanges. He
310-678: A double-taxation treaty with the US, accepted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Non-qualified dividends paid by other foreign companies or entities; for example, those receiving income derived from interest on bonds held by a mutual fund, are taxed at the regular and generally higher rate of income tax. When applied to 2013, this is on a sliding scale up to 39.6%, with an additional 3.8% surtax for high-income taxpayers ($ 200,000 for singles, $ 250,000 for married couples). A financier ( / f ɪ n ə n ˈ s ɪər , f ə -, - ˈ n æ n -/ )
465-475: A raconteur , but lacked the requisite formal education, powerful friends, and money, and lost the election. Lincoln finished eighth out of 13 candidates (the top four were elected), though he received 277 of the 300 votes cast in the New Salem precinct. Lincoln served as New Salem's postmaster and later as county surveyor, but continued his voracious reading and decided to become a lawyer. Rather than studying in
620-438: A Chicago banker and financier, the older brother of Henry S. Taylor, also a Knox College alumnus, went on to graduate from Harvard Business School in 1932. In addition to being the great-great-nephew of industrialist Dr. Peter I. Stryker , who served as Governor of New Jersey and as a New Jersey legislator, Henry S. Taylor was the grandson of lawyer Henry Stryker, III , who was of one of the founders and real estate developers of
775-481: A Wall Street speculator and financier who often worked in partnership with Cornelius Vanderbilt , and who was responsible for the nearly $ 7 million stock price rally of the Michigan & Prairie du Chien Railroad Company in 1865. William Marston gained a personal profit of between $ 1 and $ 2 million, in 1865, from the artificial rally, which he manipulated and caused when he rapidly purchased nearly 22,000 shares of stock in
930-514: A close friendship with statesman and lawyer Abraham Lincoln. John W. Bunn was a principal member within, and one of the most important members and operators of, the Abraham Lincoln political network of friendship and political support, having once earned from Illinois historian and scholar George A. Lawrence the honorable description of having been one of the closest personal and political friends of Abraham Lincoln himself. Abraham Lincoln acted as
1085-506: A compromise; the measure would allow the electorate of each territory to decide the status of slavery. The legislation alarmed many Northerners, who sought to prevent the spread of slavery that could result, but Douglas's Kansas–Nebraska Act narrowly passed Congress in May 1854. Lincoln did not comment on the act until months later in his " Peoria Speech " of October 1854. Lincoln then declared his opposition to slavery, which he repeated en route to
1240-506: A condition now thought to be clinical depression . Later in life, Mary struggled with the stresses of losing her husband and sons, and in 1875 Robert committed her to an asylum. During 1831 and 1832, Lincoln worked at a general store in New Salem, Illinois . In 1832, he declared his candidacy for the Illinois House of Representatives , but interrupted his campaign to serve as a captain in
1395-846: A contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from both the Democratic and Republican parties. His allies, the War Democrats and the Radical Republicans , demanded harsh treatment of the Southern Confederates. He managed the factions by exploiting their mutual enmity, carefully distributing political patronage, and by appealing to the American people. Anti-war Democrats (called " Copperheads ") despised Lincoln, and some irreconcilable pro-Confederate elements went so far as to plot his assassination. His Gettysburg Address became one of
1550-508: A corporation that was capitalized initially at $ 200,000. The capital stock of the corporation was increased in 1874 to $ 400,000. Leonard Richardson served as president of the Iron Bank of Falls Village, Connecticut. William Douglas Richardson was a nephew of Leonard Richardson of Lime Rock, Connecticut . Leonard Richardson was a pioneer in the development of the iron products manufacturing industries of New England and Chicago, having served as
1705-486: A disciple of Henry Clay". Their party favored economic modernization in banking, tariffs to fund internal improvements including railroads, and urbanization. In 1843, Lincoln sought the Whig nomination for Illinois's 7th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives ; he was defeated by John J. Hardin , though he prevailed with the party in limiting Hardin to one term. Lincoln not only pulled off his strategy of gaining
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#17328456420981860-573: A federal court for his freedom. His petition was denied in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). In his opinion, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote that black people were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional for infringing upon slave owners' "property" rights. While many Democrats hoped that Dred Scott would end
2015-554: A former law partner of Lincoln. Jacob Bunn, John Williams, Ozias M. Hatch , Thomas Condell , and Robert Irwin were also among the initial financial contributors to the campaign fund. John Whitfield Bunn spent the remainder of his life in Illinois, and maintained a varied and successful commercial, industrial, and philanthropic career that lasted from 1847 until 1920. A multimillionaire, John W. Bunn exhibited financial commitment and philanthropic loyalty to public causes in Illinois. During
2170-639: A formidable trial combatant during cross-examinations and closing arguments. He partnered several years with Stephen T. Logan , and in 1844, began his practice with William Herndon , "a studious young man". On January 27, 1838, Abraham Lincoln, then 28 years old, delivered his first major speech at the Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois , after the murder of newspaper editor Elijah Parish Lovejoy in Alton. Lincoln warned that no trans-Atlantic military giant could ever crush
2325-594: A founder and owner of the immense railroad car wheel and iron products company known as the Barnum-Richardson Company of Chicago and Lime Rock, Connecticut . Milo Barnum Richardson , a son of Leonard Richardson, served as a director of the Barnum & Richardson Company along with other prominent Chicago industrialists, including John Crerar . Additionally, Milo B. Richardson served in close connection with Connecticut railroad financier Collis Potter Huntington in
2480-400: A future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of property. Types of investments include equity , debt , securities , real estate , infrastructure , currency , commodity , token , derivatives such as put and call options , futures , forwards , etc. This definition makes no distinction between
2635-718: A group largely loyal to Chase, Lincoln shrewdly made no reference to either of these Republican rivals for the nomination." In response to an inquiry about his ambitions, Lincoln said, "The taste is in my mouth a little". On May 9–10, 1860, the Illinois Republican State Convention was held in Decatur . Lincoln's followers organized a campaign team led by David Davis , Norman Judd , Leonard Swett , and Jesse DuBois, and Lincoln received his first endorsement. Exploiting his embellished frontier legend (clearing land and splitting fence rails), Lincoln's supporters adopted
2790-438: A household including her father, nine-year-old Abraham, and Nancy's 19-year-old orphan cousin, Dennis Hanks. Ten years later, on January 20, 1828, Sarah died while giving birth to a stillborn son, devastating Lincoln. On December 2, 1819, Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston , a widow from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, with three children of her own. Abraham became close to his stepmother and called her "Mother". Dennis Hanks said he
2945-692: A killing of American soldiers by Mexican cavalry patrol in disputed territory, and Polk insisted that Mexican soldiers had "invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil". Lincoln demanded that Polk show Congress the exact spot on which blood had been shed and prove that the spot was on American soil. The resolution was ignored in both Congress and the national papers, and it cost Lincoln political support in his district. One Illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him "spotty Lincoln". Lincoln later regretted some of his statements, especially his attack on presidential war-making powers. Lincoln had pledged in 1846 to serve only one term in
3100-490: A major and early corporate precursor to Citigroup . Henry Stryker Taylor was the first cousin of Capt. Joseph H. Hart , one of the top ace pilots of Pan American Airlines , and who had flown more than 2.5 million miles prior to dying in a fatal airline crash in the 1950s. John Hart, brother of Joseph Hart, and also a first cousin to Henry Stryker Taylor, was an international businessman involved in South American trade with
