"Hibbardville" in A Great-Grandmother Remembers by Addie Hibbard Gregory, 1940
So many of the children of Lydia and William Gold Hibbard lived near their parents' home at 1701 Prairie Avenue that the family referred to the blocks surrounding 18th Street as "Hibbardville." This map, drawn by a Hibbard descendent, shows the family home and those of their children (Frank and William) and daughters (Addie Gregory, Alice Sterling, Lilian Casselberry, and Nellie Buckingham). Although Lydia Hibbard remained in the family home after her husband died, her children's families, like those of many of her Prairie Avenue neighbors, eventually moved to the North Shore, first to summer homes, and then permanently to Highland Park, Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, and Winnetka.
See also: Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co.
Mother's Books were designed to let parents record the details of the "physical, mental, and moral growth" of their children. The book from which this picture was taken recorded the life of Harrington Shortall, born in Chicago on February 25, 1895, to one of Chicago's oldest elite families. His great-grandfather John Staples built the first house on Prairie Avenue. His grandfather John G. Shortall was one of the founders of Chicago Title and Trust. His father, attorney John L. Shortall, his mother Mary, and his two sisters lived with his grandparents and servants such as Frances E. Meseroll (seen here with Harrington) who cared for them in the family home. Had Shortall's book continued into his adulthood, it would have noted that he fought in World War I and became a musician, teacher, and composer whose most famous work was entitled "Fanfare for Those Who Will Not Return."
See also: Domestic Work and Workers; Housekeeping
"Miss Pullman Weds," Chicago Times-Herald, 30 April 1896
Elite weddings were major social events, well covered in the Chicago press and that of other cities. Few were as widely covered as that of Frank O. Lowden and Florence Pullman, George Pullman's daughter and, as the New York Times noted, the young woman whose job it was to name Pullman cars. Mrs. Lowden's trousseau came from America's most famous retail establishments. The guest list was a who's who of Chicago's most famous families joined by her father's business and political associates.
See also: Civil War
Golden Wedding Anniversary Pamphlet, 1898
Frederick R. and Emeline (Tillinghast) Otis began their married life on a farm in Berlin Township, Erie County, Ohio. In the late 1860s, they, along with seven children, moved to Chicago, finally setting in 1867 in one of the developer-built townhouses at 2033 Prairie Avenue. The 1870 U. S. census suggested that Otis was successful in his new field of work, real estate. It estimated the value of his real property at $150,000 and his personal property $15,000. Both parents had died by 1910, but three of their children, Charles and Lucius (who were also in real estate), and Margaretta continued to live in the family home.
See also: Prairie Avenue
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