operators while in the field should be recognized, and he did everything in his power to bring about such a result. A characteristic incident arose from his connection with the Telegrapher's Mutual Benefit association. He was a member of that organization, and as such his heirs were entitled to receive one thousand dollars on his death. When his executors came to look over his papers, they found among them his certificate of membership, and upon it. the following endorsement: To be presented to the association at my death. April 20, 1880. ANSON STAGER. It is needless to say that the direction was complied with and that the association was enriched that much through his thoughtful generosity. While the telegraph was the chief business of General Stager's life, it by no means was the only avenue through which he made his talents and capital of use in the world. During the latter years of his life, he was quite busy in other directions. While residing in Cleveland he was a member of the Cleveland Rolling Mill company, and a director in the Citizen's Saving and Loan association. He was the founder of the Western Electrical Manufacturing company, whose works were first located in this city but afterwards removed to Chicago, and which grew to be one of the largest establishments of the kind in the world. He held its presidency up to the first of January, 1885, and was the mainspring that set it in motion and kept it going. After its removal to Chicago he became to a certain extent the representative of the Vanderbilt in terests in the west. He was largely interested in railroads, holding positions in the directories of the Michigan Central, the New York, Chicago & St. Louis, and the Chicago & Northwestern. He was a director in the Northwestern National Bank of Chicago; was actively engaged in the Babcock Manufacturing company, and several other smaller enterprises; was a director in the Cantilever Bridge company for several seasons; was also in the Allen Paper Car Wheel company in the same capacity; a member of the board of trustees of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, and an earnest and valuable aid in many ways to them all. But lines of business that touched the electric spark in any form, and that harnessed it down and made it do some of the work and bear some of the burden of the world, were the nearest his heart, and found in him a champion and a friend. He was prominently identified with the development of the telephone business of Chicago and the northwest, and had an abiding faith in the instrument from the start. He was president of all the telephone companies in Chicago from their start, and brought about the consolidation by which their interests were made as one. He was a prominent factor in the introduction of the electric light into Chicago, and was the president of the Western Edison Electric Light company from the day of its foundation to that of his death. He was of efficient aid to the authorities of Chicago in promoting the usefulness of the fire-alarm telegraph system, and in making it an important servant to the public. He was inter He had been good to give him the years he had enjoyed and the success he had won. For his family he would have content. He called his dear ones to his bedside, and asked that there should be no sorrowful faces about him, but that each should take hold upon the patient trust on which he was stayed. To each he gave some little souvenir, and asked that it should be treasured in memory of him. Then he quietly arranged his business affairs and calmly turned his face toward the end. It came quietly, and in peace. The inroads of the disease had told upon him, and for the last two or three days no vitality remained, and the last great change was hourly expected. Toward the close he was still sufficiently conscious to recognize those who came about him, but that was all. At three o'clock on Thursday morning, as the new day was falling softly upon the earth, his spirit winged its flight to the regions of eternal life. ested in organizations not connected with business affairs, being a Mason, and holding his membership in Oriental Commandery Knights Templar, of Cleve- lived a little longer; for himself he was land, until the time of his death. was founder of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and one of its most energetic and generous supporters. He was among the founders of the Calumet club and its first president. He was for years prominently identified with the Episcopal church, worshiping in Trinity, of which he was vestryman for many years. It was out of this busy and beneficent life that Anson Stager was called, on Thursday, March 26, 1885. The robust constitution and immense vitality of his early years had responded to many calls. upon them, and toward the end began to show signs of the heavy drain. Early in the year he gave evidence of physical failing, although his mind was as clear and bright and his cheerfulness as marked Bright's disease, complicated with other troubles, had taken a hold upon him, and no skill of the best physicians of the country could stay the advance of the destroyer or save him to the friends and family who loved him so well. On the Sunday