3255-564: A major oil field in Texas. George Whitfield Bunn served as an incorporator and director of the Bank of Tomales, California. In addition to having direct connection with the enormous body of civic and commercial associations held by his brother Jacob Bunn, John W. Bunn was connected indirectly to the Leonard Richardson and William Henry Barnum industrial dynasties of Connecticut and New York, through
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#17328456420983410-578: A member of the board of directors of the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad Company , a corporation whose equity capital exceeded $ 4 million in 1893. John W. Bunn served on the board of directors of the North & South Railroad Company of Illinois , a corporation capitalized at $ 2.8 million in 1890, and whose corporate precursor had been the St. Louis & Chicago Railroad Company . John W. Bunn served as founder and as
3565-862: A member of the board of directors of the Lincoln Mutual Casualty Company of Springfield, Illinois, and also served as an incorporator of the Lincoln Casualty Company (successor to the Lincoln Mutual Casualty Company), also of Springfield, Illinois, in 1920/1921. The contributions to the commercial development of Chicago that the Bunn brothers made included a broad portfolio of directorships and executive contributions to several railroad corporations of special economic significance to Chicago, Springfield, Illinois , and St. Louis, Missouri . Both Jacob and John W. Bunn were elected to
3720-455: A national and international network of industrial corporations ranging from Chicago railroads and banks to manufacturing corporations of global scale in production and economic impact. John Whitfield Bunn served as the treasurer of, and as one of the initial financial contributors to, the $ 5,000 1860 presidential campaign fund for Lincoln whose establishment and formation had been originally suggested to John W. Bunn by Judge Stephen Trigg Logan ,
3875-684: A part of his 1860 presidential campaign strategy Lincoln acquired, in May, 1859, the Illinois Staats-Anzeiger, a German-language newspaper of Springfield, Illinois , to further the cause of Republican Party politics among the German-speaking community of the region. Lincoln acquired the Illinois Staats-Anzeiger through his banker Jacob Bunn, who was a close personal friend and client of Lincoln. Jacob Bunn and his brother John Whitfield Bunn were close personal friends of Lincoln and his family, and were industrialists and financiers who established
4030-559: A patent for a flotation device for the movement of boats in shallow water. The idea was never commercialized, but it made Lincoln the only president to hold a patent. Lincoln appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court in 175 cases; he was sole counsel in 51 cases, of which 31 were decided in his favor. From 1853 to 1860, one of his largest clients was the Illinois Central Railroad . His legal reputation gave rise to
4185-552: A principal founder, consolidator, and organizer of the Wabash Railroad Company that resulted from the consolidation of 1889. The Wabash Railroad Company of 1889, of which John W. Bunn was a principal corporate founder, began its corporate existence with a capitalization of $ 52 million. The Wabash Railroad Company of 1889 comprised the former Toledo & Western Railroad Company , the Detroit & State Line Railroad Company ,
4340-647: A prosperous farm in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and at the time of Henry Bunn's death in 1859 he left an estate valued at a quantity in excess of $ 34,000. There exists evidence that Henry Bunn, the father of Jacob Bunn, John Whitfield Bunn, and George Whitfield Bunn, engaged in the banking business in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Jacob Bunn married Elizabeth Jane Ferguson (born May 12, 1832; died 1885), daughter of Benjamin Ferguson and Sarah (Irwin) Ferguson, both natives of Washington County, Pennsylvania. Benjamin Ferguson
4495-414: A significant Chicago safety deposit institution whose incorporators included John B. Drake , Joseph M. Medill , Potter Palmer , Lyman Trumbull , John Wentworth , W. F. Coolbaugh , Jonathan Young Scammon ( J. Young Scammon ), Ezra B. McCagg , John Villiers Farwell , Ira Y. Munn, George M. Pullman , William B. Ogden , and others. Jacob Bunn had also at one time been a founder, and the sole owner of
4650-486: A success over a powerful Whig opponent. Then followed his four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives for Sangamon County . He championed construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal , and later was a Canal Commissioner. He voted to expand suffrage beyond white landowners to all white males, but adopted a "free soil" stance opposing both slavery and abolition . In 1837, he declared, "[The] Institution of slavery
4805-533: A total of fewer than 12 months in aggregate by age 15. Nonetheless, he remained an avid reader and retained a lifelong interest in learning. Family, neighbors, and schoolmates recalled that his readings included the King James Bible , Aesop's Fables , John Bunyan 's The Pilgrim's Progress , Daniel Defoe 's Robinson Crusoe , and The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin . Despite being self-educated, Lincoln
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4960-575: A whole, these familial associations constituted a long-standing continuum of visionary business and civic work. George Whitfield Bunn , a brother of Jacob Bunn and John Whitfield Bunn, also born in Hunterdon County , New Jersey , became a pioneer banker and land developer in Marin County , California, during the nineteenth century, and once owned immense oil interests in Texas, including more than 10,000 acres (40 km) of property that later became
5115-489: Is risk attitude . Investor protection through government involves regulations and enforcement by government agencies to ensure that market is fair and fraudulent activities are eliminated. An example of a government agency that protects investors is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which works to protect reasonable investors in the United States . Similar protections exist in other countries, including
5270-451: Is a person whose primary occupation is either facilitating or directly providing investments to up-and-coming or established companies and businesses , typically involving large sums of money and usually involving private equity and venture capital , mergers and acquisitions , leveraged buyouts , corporate finance , investment banking , or large-scale asset management . A financier makes money through this process when their investment
5425-605: Is founded on both injustice and bad policy, but the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils." He echoed Henry Clay 's support for the American Colonization Society which advocated a program of abolition in conjunction with settling freed slaves in Liberia . He was admitted to the Illinois bar on September 9, 1836, and moved to Springfield and began to practice law under John T. Stuart , Mary Todd's cousin. Lincoln emerged as
5580-403: Is paid back with interest, from part of the company's equity awarded to them as specified by the business deal, or a financier can generate income through commission , performance, and management fees. A financier can also promote the success of a financed business by allowing the business to take advantage of the financier's reputation. The more experienced and capable the financier is, the more
5735-638: Is the fact that merchant banker Benjamin Hamilton Ferguson , the brother-in-law of Jacob Bunn, served as an incorporator of the Franklin Life Insurance Company of Illinois. The Franklin Life Insurance Company had nearly $ 178 million of life insurance in force by the end of 1939, and had over $ 1 billion of life insurance in force by 1951. George Wallace Bunn Sr. , a son of Jacob Bunn, and nephew of John Whitfield Bunn, had served as
5890-404: Is the strong man of the party ... and if I beat him, my victory will be hardly won." The Senate campaign featured seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas. These were the most famous political debates in American history; they had an atmosphere akin to a prizefight and drew crowds in the thousands. The principals stood in stark contrast both physically and politically. Lincoln warned that
6045-691: The Bunn-O-Matic Corporation , which also owns the "BUNN" brand. John W. Bunn was an active participant in the development of industrial production of pocket watches for the railroads, and served as a founder, director, and Vice President of the Illinois Watch Company of Springfield, Illinois. The Illinois Watch Company, a globally significant corporation with respect to the railroad logistics industry, operated branch corporate offices in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco. The assets of
