Charles A. Spring
Encyclopedia
Charles A. Spring was an American
merchant. He made a profound impact on Presbyterianism
in the Northwest Territory
, helping to establish at least six churches in Iowa
and Illinois
, and acting as a delegate in the Assembly of 1861, which voted on the Gardiner Spring
Resolutions and thus gave the assent of the Presbyterian Church to Abraham Lincoln
's move to keep the union together
's children. Born in the Manse of the Congregationalist Church in Newburyport, Massachusetts
, in 1801. He was a descendant of Rev. Solomon Stoddard
, a brother of Rev. Gardiner Spring
, and a relative of Rev. Jonathan Edwards
and Vice-President Aaron Burr
.
After his father's death in 1819, Charles moved south to Boston
, and worked dealing in silk goods and textiles. In 1823, he married Dorothy B. Norton of Maine; children born there were Frances Eliza Spring, Charles A. Spring, Jr.
, and Winthrop Norton Spring. Sometime before 1830, the family moved to Brooklyn
, where daughters Edwina and Gertrude, as well as son George Hopkins, were born.
on the Mississippi River
. At the time, the journey from New York
to Illinois
took one month, and was made by the way of the Erie Canal
and then the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
Charles helped lay out and survey the town of Rock Island, where he settled into farming. By the 1840s, he was an elder in the Presbyterian Church in Rock Island, and was the sole layman on the committee that organized, in November 1844, the First Presbyterian Church of Sterling, Illinois
. The Spring farm at Rock Island, in 1850, was spread over 100 acres, and had in the way of livestock 2 horses, 16 milch cows, 20 other cattle, and 20 swine, which produced 400 lbs of butter. The produce included 1600 bushels of Indian Corn, 100 bu. of oats, 100 of Irish potatoes, 20 of sweet potatoes, and 50 tons of hay.
By 1851, Charles Spring and family had moved to Chicago; in November of that year, his wife Dorothy died. Charles pere et fils went into the boot and shoe business under the name C. A. Spring & Sons, locating at 188 Lake St. They lived in Hyde Park for a time, but by 1855 were in West Chicago, living on Fulton between Union and Halsted. By 1858, Charles took to farming again in Manteno, just south of Chicago.
, and there met the inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick, whose mechanized reaper did for the Midwest what the cotton gin had done for the South. The two remained close friends and kept up an extensive correspondence until McCormick's death in 1884. Spring and McCormick established the South Church in what is now The Loop
in Chicago, although they returned to the North Church when they were able to retain their favoured pastor, Rev. Dr. Nathan Rice.
During the 1850s, Charles was instrumental in the founding of what eventually became the McCormick Theological Seminary
. McCormick was a conservative Democrat who had been born in Virginia, and although he was no apologist for slavery, was intent on holding together both the Old School Presbyterian Church and the Union (he considered the Presbyterian Church and the Democratic Party to be the “two hoops that hold the barrel of the Union together."
McCormick thus set his sights on securing a seminary which would advance orthodox Presybyterian doctrine. An Indiana seminary was in dire straits, and when the General Assembly met in Indianapolis in 1859 to discuss its future, McCormick, acting through Spring (who was a delegate), offered the seminary an endowment of $100,000 on the condition that the Seminary locate in Chicago and that the General Assembly take control of it from the synods. This was an offer that the General Assembly couldn't refuse, and so the Seminary found its new home in Chicago.
Charles A. Spring was also instrumental in gaining the donation of some of the land for the seminary, from the brewers Lill & Diversey. He sat on the Seminary's Board of Directors from 1859 to 1876 (when he relocated to Western Iowa). In an 1872 letter, McCormick gave his friend Spring the credit for the founding of the seminary, referring to Spring as “the most aged and experienced of us all, and to whom I was myself indebted for the original suggestion and advice to make the donation to this cause", the seminary.
In 1859, Charles guided the creation of the First Presbyterian Church of Manteno, Illinois
, securing a donation from McCormick which funded nearly half of the amount necessary for the building of the church. In 1866, he gave the parsonage as a gift (it burned down soon after his death, in 1895.