before his death. he was told that he had only a few more hours upon earth. The message found him prepared to meet it with resignation and faith, and no sign of fear or wavering doubt seemed to lie in the path he must travel for a little season longer. A life clear and complete in simple honor and truth, and with no stains to mar it or make him afraid, arose up before him, and he peacefully accepted the decision, and felt that God as ever. The wife who had walked so many years beside him had gone before him on the long journey. When starting out in life, on November 14, 1847, he married Miss Rebecca Sprague of Buffalo, who died on November 22, 1883. Of the children who had been born to them, only three remained to mourn his loss-Mrs. F. S. Gorton of Chicago, Mrs. Ralph W. Hickox of Cleveland, and Miss Ellen Sprague Stager of Chicago. When the announcement of his death was made to the city of his chosen home and to the country he had so worthily served, the expressions of grief were universal, sincere and profound. By personal calls, by letter and by wire the sorrowing friends were made to feel that their loss was that of the people everywhere, and that the lesson of a worthy life had been heeded on all sides and become the seed of admiration and respect as deep as it was universal. The highest officials of the land, as well as the most humble operator or message boy who had served under him, felt that in Anson Stager they had lost a friend. The corporations, societies and associations of which he had been a part voiced their grief and spoke their admiration in resolutions that uttered no empty praise. The public press, not only of the great cities but in all directions, declared that his loss was that of the people, and paid eloquent and extended tribute to his worth. A leading journal of Chicago struck the keynote of public feeling over his loss when it said: Chicago has lost many prominent citizens during the last year or two, but not one who will be more missed than Anson Stager, or one who has made a nobler record as a public-spirited citizen. His remarkable executive ability qualified him for the holding of responsible public positions, and he administered them with rare skill and fidelity. . . General Stager's services to the government during the war constitute the most distinguished feature of his long and useful career. In this direction his friends may claim the highest distinction for his memory. . . For this duty he was specially qualified, not alone by his executive ability, but by his practical and scientific knowledge of the business. It is doubt ful whether any other man in the country, at that time, could have accomplished so much with it as he, or could have rendered such important assistance in perfecting the communication between the government and its armies. . . Death has cut down the busy worker, and his long and honorable career is closed, leaving behind a record of which his family and friends have the right to be proud, and which they will cherish after time has mitigated present griefs. General Stager's friendship to Cleveland had always been deep-seated and warm, and here he had decided that he would rest when the labors of life should end. He had secured a beautiful lot in Lake View cemetery, and there his beloved wife had been laid to await his coming. His funeral was held in Chicago, at the family residence on Michigan avenue. A large gathering of friends paid the final marks of affection and respect. The remains reposed in a heavily draped casket, which was surrounded by a wealth of floral offerings from the Commercial club, the Western Union offices, and other organizations with which he had been connected. The services were conducted by the Rev. Dr. Osborne, rector of Trinity, who delivered a brief but affecting address, in which he referred to the sterling worth and many good qualities of the departed, which had endeared him to his fellowmen, and would keep his memory green. At the conclusion of the services the body was reverently conveyed to a special train in waiting at the Lake Shore depot, and taken to Cleveland. A number of Chicago's prominent citizens accompanied the family on their sad journey, and the pall-bearers comprised the following gentlemen: Marshall Field, J. Russell Jones, A. F. Seeberger, George Sturgis, Robert T. Lincoln, A. A. Sprague, N. K. Fairbanks, Martin Ryerson, Norman Williams, J. W. Doane and Charles Fargo. Cleveland was reached at an early hour on the following morning, where a large number of General Stager's friends were in waiting. The remains were conveyed to the residence of Mr. Charles Hickox on Euclid avenue, where at a later hour a prayer was read by Dr. Osborne, and then the last stage of the sad journey was entered upon. When Lake View was reached, Dr. Osborne read the solemn and beautiful service of the Episcopal Church, and the mortal part of Anson Stager was given back to the earth from which it came. Some idea of the personal characteristics, native strength and genuine manhood of Anson Stager can be gained from the above, and yet no pen picture can present the man as he was, and call him back in the full proportions held in the memories of those who knew