6200-524: The Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War . When Lincoln returned home from the Black Hawk War , he planned to become a blacksmith, but instead formed a partnership with 21-year-old William Berry, with whom he purchased a New Salem general store on credit. Because a license was required to sell customers beverages, Berry obtained bartending licenses for $ 7 each for Lincoln and himself, and in 1833
6355-549: The Kansas–Nebraska Act , which opened the territories to slavery, he re-entered politics. He soon became a leader of the new Republican Party . He reached a national audience in the 1858 Senate campaign debates against Stephen A. Douglas . Lincoln ran for president in 1860 , sweeping the North to gain victory. Pro-slavery elements in the South viewed his election as a threat to slavery, and Southern states began seceding from
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6510-477: The Lincoln-Berry General Store became a tavern as well. As licensed bartenders, Lincoln and Berry were able to sell spirits, including liquor, for 12 cents a pint. They offered a wide range of alcoholic beverages as well as food, including takeout dinners. But Berry became an alcoholic, was often too drunk to work, and Lincoln ended up running the store by himself. Although the economy was booming,
6665-607: The Michigan Southern Railroad Company, was one of the principal founders of the New York Central Railroad , and established, controlled, and presided over numerous extensive manufacturing concerns in the State of New York. The Michigan Southern Railroad system was capitalized at $ 200 million in 1914–1915. Financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of
6820-508: The Panic of 1873 , the J. Bunn Bank was forced into liquidation. Jacob Bunn voluntarily effected the liquidation of the bank, and assumed liability for indebtedness that totaled approximately $ 800,000 in 1878. Jacob Bunn, who acted from deep convictions of honor, honesty, and loyalty, personally assumed liability for the amount of indebtedness that remained after the forced sale of the bank assets failed to produce capital adequate to full satisfaction of
6975-616: The Slave Power was threatening the values of republicanism, and he accused Douglas of distorting the Founding Fathers' premise that all men are created equal . In his Freeport Doctrine , Douglas argued that, despite the Dred Scott decision, which he claimed to support, local settlers, under the doctrine of popular sovereignty , should be free to choose whether to allow slavery within their territory, and he accused Lincoln of having joined
7130-625: The United Kingdom where individual investors have certain protections via the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Company dividends are paid from net income , which has the tax already deducted. Therefore, shareholders are given some respite with a preferential tax rate of 15% on " qualified dividends " in the event of the company being domiciled in the United States. Alternatively, in another country having
7285-427: The $ 800,000 debt. The debts were reduced by forced sale of the assets of the J. Bunn Bank to an amount of $ 572,000. Consequently, Jacob Bunn, with the assistance of his brother John W. Bunn, and the later assistance of his children, other family members, and numerous close associates and friends, managed to satisfy the remaining 28.5 percent of the original indebtedness. Although Jacob Bunn died in 1897, his children, with
7440-545: The 1858 election, newspapers frequently mentioned Lincoln as a potential Republican presidential candidate, rivaled by William H. Seward , Salmon P. Chase , Edward Bates , and Simon Cameron . While Lincoln was popular in the Midwest, he lacked support in the Northeast and was unsure whether to seek the office. In January 1860, Lincoln told a group of political allies that he would accept the presidential nomination if offered and, in
7595-679: The Chicago Inter-Ocean Company represented, in 1877, the largest combined circulation of any newspaper in Chicago. The total annual circulation of the Chicago Inter-Ocean had achieved approximately eleven million by 1877. Jacob Bunn had established a private bank that was called the J. Bunn Bank of Springfield, Illinois. The J. Bunn Bank rapidly accumulated large capital assets during the nineteenth century, but due to what became an overextensive portfolio of real estate holdings during
7750-719: The Cleveland financier who helped to organize the American Tobacco Company , and the United States Steel Company , and who was a partner of tobacco industrialists and university founders James Buchanan Duke and Benjamin Newton Duke . Charles Cunningham , Esq., the paternal great-uncle of Henry Stryker Taylor, was a native of Scotland , served as the British Consul (and earlier as Vice Consul) to Russia, and
7905-528: The Farmers National Bank of Virginia, Illinois. Robert Taylor, the father of Robert Cunningham Taylor, was a farmer, cattle dealer, grain merchant , and land entrepreneur, who served as vice president and director of the Farmers National Bank of Virginia, Illinois, as a Trustee of Virginia Township, an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and a local school board member. Robert Cunningham Taylor Jr.,
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#17328456420988060-583: The House. Realizing Clay was unlikely to win the presidency, he supported General Zachary Taylor for the Whig nomination in the 1848 presidential election . Taylor won and Lincoln hoped in vain to be appointed Commissioner of the United States General Land Office . The administration offered to appoint him secretary or governor of the Oregon Territory as consolation. This distant territory
8215-578: The Illinois Watch Company were sold, during 1927 and 1928, to the Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania , for a sum in excess of $ 5 million. John Whitfield Bunn also worked with Jacob Bunn and Benjamin Hamilton Ferguson in the management of the Illinois Watch Company. The Illinois Watch Company was estimated by one source to have paid out nearly $ 20 million in employee wages by approximately 1920. The Sangamo Electric Company
8370-410: The J. & J. W. Bunn Grocery Company, the profitability of the firm increased, and in 1880 the sales volume of the firm reached $ 450,000, with prediction in 1880 of sales volume growth to $ 500,000 for 1881. This venture subsequently became known as " Bunn Capitol Wholesale Grocery Company " in the 1950s. George R. Bunn Jr. managed this company and created a beverage division that eventually turned into
8525-548: The J. Bunn Bank of Springfield, Illinois. John W. Bunn served as director of the Springfield Gas & Electric Company in 1916. John Whitfield Bunn, Jacob Bunn, and the descendants, collateral, and marital relatives of the Bunn brothers represented a continental network of corporate, industrial, and financial entrepreneurship, executive leadership, and civic development. Several of the historically important familial associations of John and Jacob Bunn are provided below. Taken as
8680-539: The Know-Nothings nominated former Whig President Millard Fillmore . Buchanan prevailed, while Republican William Henry Bissell won election as Governor of Illinois, and Lincoln became a leading Republican in Illinois. Dred Scott was a slave whose master took him from a slave state to a territory that was free as a result of the Missouri Compromise . After Scott was returned to the slave state, he petitioned
8835-812: The Michigan & Prairie du Chien Railroad Company. The Irwin family also was interconnected with the Holden Family of Cleveland, Ohio , which owned the Island Creek Coal Company, the Pond Creek Coal Company, and the Forest City Publishing Company, publisher of The Plain Dealer newspaper, and the Hollenden Hotel. John Bunn spent his childhood and early adulthood on the family farm located near Milford, New Jersey . In 1847, at
8990-445: The Michigan summer resorts of the Little Traverse Bay region of Michigan. Henry S. Taylor was a descendant of numerous founding financial and industrial families of Massachusetts , Connecticut , Rhode Island , Vermont , and New York, and was a descendant of Mayflower passengers William Brewster , John Alden , and William Mullins . H. S. Taylor was the great-great-grandson of Dr. David Gill McClure of Rutland, Vermont , who
9145-522: The Moon was at a low angle, drastically reducing visibility. Armstrong was acquitted. In an 1859 murder case, leading up to his presidential campaign, Lincoln elevated his profile with his defense of Simeon Quinn "Peachy" Harrison, who was a third cousin; Harrison was also the grandson of Lincoln's political opponent, Rev. Peter Cartwright . Harrison was charged with the murder of Greek Crafton who, as he lay dying of his wounds, confessed to Cartwright that he had provoked Harrison. Lincoln angrily protested