In 1861, Charles was a delegate to the General Assembly in Philadelphia which considered the Gardiner Spring Resolutions propounded by his brother, Rev. Gardiner Spring, of New York City.
In 1865, Spring cared for William Sanderson McCormick
, the inventor's brother and partner, during his long illness. When William died that fall, Charles A. Spring, Jr.
took over the management of the McCormick Co., as well as McCormick's extensive real estate holdings. The elder Spring often helped his son in this, especially during the busy spring leasing season.
Charles Sr. repeatedly tried to convince McCormick to carry out one of William's last wishes, which was to found a home for young girls (age 5-10) to save them from “destructive Parental & other influence” and to clothe, feed, and educate them in a religious environment. Charles himself had successfully petitioned the Chicago City Council to set aside funds to establish the Chicago Reform School for Boys, one of the first of its kind in the nation. According to Hutchinson, McCormick's biographer, Charles believed that “too much emphasis was placed upon punishment, and not enough upon the prevention of crime.<.
In 1877-78, Charles retired and moved to Le Mars, Iowa
, where his son Winthrop worked as a McCormick Reaper agent, his son George owned a hardware company, and where his daughter Edwina soon married Byron Mudge, a Civil War pensioner. He lived with the Mudges for the last 15 years of his life. He stayed quite active in his old age. In 1884, at the age of 84, Charles caught a white Pacific crane on the Arkansas River
which measured 6 feet and 4 inches from beak to toes. It was reported by the Le Mars Sentinel, and went on exhibition in Le Mars.
Charles A. Spring, Sr., died in January, 1892, at the age of 91, from complications of 'la grippe' (influenza). His obituary in the Le Mars Sentinel spoke of his many passions. He was a member of the American Sunday School Union, and laboured for many years for the American Tract Society
, “building school houses as places of worship in different needy localities.”
, was Cyrus McCormick's most trusted adviser, and general manager of the McCormick plant for many years. His grandson, Dr. Samuel Newton Spring, was a noted forestry professor at Yale and Cornell, Dean of the New York State forestry department, and was a correspondent and friend of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His great-great-grandson, Charles A. Spring IV, was a bridge engineer for United States Steel in Pittsburgh.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
merchant. He made a profound impact on Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
in the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
, helping to establish at least six churches in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, and acting as a delegate in the Assembly of 1861, which voted on the Gardiner Spring
Gardiner Spring
-Life:Spring was born on February 24, 1785, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the oldest child of the politically well-connected Reverend Samuel Spring. His parents directed him towards the ministry, which he initially resisted....
Resolutions and thus gave the assent of the Presbyterian Church to Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's move to keep the union together
Early Life in the East
Charles A. Spring was the second youngest of Rev. Samuel SpringSamuel Spring
Samuel Spring was an early American Revolutionary War chaplain and Congregationalist minister.-Early life and education:Spring was born in Uxbridge in the Massachusetts Colony on February 27, 1746....
's children. Born in the Manse of the Congregationalist Church in Newburyport, Massachusetts
Newburyport, Massachusetts
Newburyport is a small coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles northeast of Boston. The population was 21,189 at the 2000 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island...
, in 1801. He was a descendant of Rev. Solomon Stoddard
Solomon Stoddard
Solomon Stoddard was the pastor of the Congregationalist Church in Northampton, MA. He succeeded the Rev. Eleazer Mather, marrying his widow around 1670...
, a brother of Rev. Gardiner Spring
Gardiner Spring
-Life:Spring was born on February 24, 1785, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the oldest child of the politically well-connected Reverend Samuel Spring. His parents directed him towards the ministry, which he initially resisted....
, and a relative of Rev. Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards was a preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans. Edwards "is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian," and one of America's greatest intellectuals...
and Vice-President Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
.
After his father's death in 1819, Charles moved south to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and worked dealing in silk goods and textiles. In 1823, he married Dorothy B. Norton of Maine; children born there were Frances Eliza Spring, Charles A. Spring, Jr.
