of the west began to make their influence felt, he was one of the men who boldly declared that the black man ought to be set free, who missed no opportunity to disseminate this doctrine, and who always stood ready to contribute his best efforts to this result in the days of "underground railroads." Consideration of his personal interests did not weigh heavily against his honest convictions or his sense of right and justice, and the free expressions of his opinions during the long and bitter controversy over the slavery question, was not curbed in any degree to retain either the friendship or the patronage of those who held different views. He was endowed by nature with a strong mind and a strong body. A gentle

men of the old school in appearance, he was frank, honest and open-hearted; as generous as he was jovial, and as kindly as he was courteous.

It is now nearly thirty years since he has passed away from the scene of his active labors, and yet there are few of the early settlers held in more kindly remembrance by the still surviving pioneers, than is the scholarly and accomplished gentleman who opened the opened the first dental office in Chicago.

Mrs. Kennicott is still a resident of the city, as are also two sons, one of whom has become a prominent member of his father's profession, while the other is a practicing physi cian. HOWARD LOUIS CONARD.

ONE of the most noted of the oldtime lake captains, was Peter F. Flood, whose acquaintance with Chicago began in 1835, and who was identified with the carrying trade for thirty-five years thereafter. He was born in Queens county, Ireland, November 10, 1812, and came of the family founded by Major Flood of the English army, who came into posession of an estate in Ireland about the close of the seventeenth century.

The eldest son of Major Flood was once chief justice of Ireland, and others of his descendants have been

conspicuously identified with public affairs in that country.

James Flood immigrated to America in 1817, and settled first in the State of Vermont. After a time, however, he removed to Utica, N. Y., where he died in 1823, leaving his son Peter, a half-orphan at eleven years. of age. His mother having a large family to care for, the boy found a home with a wealthy citizen of Oswego, N. Y., where he remained three years, during which time he attended school several months of each year and obtained a

rudimentary education. He took a deep interest in his studies and was ambitious to make as rapid progress as possible, but found himself burdened with other tasks which seriously interfered with his educational advancement. When he ventured to remonstrate with his taskmaster for depriving him of the opportunity for securing the education to which he thought himself entitled, that gentleman told him he could seek another home, and without more ado turned him out of doors.

Being thus thrown entirely upon his own resources, at the age of fourteen years, he cast about for some means of earning a livelihood, and was finally attracted to a vessel lying at anchor in the harbor, which was just being loaded for a lake voyage. He hunted up the captain of the vessel and informed him that he would like a job of some sort aboard the ship. When the captain interested himself to the extent of inquiring of the lad what he could do, the latter very promptly replied, "Everything, sir." The answer was one which indicated self-reliance, strength of character, and a desire to make himself useful, even if he did over-estimate his ability. The captain was impressed with the manliness of the little fellow and promised to consider his request, and let him know on the following day what could be done for him.

As he had no better place to sleep he was allowed to sleep in the hold of the vessel. During the night there

was a slight fall of snow, of the character which sometimes comes late in the spring, and when the captain emerged from his cabin in the morning he found the boy who had applied to him for "a job," already busy sweeping the snow from the decks. This was a stroke of policy which caught the old sailor's fancy, and settled the question of the boy's employment on board of the ship, in his favor.

When the vessel sailed a few days later, Peter Flood shipped as a cabin and general utility boy, and his life as a sailor began. After remaining aboard this vessel a year or two, he became an employe of the firm of Fitzhugh & Lyons, large vessel owners. In 1835 he made his first trip to Chicago as mate of one of the vessels belonging to this line, returning to New York State in the fall of the year and spending the winter with his mother, whom he assisted materially from time to time with his earnings.

The following spring he sailed from Buffalo as first mate of the "Martin Van Buren," and again visited Chicago. From that time on he made regular voyages to the little western city, whose rapid growth and increasing importance he noted with each recurring visit..

Before many years had passed he had become master of a vessel, and within the same time he had not only proven himself a first-class sailor, but a level-headed, thorough-going business man as well. Early in the "for

ties" he became a vessel-owner as well as a master, and engaged in the carrying trade thereafter on his own account. His first vessel was the "Reindeer," purchased in Buffalo. This vessel Captain Flood owned and sailed for nearly ten years, between the various lake ports. He then purchased a larger vessel, built in Chicago, and named the "L. P. Hilliard," in honor of one of the noted pioneers of the city. It was while sailing this vessel that he met with his first mishap "at sea," and suffered his first loss of any magnitude. Unable to withstand a severe storm which she encountered, the "L. P. Hilliard" was sunk in Green Bay, the captain and crew escaping with difficulty from the wreck. After losing the "Hilliard," he purchased the "John Webber," a fore-and-aft schooner, which ke kept in the grain and lumber trade until 1862, when he retired from the fascinating but hazardous vocation to which he had devoted so many years of his active life.

During his early acquaintance with Chicago, he had not failed to note the fact that the city seemed to have a promising future; neither had he failed to place himself in position to be a participant in and beneficiary of its anticipated growth and prosperity. A portion of his earliest savings was invested in the town-lots staked out on the prairie, in what is now West Chicago, and when he abandoned the lake it was to give his attention more closely to the improvement of this

and other property, which had become a valuable possession.

In 1852 he was married to Miss Mary A. Clark, who was born in Brown county, N.Y., near Binghampton, and came west in her young womanhood. When they began housekeeping, it was in their own home, which Captain Flood had erected on one of the West Chicago lots, purchased at a time when he hardly had neighbors within hailing distance. The same ground upon which the old homestead was erected is still the property of Mrs. Flood, and the city extends many miles beyond it. The appreciation in value of this and other realty, of which he had become the owner in early life, made the cabinboy who sailed from Oswego without a dollar in his pocket, a wealthy man in his later life and he had a thorough capacity for the enjoyment of his good fortune.

Captain Flood was a typical oldtime lake captain. Courteous, genial and affable, he was, at the same time, a strict disciplinarian aboard the ship, whose aim it was to always be prepared, as nearly as possible, for any emergency, and who understood perfectly how the business in which he was engaged should be conducted. Although he quit the lake while a comparatively young man, he had always thereafter a fondness for the water, and made many lake and ocean voyages for purposes of recreation and enjoyment. On such occasions he was always accompanied by Mrs.