The Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Representative Men of Chicago, Milwaukee and the World's Columbian Exposition

              BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
385
ing  her   comfortable   home, whose   happiness  is    year-old daughter, Inez, a bright, attractive child heightened   by the presence of   the  little  three-     of unusual intelligence.
HEMPSTEAD  WASHBURNE,
CHICAGO,   ILL.
THE true measure of one's success is what one has accomplished, and he best fulfills his mission in life who best uses his abilities and op¬ portunities. When measured by these standards, Hempstead Washburne, though he has scarce reached the meridian of life, must be classed with those successful men who have made the most and best of themselves. He is a native of Illi¬ nois, and was born at Galena, on November 11, 1852.
His father, the Hon. Elihu B. Washburne, was a man of extraordinary ability, whose name is enrolled with those of Illinois' ablest statesmen and most honored citizens. He was a lineal de-' scendant of John Washburne, who was secretary of the Colony of Plymouth. He was for eighteen years a member of Congress from Illinois; Secre¬ tary of State during the administration of Presi¬ dent Grant, and for eight years Minister to France. In this last-named capacity he rendered most praiseworthy.services during the Franco-Prussian War of 1871-1872.
The mother of our subject was, before her mar¬ riage. Miss Adele Gratiot, whose immediate an¬ cestors were among the early settlers of St. Louis, Missouri. Her father. Col. Henry Gratiot, moved to Galena, Illinois, when it was first opened up as a mining settlement. Her mother—our subject's maternal grandmother—was, before her marriage, a Miss Hempstead, whose father was a revolu¬ tionary soldier and a companion of Capt. Nathan Hale, on his ill-fated excursion to the British lines, when he (Hale) was captured by the British and hanged as a spy.
Hempstead attended the public schools during his boyhood, and prepared for college at Kent's Hill, Maine, where he was graduated in 1871. In the summer of that year he visited Europe and pursued a two years' course of study in the Uni¬ versity of Bonn, Germany. Upon his return to this country in 1873, he became a student in the law department of University  of Wisconsin at Madi¬
son, and was graduated therefrom in one year, after which he pursued a supplementary law course in the Union College of Law at Chicago, and was graduated in 1875. He began the practice of his profession at once, opening an office with Mr. Henry S. Robins, under the firm name of Wash¬ burne & Robins. This firm afterwards became associated with the Hon. Lyman Trumbull, the firm name changing to Trumbull, Washburne & Robins, and so continued until 1885. During that time Mr. Washburne came to be recognized as a young lawyer of fine abilities, for which, with his manly, personal qualities, he was greatly esteemed. He was appointed a Master in Chan¬ cery for the Superior Court in 1880, and held that office until he was elected City Attorney in 1885, whereupon he resigned and also withdrew from his law firm. He was re-elected City Attorney in 1887, and at the end of his second term de¬ clined to stand for a third nomination in order that he might resume his private practice, which he did in connection with Mr. Theodore Bren- tano—now a Judge of the Superior Court—under the firm name of Washburne & Brentano. In 1888 he was candidate for Congressional nomination, but was defeated at the primary election by an almost tie vote, Hon. George E. Adams being his successful competitor. In March, 1891, Mr. Washburne was nominated by acclamation for the office of Mayor of Chicago, and in April following, after a most exciting campaign, was elected. His term of office will expire in the spring of 1893.
As a lawyer Mr. Washburne maintained a high standing among his associates at the bar, and was esteemed by them, not only as an able law¬ yer, but also as a high-minded gentleman. His success as City Attorney is sufficiently attested by the fact that he voluntarily declined a third nomination for that office. In his present high and responsible office he has shown executive ability beyond the   expectation of  his   warmest