Charles A. Spring, Jr.
Charles A. Spring, Jr. was a prominent Chicago capitalist during its transition from a frontier town of 30,000 in the 1850s to an industrial metropolis of more than 1.7 million at the turn of the 20th century...
, and Winthrop Norton Spring. Sometime before 1830, the family moved to Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, where daughters Edwina and Gertrude, as well as son George Hopkins, were born.
Life in the Old Northwest
In 1837, the Springs went west as part of the Great Migration, and settled first at Rock Island, IllinoisRock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. At the time, the journey from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
took one month, and was made by the way of the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
and then the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
Charles helped lay out and survey the town of Rock Island, where he settled into farming. By the 1840s, he was an elder in the Presbyterian Church in Rock Island, and was the sole layman on the committee that organized, in November 1844, the First Presbyterian Church of Sterling, Illinois
Sterling, Illinois
Sterling is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,370 at the 2010 census, down from 15,451 at the 2000 census. Formerly nicknamed "The Hardware Capital of the World", Sterling has long been associated with manufacturing and the steel...
. The Spring farm at Rock Island, in 1850, was spread over 100 acres, and had in the way of livestock 2 horses, 16 milch cows, 20 other cattle, and 20 swine, which produced 400 lbs of butter. The produce included 1600 bushels of Indian Corn, 100 bu. of oats, 100 of Irish potatoes, 20 of sweet potatoes, and 50 tons of hay.
By 1851, Charles Spring and family had moved to Chicago; in November of that year, his wife Dorothy died. Charles pere et fils went into the boot and shoe business under the name C. A. Spring & Sons, locating at 188 Lake St. They lived in Hyde Park for a time, but by 1855 were in West Chicago, living on Fulton between Union and Halsted. By 1858, Charles took to farming again in Manteno, just south of Chicago.
Relationship with Cyrus McCormick
While in Chicago, Charles Sr. became superintendent of the Sunday school at the North Presbyterian ChurchFourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago
The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church located on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, directly across the street from the John Hancock Center.-History:...
, and there met the inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick, whose mechanized reaper did for the Midwest what the cotton gin had done for the South. The two remained close friends and kept up an extensive correspondence until McCormick's death in 1884. Spring and McCormick established the South Church in what is now The Loop
The Loop
- Neighborhoods :* Chicago Loop, a district of downtown Chicago* Delmar Loop, a district in St. Louis and University City, Missouri- Transportation :* The Loop , an elevated railroad circuit in downtown Chicago...
in Chicago, although they returned to the North Church when they were able to retain their favoured pastor, Rev. Dr. Nathan Rice.
During the 1850s, Charles was instrumental in the founding of what eventually became the McCormick Theological Seminary
McCormick Theological Seminary
McCormick Theological Seminary is one of eleven schools of theology of the Presbyterian Church . It shares a campus with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, bordering the campus of the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois...
. McCormick was a conservative Democrat who had been born in Virginia, and although he was no apologist for slavery, was intent on holding together both the Old School Presbyterian Church and the Union (he considered the Presbyterian Church and the Democratic Party to be the “two hoops that hold the barrel of the Union together."
McCormick thus set his sights on securing a seminary which would advance orthodox Presybyterian doctrine. An Indiana seminary was in dire straits, and when the General Assembly met in Indianapolis in 1859 to discuss its future, McCormick, acting through Spring (who was a delegate), offered the seminary an endowment of $100,000 on the condition that the Seminary locate in Chicago and that the General Assembly take control of it from the synods. This was an offer that the General Assembly couldn't refuse, and so the Seminary found its new home in Chicago.
Charles A. Spring was also instrumental in gaining the donation of some of the land for the seminary, from the brewers Lill & Diversey. He sat on the Seminary's Board of Directors from 1859 to 1876 (when he relocated to Western Iowa). In an 1872 letter, McCormick gave his friend Spring the credit for the founding of the seminary, referring to Spring as “the most aged and experienced of us all, and to whom I was myself indebted for the original suggestion and advice to make the donation to this cause", the seminary.