9300-615: The New York Tribune, at that time wrote up an unflattering account of Lincoln's compromising position on slavery and his reluctance to challenge the court's Dred Scott ruling, which was promptly used against him by his political rivals. On February 27, 1860, powerful New York Republicans invited Lincoln to give a speech at Cooper Union , in which he argued that the Founding Fathers of the United States had little use for popular sovereignty and had repeatedly sought to restrict slavery. He insisted that morality required opposition to slavery and rejected any "groping for some middle ground between
9455-682: The President of the Wabash Railway Company of Illinois in 1877. The Wabash Railroad system possessed approximately 16,000 rail cars (rolling stock) in 1880. John Whitfield Bunn served as one of the five incorporators of the Wabash Eastern Railroad of Illinois , along with Gen. George Smith, Charles Henrotin , Abram M. Pence, and John N. Harlan. The Wabash Eastern Railroad Company was incorporated in May, 1889, with principal corporate offices at Chicago, Illinois, and an initial capitalization of $ 12 million. Bunn served as incorporator and director with Charles Henrotin, George W. Smith, John Harlan, and Abram M. Pence, all of Chicago. John W. Bunn participated as
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#17328456420989610-410: The Sangamo Electric founders, Robert Carr Lanphier Sr. Bunn served for many years as president and director of the historically significant Springfield Marine Bank of Springfield, Illinois. As President of the Springfield Marine Bank, which was the oldest bank in Springfield, Illinois (having been established in 1851), John W. Bunn built the financial resources of the institution successfully. In 1920,
9765-467: The U.S. as a nation. "It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher", said Lincoln. Prior to that, on April 28, 1836, a black man, Francis McIntosh , was burned alive in St. Louis , Missouri . Zann Gill describes how these two murders set off a chain reaction that ultimately prompted Abraham Lincoln to run for President. True to his record, Lincoln professed to friends in 1861 to be "an old line Whig,
9920-591: The Union and abolish slavery. He is often ranked in both popular and scholarly polls as the greatest president in American history. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln , in a log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky . He was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln , an Englishman who migrated from Hingham, Norfolk , to its namesake, Hingham, Massachusetts , in 1638. The family through subsequent generations migrated west, passing through New Jersey , Pennsylvania , and Virginia . Lincoln
10075-399: The Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other." The speech created a stark image of the danger of disunion. The stage was then set for the election of the Illinois legislature which would, in turn, select Lincoln or Douglas. When informed of Lincoln's nomination, Douglas stated, "[Lincoln]
10230-510: The United States, and Henry Bunn , the son of Jacob Bunn Sr., was an aviator and entrepreneur whose vision for Sangamo Electric was crucial to the entrance of the company into the aviation industry. Furthermore, Sangamo Electric Company acquired Capitol Aviation, Inc. , a general fixed-base operator ( FBO ) with offices throughout the United States. The name and logo of Sangamo Electric have come into use again with Sangamo BioSciences, founded by Edward Oliver Lanphier II , great-grandson of one of
10385-456: The United States. Captain Joseph H. Hart was an expert pilot of the Pan Am Clippers, and was renowned for his knowledge and expertise with respect to this particular aircraft. Henry Stryker Taylor was the cousin of the owners of the J. Capps & Son Company of Jacksonville, Illinois , which manufactured clothing and other textiles, achieving sales of $ 1 million annually by 1901, and employing around 500 people by 1901. William Thomas Capps Sr.,
10540-419: The Whigs were irreparably split by the Kansas–Nebraska Act and other efforts to compromise on the slavery issue. Reflecting on the demise of his party, Lincoln wrote in 1855, "I think I am a Whig, but others say there are no Whigs, and that I am an abolitionist. ... I do no more than oppose the extension of slavery." The new Republican Party was formed as a northern party dedicated to antislavery, drawing from
10695-415: The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. William Douglas Richardson served on the personal staff of architect Daniel Burnham as the General Superintendent of Buildings at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago. Consequently, John Whitfield Bunn, William Douglas Richardson, and Milo Barnum Richardson, all of whom were related either by blood or through marriage, each contributed to the development of
10850-400: The abolitionists. Lincoln's argument assumed a moral tone, as he claimed that Douglas represented a conspiracy to promote slavery. Douglas's argument was more legal in nature, claiming that Lincoln was defying the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court as exercised in the Dred Scott decision. Though the Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, the Democrats won more seats, and
11005-419: The age of 16, John W. Bunn left New Jersey to join his older brother Jacob Bunn in the wholesale grocery trade in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois , having been induced to make the migration to Illinois by the positive and promising description that Jacob Bunn had furnished during a return visit to the New Jersey farm where both men had been raised. In 1858, John W. Bunn achieved the status of partner in
11160-509: The antislavery wing of the Whig Party and combining Free Soil , Liberty , and antislavery Democratic Party members, Lincoln resisted early Republican entreaties, fearing that the new party would become a platform for extreme abolitionists. Lincoln held out hope for rejuvenating the Whigs, though he lamented his party's growing closeness with the nativist Know Nothing movement. In 1854, Lincoln
11315-881: The attorney for Jacob Bunn, who was the older brother of John W. Bunn. In his very own words, in the relation of an interview concerning his personal memoirs and acquaintanceship with Abraham Lincoln, John Bunn stated that he and Lincoln had been extremely close friends and political allies. Abraham Lincoln served on the committee for the formation of the Alton & Springfield Railroad Company along with Jacob Bunn, leading Springfield merchant and banker John Williams, John Todd Stuart , John Calhoun , B. C. Webster , J. N. Brown , Pascal P. Enos , William Pickrell , and S. B. Opdycke . Jacob Bunn and John Whitfield Bunn , along with many of their colleagues and friends, such as Stephen Trigg Logan , John Williams, and Ozias M. Hatch , became close friends of Abraham Lincoln, and assisted Lincoln in various ways in his 1860 presidential campaign. As
11470-787: The board of directors of the Caledonian-American Life Insurance Company of New York City, which was organized in 1898. In harmony with the railroad products manufacturing, as well as the financial heritages of the Richardson family, Milo B. Richardson served as a director of the Rochester Car Wheel Works Company of New York, the Hartford & Connecticut Western Railroad Company , and the Falls Village Savings Bank . Elizabeth Jane Ferguson ,
11625-584: The board of directors of the Hannibal and Naples Railroad Company in 1874. John W. Bunn contributed to the financing and incorporation of the Kansas City Air Line Railway Company , a corporation capitalized initially in 1879 at $ 600,000, and based in Springfield, Illinois, which served as a western expansion of the preexisting Indianapolis, Decatur & Springfield Railroad Company , and that
11780-461: The business struggled and went into debt, causing Lincoln to sell his share. In his first campaign speech after returning from his military service, Lincoln observed a supporter in the crowd under attack, grabbed the assailant by his "neck and the seat of his trousers", and tossed him. In the campaign, Lincoln advocated for navigational improvements on the Sangamon River . He could draw crowds as
11935-502: The commitment to the fulfillment of their father's desire to repay the entire indebtedness, established a memorial trust that repaid, in 1925, the entire remaining portion of the original debt, a distribution that affected approximately 5,000 persons. The repayment was made with additional interest at the rate of 5 percent per annum. John W. Bunn was a founder, director, and Vice President of the Springfield Iron Company , which
