Person:John Kedzie (1)

Kedzie, John Hume - (1815-1903) Mr. Kedzie was born in Stamford, Connecticut, September 8, 1815. Adam Kedzie, the grandfather of our subject emigrated from Hawick, Roxburgh, Scotland, with his wife and eight children. They arrived in 1795, and settled in Delaware County, New York. The maternal grandfather Robert Hume, crossed the Atlantic on the same vessel as the Kedzie family. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1841, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. He moved to Chicago that year and began the practice of law. He gradually switched to real estate and became one of the leading men in Chicago. His property dealing were mostly on the West and North sides, and Kedzie Avenue on the west side is named in his honor. In 1868, he moved to Evanston and was instrumental in laying out the Kedzie and Keeney's addition, which formed the nucleus of South Evanston. Kedzie street in Evanston is named in his honor. He was also involved in founding and developing Ravenswood and took an active part in laying out the Lurton and Kedzie addition to Jacksonville, Illinois. He saw the city laid to waste by the great fire in 1871. In Evanston, He built a beautiful residence that was destroyed by fire on December 9, 1873. The replacement residence was also destroyed by fire in December, 1880. Mr. Kedzie married twice. In July, 1850, he married Mary Elizabeth Austin of Greene County, New York. She died July 16, 1854. Three years later he married Mary Elizabeth of Chicago and they became the parents of five children. "He was ever a champion of liberty, the opponent of oppression and an advocate of freedom. Naturally he became opposed to the system of slavery in the South, espousing the cause of the abolitionist party, and met with five or six others in the first meetings held to organize the republican party in Illinois. He was president of the Illinois Saint Andrew Society in 1854. He died April 9, 1903, having traveled life's journey for nearly eight-eight years." Mr. Kedzie is buried in a family plot at Rose Hill cemetery Section M, Lot 73-75. Ten persons are buried here. Seven bear the name Kedzie. Two are named Parker and there is one Lucy B. Kent. The age range is 1-87. The last burial was John Hume Kedzie who died December 7, 1953.12

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 [1], in Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees: (Note: not considered a reliable primary source).