Matthew Laflin | |
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| Born | (1803-12-16)December 16, 1803 |
| Died | May 20, 1897(1897-05-20) (aged 93) |
| Burial place | Rosehill Cemetery |
| Occupation(s) | Businessmen, philanthropist, and a pioneer ofChicago, Illinois |
| Spouses |
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| Children | George Hinman Laflin Georgina Laflin Lycurgis Laflin |
Matthew Laflin (December 16, 1803 – May 20, 1897) was an American manufacturer ofgunpowder, businessman, philanthropist, and an early pioneer of Chicago, Illinois.
He was born on December 16, 1803,[1] an American ofUlster Scots and earlyNew England ancestry, at theLaflin-Phelps Homestead inSouthwick,Hampden County, Massachusetts.[2] He was the son of Matthew Laflin,[1] a gunpowder manufacturer and Lydia Rising, the daughter of Amos Rising. He was the grandson of Matthew Laflin and Lucy Loomis and his great-grandfather, Charles Laflin, migrated to the US in 1740 fromUlster, Ireland settling atOxford,Worcester County, Massachusetts.[3] Charles Laflin and his family were living at Oxford, Massachusetts, when he purchased land in 1749 in the Southern(South-) village(-wick) part of the town ofWestfield, Massachusetts.[1] After manufacturingsaltpeter for theMassachusetts militia during theAmerican Revolutionary War, he built a powder mill in Southwick, Massachusetts, and the family successfully entered the explosives business.
He married in 1827 atCanton, Connecticut, Henrietta Armenia Hinman, the daughter of Ransom Hinman and Mary Battele.[1][4] She was born inLee,Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on June 20, 1805,[5] and died on February 12, 1834, in Canton, Hartford County, Connecticut. Matthew and Henrietta were the parents of three children. He married secondly, before 1837, Catherine King of Westfield, Massachusetts. She died in Chicago, Illinois, in 1891.[6]
Their son, George H. Laflin,[7] was born on July 19, 1828, at Canton, Connecticut. He died on July 24, 1904, at Pittsfield, Berkshire, Massachusetts.[8] He married on September 3, 1851, atPittsfield,Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Mary Minerva Brewster,[7][9][10][11][12] who born atLenox, Massachusetts on January 24, 1832, and died at Chicago, Illinois on January 10, 1902.[13] She was the daughter of Dr. John Milton Brewster[14][15][16][17][18][19] and Philena Higley.
Their daughter Georgina, a twin of George H., died as an infant. Their youngest son was Lycurgus Laflin. He was born June 2, 1832, in Canton, Connecticut. He died on February 25, 1900, in Old Pt Comfort, Elizabeth Cty County, Virginia.[20]
He learned the trade from his father, also named Matthew Laflin, a manufacturer ofgunpowder. He was attracted to Chicago because of the construction of theIllinois and Michigan Canal and hoped to sell gunpowder to the construction company. He quickly found a market for his product. The opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848 allowed shipping from theGreat Lakes through Chicago to theMississippi River and theGulf of Mexico. He relocated his family to Chicago in 1837 and his first home in Chicago was atFort Dearborn, because no other shelter could be found in the young city.[21][22]
With the money he made in the gunpowder business, he began to purchase large tracts of real estate and once owned 140 acres (0.57 km2) of land within the city limits. He bought the land for $300 and lived to see it worth millions.[21][22] In 1849, he purchased 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land on the west side, extending eastward fromMadison Street andOgden Avenue. Here he built the Bull's Head Hotel, resort for men in the cattle business.[21][22] The hotel was constructed complete with barns, sheds and cattle pens and so established Chicago's first stock yards. After its heyday, the hotel was used as an asylum for alcoholics before being torn down.
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In 1867, he refinanced theElgin Watch Company[23] when it was on the verge of failure[citation needed], and became one of the largest stockholders in the company. The Laflin family sat on Elgin's board of directors for more than 70 years. It was his capital and enterprise that laid the foundation forWaukesha as a famous Wisconsin watering resort and he was the proprietor of the grand resort, the Fountain Spring House. Waukesha was once known for its extremely clean and good-tastingspring water and was called a "spa town." This earned the city the nicknames, "Spring City," and "Saratoga of the West."[24][25] In the summer of 1905 the Fountain Spring House was sold by the heirs of Matthew Laflin to the Metropolitan Church Association of Chicago.
He built one of the first plank roads, known in those days as the Blue Island toll road. He operated the first omnibus line to carry his hotel patrons to his stock yards and the State Street markets. He also established the first water works system in Chicago by building a pine-log reservoir at Lake Street and the lake shore. Water funneled into the reservoir was distributed through wooden pipes to the city.[21][22] During theCivil War, he was aUnion Democrat. Laflin was also a founding member of theChicago Board of Trade.
He died in Chicago on May 20, 1897, and was buried atRosehill Cemetery.[26][27]
In 1892, Laflin made a lasting contribution to Chicago by donating $75,000[28][29][30][31] toward the building of a structure to house the Chicago Academy of Sciences, a scholarly society formed to promote the scientific investigation of natural history. As a result of Laflin's gift, the Academy of Sciences was granted a plot of land inLincoln Park; the Lincoln Park Board of Commissioners then donated $25,000 in public funds to assure adequate financing for the project.
The building opened as the Matthew Laflin Memorial on October 31, 1894, and housed the academy until 1995 when it moved to anew building. The building reverted to theChicago Park District, which rehabbed it into Lincoln Park Zoo administrative offices.
Laflin Street in Chicago begins 1500 West from 356 North to 12258 South, it is named in his honor.
Matthew Laflin Rockwell (1915–1988) was an American architect and director of planning for theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers and responsible for the site selection, plan and design ofO'Hare International Airport. He is a cousin ofSylvester "Pat" Laflin Weaver, actressSigourney Weaver and comedian and actorDoodles Weaver.[32][33] He is also the grandson ofFrancis Williams Rockwell, aUnited States representative fromMassachusetts and the great-grandson ofJulius Rockwell, a United States politician from Massachusetts.
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