John Huy Addams (July 12, 1822 – August 17, 1881) was a politician and businessman from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Addams was born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1822, where he married Sarah Weber (1817–1863). In 1844 the couple moved to

Cedarville, Illinois Cedarville is a village in Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 741 at the 2010 census, up from 719 in 2000. It is the birthplace of social activist Jane Addams, the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Geography Cedarville ...

and he purchased the Cedar Creek Mill. Addams quickly became a successful businessman working as a director for two railroad companies and a bank president. He constructed a prominent

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

home in 1854 which still stands today. He and his wife Sarah (Weber) Addams had nine children, including Alice Haldeman and social activist

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...

. Addams became active in state politics and eventually served as an eight-term

Illinois State Senator The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the I ...

, from 1854 to 1870. In 1863, his wife, Sarah, died and he was remarried in 1868 to Anna Haldeman, herself a widow.Anna Hostetter Haldeman Addams had been the wife of William Haldeman from 1847-1866. The two of them had four sons, including Henry Winfield Haldeman, who in 1875 married Addams's daughter Sarah Alice. He was a key influence on his daughter Jane and part of the reason she focused so much attention on social causes. He died in

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

while on a family vacation in 1881.

Early life

John Huy Addams was born in

Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania Sinking Spring is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,008 at the 2010 census. Sinking Spring was given its name for a spring located in the center of town. The water in this spring would sink into the grou ...

in on July 12, 1822. He married Sarah Weber, five years his elder, while still living in Kreidersville, Pennsylvania. Both families, Addams and Weber, were from old Pennsylvanian lineage; Addams' ancestors had been granted land by

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

in the 17th century.Berson, Robin Kadisson. ''Jane Addams: A Biography'',
Google Books
, Greenwood Press: 2004, pp. 1-2, (). Retrieved 20 August 2007. In 1844 Addams, then 22, and his new bride arrived in

, near the

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

state border in Stephenson County.Linn, James Weber. ''Jane Addams: A Biography'',
Google Books
, University of Illinois Press: 2000, p. 4, (). Retrieved 20 August 2007.John H. Addams Homestead
" (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, HAARGIS Database, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency'', pp. 1-8. Retrieved 20 August 2007. Addams established himself quickly as a successful mill operator when he purchased the Cedar Creek Mill in 1844. When the couple first arrived in Stephenson County they lived in a small two-room home with a loft. In 1854 Addams completed construction on an addition which made the Addams' home a much larger, prominent

house. Though the couple had nine children, only four survived to adulthood; their eighth child was

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

recipient

,Fox, Richard Wrightman and Kloppenberg, James T. ''A Companion to American Thought'',
Google Books
, Blackwell Publishing: 1995, p. 14, (). Retrieved 20 August 2007. born at the Addams House in Cedarville on September 6, 1860. In January 1863 Sarah Addams, then pregnant with her ninth child, went to assist in the delivery of a baby for the wagon-maker's wife. During the birth, she collapsed and was carried home. Sarah's own baby was delivered prematurely and as a result,

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The term i ...

. Sarah died a week later; Jane was just 2 years and 4 months old at the time of her mother's death. Jane Addams was cared for mostly by her older sisters after 1863.

Business career

Addams' milling business became one of the largest operations in northern Illinois, comprising a

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...

, linseed mill, and

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

along Cedar Creek on the Addams' property. The mill also represented the start of Addams' successful business career. From 1864 until 1881 he was the president of the Second National Bank in

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the county seat and largest city of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is known for hosting the second Linc ...

. Addams also served in directorships with the

Galena and Chicago Union Railroad The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU) was a railroad running west from Chicago to Freeport, Illinois, never reaching Galena, Illinois. A later route went to Clinton, Iowa. Incorporated in 1836, the G&CU became the first railroad built out ...

and the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

, he was also a founder of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company in 1867. Addams achieved a level of local fame due to his many successful business ventures and was regarded as Stephenson County's most successful entrepreneur. Elshtain, Jean Bethke. ''Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy: A Life'',
Google Books
, Basic Books: 2002, pp. 2-3, (). Retrieved 20 August 2007.

Political career and the Civil War

Addams served for sixteen years in the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

, where he acquired a reputation for integrity; as one historian phrased it, "he became famous as a man who not only had never taken a bribe, but had never been offered one.. He participated in the founding of the Republican Party and was a friend of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

's. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Addams helped to raise and equip a regiment that became known as "the Addams Guard."

Influence on Jane Addams

stated that her father, John, was a primary influence in her life. In her 1910 autobiography she described various ways in which she attempted to imitate her father, as well as establishing him as her primary influencer. She stated that her father was her reason for civic involvement and interest in the "moral concerns of life." Addams, Jane. ''Twenty Years at Hull-House: With Autobiographical Notes'',
Google Books
, The Macmillan Co: 1910, pp. 1-22. Retrieved 20 August 2007. It was Addams' deep civic involvement that had such a profound influence on his daughter, Jane. John Addams was active in the Cedarville School Board and a trustee of the Rockford Young Ladies' Seminary, later known as

Rockford College Rockford or Rockfords may refer to: Places United States * Rockford, Illinois, a city, the largest municipality of this name *Rockford, Alabama, a town * Rockford, Idaho, a census-designated place * Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois, a United St ...

, where Jane would earn her undergraduate degree. Besides his role in founding the state's Republican Party he was also one of the key individuals who helped bring the second Lincoln-Douglas Debate to Freeport.

Late life and death

In 1867, four years after Sarah Addams' death, John H. Addams was remarried to Anna H. Haldeman. Haldeman was herself a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

who brought two additional children of her own into the family. One of her sons, George, would also have a strong influence on Jane Addams. In early August 1881, Addams decided to take his family on a vacation in northwestern

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, where he planned to inspect some of the

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

ore mines as potential investments; they left on August 4. A week later John Addams became ill while climbing in an ore mine and the family decided to return home by train. They made it to

before Addams was too sick to travel any further and the family booked a hotel room. John H. Addams died suddenly of acute

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...

on August 17, 1881 in the hotel in Green Bay at the age of 59.Knight, Louise W. ''Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy'',
Google Books
, University of Chicago Press: 2005, p. 114, (). Retrieved 20 August 2007. His death came as a shock to his daughter Jane, and she spent eight years in a state of (or in depression) depression after his death.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Addams, John H. 1822 births 1881 deaths People from Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania Republican Party Illinois state senators American abolitionists People from Stephenson County, Illinois People of Illinois in the American Civil War 19th-century American politicians