him best. An executive ability of the most commanding character has been justly ascribed to him, and all the results possible to any given means were brought about in any duty committed to his hands. This was clearly demonstrated in the many positions he held, where men without that talent could have done nothing. He possessed an inventive ability of a high order, as was shown by the various improvements he made in the practical line of telegraphic operation. He followed no blind precedents, but created them as the occasion demanded, and wherever he could make the new way improve upon the old. He was broad and clear in his intellectual grasp, quick in decision, and wise and just in administration. Through every movement of his business and private life there shone a rigid and unflinching integrity which never yielded to any stress of circumstances, and was never misled by any plausible considerations of policy. In his public career and private life he was recognized by all as an upright, honest man. He was generous beyond the measure of most men, and it was a pleasure to him that his friends should share in any venture in which his clear vision had seen the certainty of success. He was quick and sure in his judgment of character, trusting fearlessly when he had once given his confidence, and thus enlisting the loyal and sympathetic support of those who labored with him. As one of the tributes laid upon his bier declared, "He turned aside with manly and unwavering detestation from the devious paths into which the managers of great business enterprises are often tempted, and has passed away from earth, not only without a stain on his business record, but conspicuous among all who knew him for his unbending integrity." He was, in the highest sense, loyal in all his relations of life, and when his word was once given it could be depended on to the end. Though very quiet and unostentatious in his manner, he had a heartiness of disposition, a genuine love of humor and pleasure, and a social side which led him to seek and take delight in human association, as tt is found in social gatherings, in clubs, in healthful outdoor sports; and above all, in his own home, where his good qualities were best known and where it was his delight to be. If any one knew Anson Stager it was Mr. J. H. Wade, who was in close social and business companionship with him for many years, and between the two there ran a strong personal bond of friendship and respect that held unto the last. They knew and honored each other as rivals, they next worked together in the long and heavy labor of years, and after wealth and fame came to them both they lived for a long time side by side as neighbors and the closest friends. Whenever General magnetism; knew how to obtain the best men, and to tie them to him afterwards. He was capable of an endless amount of work, and was never afraid to do it. Whenever he saw any one in distress, he could not rest until some means of relief had been taken. He was good to his men, and they knew that in him they had a friend. When any one approached him with a suggestion that ran counter to his idea, it was well to be prepared to maintain it at all points, for if there was a weakness anywhere in it, the general's quick eye would detect it and make that the point of attack. He would often seem set in his own way, and argue with great vehemence in support thereof, only to bring out the full strength of his opponent, and then suddenly surprise the latter by deciding in his favor, in case his way of thinking was the best. He never held to an idea or Stager would return to his old home forced a measure against the public good, or that. after his removal to Chicago, the first man he would seek out would be Mr. Wade. When Mr. Wade was in Chicago his first impulse was to find his old friend. Knowing him thus, Mr. Wade finds it within his knowledge to declare that General Stager was beyond question one of the men among whom should be divided the honor of making the science of telegraphy what it is. His tribute is paid earnestly and without hesitation. He endorses the highest eulogies that have been spoken in honor of his old companion in arms, and says that no words are too strong to be used in describing General Stager's part in the building up of this great line of commerce, or his services to his country in the war. I will quote, in closing this sketch, the testimony of one who for over twenty years knew General Stager in the smaller details of office life: He was clear-headed and shrewd to a wonderful degree. He possessed a large share of personal did not hold for its object the good of the interests that had been reposed in his hands. Standing under the light of a life and character like this, and viewing the ground in which they had germ and the influences under which they grew, one cannot but feel that the best types of manhood are created and developed on this American soil, and that what one has done worthily, another may do as well. Viewed thus, the work of Anson Stager is not yet done; but out of the past his memory arises in grand proportions, and stands as an example and incentive to the youth of the generations that are to come. J. H. KENNEDY. |