In 1859, Charles guided the creation of the First Presbyterian Church of Manteno, Illinois
Manteno, Illinois
Manteno is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,575 in 2009. It is part of the Kankakee–Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Chicago–Naperville–Michigan City, IL-IN-WI Combined Statistical Area.-General information:Manteno, Illinois...
, securing a donation from McCormick which funded nearly half of the amount necessary for the building of the church. In 1866, he gave the parsonage as a gift (it burned down soon after his death, in 1895.
In 1861, Charles was a delegate to the General Assembly in Philadelphia which considered the Gardiner Spring Resolutions propounded by his brother, Rev. Gardiner Spring, of New York City.
In 1865, Spring cared for William Sanderson McCormick
William Sanderson McCormick
William Sanderson McCormick was an American businessman who developed the company that became the major producer of agricultural equipment in the 19th century...
, the inventor's brother and partner, during his long illness. When William died that fall, Charles A. Spring, Jr.
Charles A. Spring, Jr.
Charles A. Spring, Jr. was a prominent Chicago capitalist during its transition from a frontier town of 30,000 in the 1850s to an industrial metropolis of more than 1.7 million at the turn of the 20th century...
took over the management of the McCormick Co., as well as McCormick's extensive real estate holdings. The elder Spring often helped his son in this, especially during the busy spring leasing season.
Charles Sr. repeatedly tried to convince McCormick to carry out one of William's last wishes, which was to found a home for young girls (age 5-10) to save them from “destructive Parental & other influence” and to clothe, feed, and educate them in a religious environment. Charles himself had successfully petitioned the Chicago City Council to set aside funds to establish the Chicago Reform School for Boys, one of the first of its kind in the nation. According to Hutchinson, McCormick's biographer, Charles believed that “too much emphasis was placed upon punishment, and not enough upon the prevention of crime.<.
Later life
By 1868, Charles's eyesight was failing, but he was still farming, living most of the year with his daughters Edwina and Frances and sons George and Winthrop in Manteno. As he wrote C. H. McCormick in May 1865, he spent his days “raising strawberries and grandchildren.In 1877-78, Charles retired and moved to Le Mars, Iowa
Le Mars, Iowa
Le Mars is a city in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,237 at the 2000 census. Le Mars is the home of Wells' Dairy, the world's largest producer of ice cream novelties in one location and is the self-proclaimed "Ice Cream Capital of the World". Wells...
, where his son Winthrop worked as a McCormick Reaper agent, his son George owned a hardware company, and where his daughter Edwina soon married Byron Mudge, a Civil War pensioner. He lived with the Mudges for the last 15 years of his life. He stayed quite active in his old age. In 1884, at the age of 84, Charles caught a white Pacific crane on the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
which measured 6 feet and 4 inches from beak to toes. It was reported by the Le Mars Sentinel, and went on exhibition in Le Mars.
Charles A. Spring, Sr., died in January, 1892, at the age of 91, from complications of 'la grippe' (influenza). His obituary in the Le Mars Sentinel spoke of his many passions. He was a member of the American Sunday School Union, and laboured for many years for the American Tract Society
American Tract Society
The American Tract Society is a nonprofit, nonsectarian but evangelical organization founded on May 11, 1825 in New York City for the purpose of publishing and disseminating Christian literature. ATS traces its lineage back through the New York Tract Society and the New England Tract Society to...
, “building school houses as places of worship in different needy localities.”
Descendents
Charles's son, Charles A. Spring, Jr.Charles A. Spring, Jr.
Charles A. Spring, Jr. was a prominent Chicago capitalist during its transition from a frontier town of 30,000 in the 1850s to an industrial metropolis of more than 1.7 million at the turn of the 20th century...
, was Cyrus McCormick's most trusted adviser, and general manager of the McCormick plant for many years. His grandson, Dr. Samuel Newton Spring, was a noted forestry professor at Yale and Cornell, Dean of the New York State forestry department, and was a correspondent and friend of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His great-great-grandson, Charles A. Spring IV, was a bridge engineer for United States Steel in Pittsburgh.