12090-486: The deposit accounts held at the Springfield Marine Bank amounted to approximately $ 5 million. Eventually, John W. Bunn expanded his activities to include numerous industrial and financial contributions to the economic growth and development of Chicago, Illinois . Bunn acted as a founding member of the shoe and boot manufacturing firm of M. Selz & Company, and held the executive position of Vice President with
12245-535: The development of intra-urban transportational infrastructure in Springfield, Illinois , and helped to establish and build the Springfield City Railway Company in March 1866. In 1867, John W. Bunn acted as an incorporator of the $ 50,000 Belleville City Railway Company of Belleville, Illinois . Jacob Bunn, also a railroad capitalist, the older brother of John Whitfield Bunn, had served in 1861 as one of
12400-559: The dispute over slavery in the territories, the decision sparked further outrage in the North. Lincoln denounced it as the product of a conspiracy of Democrats to support the Slave Power . He argued the decision was at variance with the Declaration of Independence; he said that while the founding fathers did not believe all men equal in every respect, they believed all men were equal "in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and
12555-417: The early 1830s, he met Mary Owens from Kentucky. Late in 1836, Lincoln agreed to a match with Owens if she returned to New Salem. Owens arrived that November and he courted her; however, they both had second thoughts. On August 16, 1837, he wrote Owens a letter saying he would not blame her if she ended the relationship, and she never replied. In 1839, Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois , and
12710-610: The establishment of the Ensign Manufacturing Company of Huntington, West Virginia . Milo Barnum Richardson , nephew of William Henry Barnum of Connecticut, President of the Barnum- Richardson Company, son of Leonard Richardson, and a first cousin of William Douglas Richardson and Ada Willard (Richardson) Bunn, served as a member of the Connecticut State Board of World's Fair Commissioners during
12865-741: The extended Lincoln family, including Abraham, moved west to Illinois, a free state, and settled in Macon County . Abraham then became increasingly distant from Thomas, in part, due to his father's lack of interest in education. In 1831, as Thomas and other family members prepared to move to a new homestead in Coles County, Illinois , Abraham struck out on his own. He made his home in New Salem, Illinois , for six years. Lincoln and some friends took goods, including live hogs, by flatboat to New Orleans, Louisiana , where he first witnessed slavery. Speculation persists that Lincoln's first romantic interest
13020-485: The factories was transferred to five employees who had begun their careers with the firm as office boys. Prior to 1894, the Selz, Schwab Company had generated annual revenues in excess of $ 2 million. The Selz, Schwab Shoe Company once enjoyed the status of being one of the largest shoe and boot manufacturers, if not the largest shoe and boot manufacturer, in the world, and was known to have filled individual foreign country orders to
13175-586: The family moved to Indiana , where the land surveys and titles were more reliable. They settled in an "unbroken forest" in Hurricane Township, Perry County, Indiana . When the Lincolns moved to Indiana it "had just been admitted to the Union" as a "free" (non-slaveholding) state, except that, though "no new enslaved people were allowed, ... currently enslaved individuals remained so". In 1860, Lincoln noted that
13330-675: The family settled in Hardin County, Kentucky , in the early 1800s. Lincoln's mother Nancy Lincoln is widely assumed to be the daughter of Lucy Hanks. Thomas and Nancy married on June 12, 1806, in Washington County, and moved to Elizabethtown, Kentucky . They had three children: Sarah , Abraham, and Thomas, who died as an infant. Thomas Lincoln bought multiple farms in Kentucky, but could not get clear property titles to any, losing hundreds of acres of land in property disputes. In 1816,
13485-829: The family's move to Indiana was "partly on account of slavery", but mainly due to land title difficulties. In Kentucky and Indiana, Thomas worked as a farmer, cabinetmaker, and carpenter. At various times he owned farms, livestock, and town lots, paid taxes, sat on juries, appraised estates, and served on county patrols. Thomas and Nancy were members of a Separate Baptist Church , which "condemned profanity, intoxication, gossip, horse racing, and dancing." Most of its members opposed slavery. Overcoming financial challenges, Thomas in 1827 obtained clear title to 80 acres (32 ha) in Indiana, an area that became known as Little Pigeon Creek Community . On October 5, 1818, Nancy Lincoln died from milk sickness , leaving 11-year-old Sarah in charge of
13640-467: The financier as "a man who can make two dollars grow for himself where one grew for someone else before". Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( / ˈ l ɪ ŋ k ən / LINK -ən ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States , serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War , defending
13795-481: The financier will be able to contribute to the success of the financed entity, and the greater reward the financier will reap. The term, financier, is French , and derives from finance or payment . Financier is someone who handles money. Certain financier avenues require degrees and licenses including venture capitalists , hedge fund managers, trust fund managers, accountants , stockbrokers , financial advisors , or even public treasurers . Personal investing on
13950-411: The financiers bring to bear in their decisions gives a wide range of entrepreneurial ideas a chance for insightful evaluation. And, importantly, the financier and the entrepreneur do not need the state's or social partners' approval. Nor are they accountable later on to such social bodies if the project goes badly, not even to the financier's investors. So projects that would be too opaque and uncertain for
14105-413: The first six rounds of voting, he was unable to obtain a majority. Lincoln instructed his backers to vote for Lyman Trumbull . Trumbull was an antislavery Democrat and had received few votes in the earlier ballots; his supporters, also antislavery Democrats, had vowed not to support any Whig. Lincoln's decision to withdraw enabled his Whig supporters and Trumbull's antislavery Democrats to combine and defeat
14260-453: The first time, Illinois Republicans held a convention to agree upon a Senate candidate, and Lincoln won the nomination with little opposition. Lincoln accepted the nomination with great enthusiasm and zeal. After his nomination he delivered his House Divided Speech , with the biblical reference Mark 3:25 , "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect
14415-533: The following months, several local papers endorsed his candidacy. Over the coming months Lincoln was tireless, making nearly fifty speeches along the campaign trail. By the quality and simplicity of his rhetoric, he quickly became the champion of the Republican party. However, despite his overwhelming support in the Midwestern United States , he was less appreciated in the east. Horace Greeley , editor of
14570-453: The following year they became engaged. She was the daughter of Robert Smith Todd , a wealthy lawyer and businessman in Lexington, Kentucky . Their wedding, which was set for January 1, 1841, was canceled because Lincoln did not appear, but they reconciled and married on November 4, 1842, in the Springfield home of Mary's sister. While anxiously preparing for the nuptials, he was asked where he
14725-565: The immense Chicago Republican Newspaper Company , which had been chartered by the state of Illinois in 1865, with an initial capitalization of $ 500,000. The Chicago Republican Newspaper Company, which constituted the institutional precursor of the Chicago Inter-Ocean , provided the corporate framework upon which the Inter-Ocean built. The Inter-Ocean Company achieved an average weekly circulation of 74,200 in 1877. The combined circulation of
14880-555: The investors in the primary and secondary markets . That is, someone who provides a business with capital and someone who buys a stock are both investors. An investor who owns stock is a shareholder . There are two types of investors: retail investors and institutional investors . A retail investor is also known as an individual investor . There are several sub-types of institutional investor: Investors might also be classified according to their profiles . In this respect, an important distinctive investor psychology trait
15035-450: The iron products manufacturing industry of the United States, as well as to the leadership and execution of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair). Jacob and John Whitfield Bunn, along with William Douglas Richardson, Benjamin Hamilton Ferguson, and others, constituted a cooperative association for investment, entrepreneurship, industrial expansion opportunity, and civic and charitable causes. Milo B. Richardson served on
15190-469: The judge's initial decision to exclude Cartwright's testimony about the confession as inadmissible hearsay . Lincoln argued that the testimony involved a dying declaration and was not subject to the hearsay rule. Instead of holding Lincoln in contempt of court as expected, the judge, a Democrat, reversed his ruling and admitted the testimony into evidence, resulting in Harrison's acquittal. The debate over
15345-412: The label of "The Rail Candidate". In 1860, Lincoln described himself: "I am in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and gray eyes." Michael Martinez wrote about the effective imaging of Lincoln by his campaign. At times he was presented as the plain-talking "Rail Splitter" and at other times he
15500-422: The largest land companies in United States history, and who became one of the foremost riparian rights lawyers in the United States, serving variously as junior general counsel to Miller & Lux Company of San Francisco, and as general counsel to Salyer Land Company of California, and to Crockett & Gambogey Company of California. Henry S. Taylor was a cousin, through maternal lineage, of Oliver Hazard Payne ,
15655-551: The largest shareholders of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company (renowned financier Howard Butcher of Philadelphia was at one time also one of the largest individual shareholders of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company). Henry S. Taylor, the son of bank president and Illinois real estate magnate Robert Cunningham Taylor , had once run the 100-yard dash in 9.6 seconds, held numerous track records, and
15810-448: The law office. Their father, it seemed, was often too absorbed in his work to notice his children's behavior. Herndon recounted, "I have felt many and many a time that I wanted to wring their little necks, and yet out of respect for Lincoln I kept my mouth shut. Lincoln did not note what his children were doing or had done." The deaths of their sons Eddie and Willie had profound effects on both parents. Lincoln suffered from " melancholy ",
15965-523: The legislature re-elected Douglas. However, Lincoln's articulation of the issues had given him a national political presence. In May 1859, Lincoln purchased the Illinois Staats-Anzeiger , a German-language newspaper that was consistently supportive; most of the state's 130,000 German Americans voted for Democrats, but the German-language paper mobilized Republican support. In the aftermath of
16120-739: The mainstream Democratic candidate, Joel Aldrich Matteson . Violent political confrontations in Kansas continued, and opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act remained strong throughout the North. As the 1856 elections approached, Lincoln joined the Republicans and attended the Bloomington Convention , which formally established the Illinois Republican Party . The convention platform endorsed Congress's right to regulate slavery in
16275-550: The marriage of a nephew, George Wallace Bunn Sr., who married Ada Willard Richardson. Ada Willard Richardson, the daughter-in-law of Jacob Bunn, and niece-in-law of John W. Bunn, was the daughter of renowned building contractor William Douglas Richardson. John Whitfield Bunn and William Douglas Richardson were associates in business, and both men served as founders and directors of the Springfield Iron Company, in August, 1871,
16430-459: The mercury watthour meter (1905), the sulphur-impregnated cylindrical paper condenser meter, different types of magnetos, amperehour meters, and the Delco amperehour meter for the first electric starters used in automobiles. The company eventually had a presence in nearly every major country of the world by 1939. Sangamo Electric Company made many major contributions to the aircraft components industries of
16585-474: The midst of the nation's western expansion, particularly river barge conflicts under the many new railroad bridges. As a riverboat man, Lincoln initially favored those interests, but ultimately represented whoever hired him. He later represented a bridge company against a riverboat company in Hurd v. Rock Island Bridge Company , a landmark case involving a canal boat that sank after hitting a bridge. In 1849 he received
16740-642: The month of February 1867, Bunn was an incorporator of two separate insurance companies. He served as an incorporator of the American Standard Life Insurance Company of Springfield, Illinois, on February 25, 1867. Like his younger brother John W. Bunn, Jacob Bunn was also an incorporator of the American Standard Life Insurance Company. Additionally, John W. Bunn served as an incorporator of the DuBois Insurance Company of Springfield, Illinois, on February 20, 1867. Of historical note
16895-623: The most famous speeches in American history. Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the South's trade. He suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and elsewhere , and he averted war with Britain by defusing the Trent Affair . In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation , which declared
17050-523: The nation . They formed the Confederate States of America, which began seizing federal military bases in the South. A little over one month after Lincoln assumed the presidency, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter , a U.S. fort in South Carolina. Following the bombardment, Lincoln mobilized forces to suppress the rebellion and restore the union. Lincoln, a moderate Republican , had to navigate
17205-716: The nation as a constitutional union , defeating the Confederacy , playing a major role in the abolition of slavery , expanding the power of the federal government , and modernizing the U.S. economy . Lincoln was born into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky and was raised on the frontier , mainly in Indiana . He was self-educated and became a lawyer, Whig Party leader, Illinois state legislator , and U.S. representative from Illinois . In 1849, he returned to his successful law practice in Springfield, Illinois . In 1854, angered by
17360-410: The nickname "Honest Abe". In an 1858 criminal trial, Lincoln represented William "Duff" Armstrong, who was on trial for the murder of James Preston Metzker. The case is famous for Lincoln's use of a fact established by judicial notice to challenge the credibility of an eyewitness. After an opposing witness testified to seeing the crime in the moonlight, Lincoln produced a Farmers' Almanac showing
17515-604: The nomination in 1846, but also won the election. He was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation, but as dutiful as any participated in almost all votes and made speeches that toed the party line. He was assigned to the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads and the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department . Lincoln teamed with Joshua R. Giddings on a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation for
17670-401: The office of an established attorney, as was the custom, Lincoln borrowed legal texts from attorneys John Todd Stuart and Thomas Drummond , purchased books including Blackstone 's Commentaries and Chitty 's Pleadings , and read law on his own. He later said of his legal education that "I studied with nobody." Lincoln's second state house campaign in 1834, this time as a Whig , was
17825-557: The official reorganizers and incorporators of the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, along with other Chicago corporate and civic leaders including William B. Ogden . The Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, having undergone consolidation on several occasions, possessed issued equity stock of nearly $ 40 million in 1919. In March 1869, Jacob Bunn had also been an incorporator of the Chicago Secure Depository Company ,
17980-483: The other hand, has no requirements and is open to all using the stock market or by word-of-mouth requests for money. A financier "will be a specialized financial intermediary in the sense that it has experience in liquidating the type of firm it is lending to". Economist Edmund Phelps has argued that the financier plays a role in directing capital to investments that governments and social organizations are constrained from playing: [T]he pluralism of experience that
18135-698: The owners, enforcement to capture fugitive slaves, and a popular vote on the matter. He dropped the bill when it eluded Whig support. On foreign and military policy, Lincoln spoke against the Mexican–American War , which he imputed President James K. Polk 's desire for "military glory — that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood". He supported the Wilmot Proviso , a failed proposal to ban slavery in any U.S. territory won from Mexico. Lincoln emphasized his opposition to Polk by drafting and introducing his Spot Resolutions . The war had begun with
18290-446: The period lasting from 1847 until 1920, John W. Bunn accomplished numerous commercial and industrial objectives, and contributed to the development of numerous distinct industrial and civic sectors of Illinois during the nineteenth century and the twentieth century. Many of the businesses and civic institutions with which the Bunn brothers and their extended family were connected are discussed below. Beginning as an entry-level employee in
18445-469: The presidency. He said the Kansas Act had a " declared indifference, but as I must think, a covert real zeal for the spread of slavery. I cannot but hate it. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world...." Lincoln's attacks on the Kansas–Nebraska Act marked his return to political life. Nationally
18600-610: The previously existing Wabash Railroad Company, the Wabash Eastern Railroad Company of Indiana , and the Wabash Eastern Railroad Company of Illinois . John W. Bunn also served as a member of the first board of directors of the Wabash Railroad Company that was created through the 1889 railroad corporation consolidation. By 1902 the Wabash Railroad Company had corporate assets that amounted to slightly less than $ 150 million. John W. Bunn assumed an active role in
18755-542: The pursuit of happiness". In 1858, Douglas was up for re-election in the U.S. Senate, and Lincoln hoped to defeat him. Many in the party felt that a former Whig should be nominated in 1858, and Lincoln's 1856 campaigning and support of Trumbull had earned him a favor. Some eastern Republicans supported Douglas for his opposition to the Lecompton Constitution and admission of Kansas as a slave state . Many Illinois Republicans resented this eastern interference. For
18910-489: The realm of history, each of these businesses left an important legacy of honorable industrial, commercial, and civic vision for Illinois, the Midwest, and the United States. Jacob Bunn (March 18, 1814 – October 16, 1897), an older brother of John Whitfield Bunn, was also an important Illinois industrialist, financier, and close friend of Abraham Lincoln. John W. Bunn was the third son of Henry Bunn and Mary (Sigler) Bunn, both of Hunterdon County, New Jersey . The Bunn family
19065-523: The right and the wrong". Many in the audience thought he appeared awkward and even ugly. But Lincoln demonstrated intellectual leadership, which brought him into contention. Journalist Noah Brooks reported, "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience". Historian David Herbert Donald described the speech as "a superb political move for an unannounced presidential aspirant. Appearing in Seward's home state, sponsored by
19220-400: The scale of 1 million pairs of shoes, and 500,000 pairs of shoes. The corporate revenue was a multimillion-dollar figure in the early twentieth century, and the corporation rapidly grew to be one of the largest manufacturing concerns in the United States. By approximately 1931, one of the eleven factories owned by Selz, Schwab & Company was generating, by itself, $ 6 million annually. During
19375-474: The shoe manufacturer for several years prior to his death. The Chicago firm, known later as Selz, Schwab & Company , rapidly achieved international scope in its markets, and extraordinary magnitude and profitability in its manufacturing business. The Selz, Schwab Company at one time owned and operated eleven factories, and after the company dissolved and ceased to exist, during the Great Depression, one of
19530-576: The slaves in the states "in rebellion" to be free. It also directed the Army and Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons" and to receive them "into the armed service of the United States." Lincoln pressured border states to outlaw slavery, and he promoted the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution , which abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime. Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign . He sought to heal
19685-430: The state or social partners to endorse can be undertaken. The concept of the financier has been distinguished from that of a mere capitalist based on the asserted higher level of judgment required of the financier. However, financiers have also been mocked for their perceived tendency to generate wealth at the expense of others, and without engaging in tangible labor. For example, humorist George Helgesen Fitch described
19840-643: The status of slavery in the territories failed to alleviate tensions between the slave-holding South and the free North, with the failure of the Compromise of 1850 , a legislative package designed to address the issue. In his 1852 eulogy for Clay, Lincoln highlighted the latter's support for gradual emancipation and opposition to "both extremes" on the slavery issue. As the slavery debate in the Nebraska and Kansas territories became particularly acrimonious, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed popular sovereignty as
19995-525: The territories and backed the admission of Kansas as a free state. Lincoln gave the final speech of the convention supporting the party platform and called for the preservation of the Union. At the June 1856 Republican National Convention , though Lincoln received support to run as vice president, John C. Frémont and William Dayton were on the ticket, which Lincoln supported throughout Illinois. The Democrats nominated former Secretary of State James Buchanan and
20150-544: The uncle of Henry S. Taylor, was a founder of the Midland Life Insurance Company of Chicago. Henry Taylor was the first cousin of Henry McClure Capps , prominent Hollywood art director, husband of Ruth Goldwyn, and son-in-law of renowned producer Samuel Goldwyn . Henry Stryker Taylor was the father-in-law of Thomas Keister Greer, Esq. , a renowned corporate lawyer and trial lawyer of Virginia and California, who either represented or helped to build several of
20305-511: The war-torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox , he was attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary , when he was fatally shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth . Lincoln is remembered as a martyr and a national hero for his wartime leadership and for his efforts to preserve
20460-408: The wholesale grocery firm of "J. Bunn Company." The Springfield, Illinois, grocery enterprise altered its corporate name to reflect the new change in partnership, changing its official name to "J. & J. W. Bunn Company." Coming to adulthood in the quickly developing state of Illinois, and achieving an increasingly prominent status among the commercial leadership of Illinois, John W. Bunn developed
20615-452: The wholesale grocery house owned by his brother, John rapidly ascended to increased levels of responsibility, not only within the grocery enterprise, but within a diverse array of additional commercial and civic organizations in Illinois, and throughout the United States as a whole. The J. & J. W. Bunn Grocery Company generated approximate sales of $ 200,000 around 1871. During the period when John W. Bunn acted with executive leadership within
20770-515: The wife of Jacob Bunn and herself a prominent Illinois philanthropist, was related maternally to the Holden family of Cleveland, Ohio, which owned the Island Creek Coal Company , one of the most important and profitable coal corporations in the United States. Elizabeth Alice Bunn, a great-granddaughter of Jacob Bunn, married Illinois banker and financier Henry Stryker Taylor , who was one of
20925-485: Was Ann Rutledge , whom he met when he moved to New Salem. However, witness testimony, given decades afterward, showed a lack of any specific recollection of a romance between the two. Rutledge died on August 25, 1835, most likely of typhoid fever ; Lincoln took the death very hard, saying that he could not bear the idea of rain falling on Ann's grave. Lincoln sank into a serious episode of depression, and this gave rise to speculation that he had been in love with her. In
21080-727: Was Presbyterian, and they recorded the baptisms of several children in a Presbyterian Church located at one time in Alexandria, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. There exists evidence that the Bunn family ancestors had originally purchased property from the heirs of William Penn . Henry Bunn was born October 19, 1772, in Alexandria Township , Hunterdon County, New Jersey . Henry Bunn was the son of Jacob Bunn (born 1736; died 1808) and Maria Elizabetha (surname unknown) (born 1744; died 1817). Henry Bunn married Mary Sigler (born April 7, 1788; died July 31, 1833). Henry Bunn and Mary (Sigler) Bunn owned
21235-498: Was a Democratic stronghold, and acceptance of the post would have disrupted his legal and political career in Illinois, so he declined and resumed his law practice. In his Springfield practice, Lincoln handled "every kind of business that could come before a prairie lawyer". Twice a year he appeared for 10 consecutive weeks in county seats in the Midstate county courts; this continued for 16 years. Lincoln handled transportation cases in
21390-633: Was a building contractor who contributed to the construction of the old Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. Sarah Irwin was the sister of the bankers and merchants Robert Irwin (born November 7, 1808; died 1865) and John Irwin (born January 20, 1804; died 1857). Robert Irwin acted as the personal debt collector for Abraham Lincoln, and served as a member of the board of directors of the State Bank of Illinois. The Irwins were all natives of Monongahela City, Pennsylvania, were Presbyterian, and were of Scottish origin. A daughter of Robert Irwin married William Marston,
21545-793: Was a founder of Lansing, Michigan , and its business community. Henry Brigham McClure , an Illinois judge, college founder, and capitalist who was the maternal great-grandfather of Henry Stryker Taylor, had served in the law partnership of Yates, Brown & McClure with Richard Yates , a Governor of Illinois during the Civil War. Henry S. Taylor was a descendant of the Henshaw family of Connecticut , Illinois, and California, whose business interests included international shipping, shipbuilding, electric power generation, water rights acquisition and development in California, and multinational banking. Henry S. Taylor
21700-586: Was a very close personal friend and business associate of both of the Bunn brothers. Dickerman served in 1890 and in 1891 as the President of the New York Stock Exchange , was a director of the Long Island Loan & Trust Company , and was president of the old Norfolk & Southern Railroad Company . Dickerman had begun his career in finance and banking as a young employee and trainee of Jacob Bunn, in
21855-562: Was absorbed in 1899 into the iron and steel corporate combine called Republic Iron & Steel Company , a corporation capitalized at $ 55 million in 1899. The financing of the Republic Iron & Steel Trust was provided by the Manhattan investment banking firms of William C. Sheldon & Co. and Dominick & Dickerman , the latter of which Watson Bradley Dickerman had served as both a founder and principal member. Watson Bradley Dickerman
22010-480: Was also a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia ; his paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln and wife Bathsheba (née Herring) moved the family from Virginia to Jefferson County, Kentucky . The captain was killed in an Indian raid in 1786. His children, including eight-year-old Thomas, Abraham's father, witnessed the attack. Thomas then worked at odd jobs in Kentucky and Tennessee before
22165-514: Was born on December 21, 1850, and died of a fever at the White House on February 20, 1862. The youngest, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln , was born on April 4, 1853, and survived his father, but died of heart failure at age 18 on July 16, 1871. Lincoln "was remarkably fond of children" and the Lincolns were not considered to be strict with their own. In fact, Lincoln's law partner William H. Herndon would grow irritated when Lincoln brought his children to
22320-613: Was captain of the track team at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois , during his undergraduate years there. Robert Cunningham Taylor was president of a farm and land company, co-founder and president of the Peoples Bank of Virginia, Illinois, president of the Cass County Title & Trust Company, co-owner of the King & Taylor Company, a funeral home and furniture dealer, and a director of
22475-414: Was elected to the Illinois legislature, but before the term began in January he declined to take his seat so that he would be eligible to be a candidate in the upcoming U.S. Senate election. The year's elections showed the strong opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, and in the aftermath Lincoln sought election to the U.S. Senate. At that time, senators were elected by state legislatures. After leading in
22630-529: Was going and replied, "To hell, I suppose". In 1844, the couple bought a house in Springfield near his law office. Mary kept house with the help of a hired servant and a relative. Lincoln was an affectionate husband and father of four sons, though his work regularly kept him away from home. The eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln , was born in 1843, and was the only child to live to maturity. Edward Baker Lincoln (Eddie), born in 1846, died February 1, 1850, probably of tuberculosis. Lincoln's third son, "Willie" Lincoln
22785-451: Was instrumental in the establishment of the Danube River Commission system of tariffs and trade structures, serving as one of the founders of the Danube River Commission, and as an originator of the concept for the commission. Cunningham had also engaged in the mercantile business in Smyrna (now İzmir ), Turkey. Furthermore, lawyer Jon Stryker of Rome, New York, who was a maternal first cousin of Henry Stryker Taylor, established and owned
22940-402: Was intended to connect the Indianapolis, Decatur & Springfield Railroad Company line to the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company line. John W. Bunn also served as a member of the board of directors of the Terre Haute & Peoria Railroad Company , a $ 5.4 million (as measured by equity capital in 1893) corporation whose principal office was Decatur, Illinois. Additionally, John W. Bunn was
23095-434: Was lazy, for all his "reading—scribbling—writing—ciphering—writing poetry". His stepmother acknowledged he did not enjoy "physical labor" but loved to read. Lincoln was largely self-educated. His formal schooling was from itinerant teachers . It included two short stints in Kentucky, where he learned to read, but probably not to write. In Indiana at age seven, due to farm chores, he attended school only sporadically, for
23250-438: Was of great historical importance in the commercial, civic, political, and industrial development and growth of the state of Illinois and the American Midwest , during both the nineteenth century and the twentieth century. John Whitfield Bunn was born June 21, 1831, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey . Although every one of the business institutions co-founded or built by the Bunn Brothers has ceased to exist, and fallen purely into
23405-431: Was organized in 1871, had corporate offices in New York City, Chicago, St. Louis, and Springfield, Illinois, and at one point was one of the largest iron products manufacturers in the United States. Having established a deeply rooted continental presence in the railroad metal products industry, the Springfield Iron Company once was the largest manufacturer of angle splice bars in the United States. The Springfield Iron Company
23560-518: Was organized on 11 January 1899 in Springfield, Illinois, by Jacob Bunn Jr. , Henry Bunn , Robert Carr Lanphier , and inventor Ludwig Gutmann . The corporation grew institutionally as a division of the Illinois Watch Company , and developed global presence in the electric metering industry and defense industries. By the middle of the 1920s, Sangamo Electric had manufactured more than 5,000,000 electric meters . Sangamo made many important contributions to national defense during World War II, and developed
23715-480: Was tall, strong, and athletic, and became adept at using an ax. He was an active wrestler during his youth and trained in the rough catch-as-catch-can style (also known as catch wrestling). He became county wrestling champion at the age of 21. He gained a reputation for his strength and audacity after winning a wrestling match with the renowned leader of ruffians known as the Clary's Grove boys. In March 1830, fearing another milk sickness outbreak, several members of
23870-416: Was the descendant of one branch of the Henshaw family, and was a third cousin of California banker and financier William Griffith Henshaw (1860–1924), who, along with his family, was a primary owner and developer of some of the largest water reservoirs and commercial water courses in California, and who promoted and helped build (having served on the board of directors) the International Banking Corporation ,
24025-435: Was the recipient of honorary degrees later in life, including an honorary Doctor of Laws from Columbia University in June 1861. When Lincoln was a teen, his "father grew more and more to depend on him for the 'farming, grubbing, hoeing, making fences' necessary to keep the family afloat. He also regularly hired his son out to work ... and by law, he was entitled to everything the boy earned until he came of age". Lincoln
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