William Bross

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William J. Bross
16th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
In office
January 16, 1865 – January 11, 1869
GovernorRichard J. Oglesby
Preceded byFrancis Hoffmann
Succeeded byJohn Dougherty
Member of the Chicago City Council from the 1st ward
In office
1857–1859
Serving with James Long
Preceded bySylvester Sexton
Succeeded byJ.K. Botsford
Personal details
BornNovember 4, 1813
Chicago, Illinois
Resting placeRosehill Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
ChildrenJessie Bross Lloyd
Alma materWilliams College
ProfessionNewspaper editor
Signature

William J. Bross (November 4, 1813 – January 27, 1890) was an American politician and publisher originally from the New Jersey–New York–Pennsylvania tri-state area. He was also elected as the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.

He engaged in the lumber trade with his father before attending

Chicago, Illinois. He engaged in book-selling and publishing interests before co-founding the successful Democratic Press paper. Following the organization of the Republican Party in 1854, Bross became a staunch supporter of its political candidates. His support for Abraham Lincoln helped him win support for a bid as lieutenant governor. In 1865, he accompanied future Vice President of the United States Schuyler Colfax
on a trip west to California, later publishing a book about the excursion.

Biography

William Bross was born on November 4, 1813, in northwest Sussex County, New Jersey.[1] He was the eldest of eleven children of Deacon Moses Bross and Jane (Winfield) Bross. He was the eldest because he was born a few minutes before his twin Stephen Decatur Bross. When they were nine, the family moved to Milford, Pennsylvania, in anticipation of the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal. The boys worked with their father to furnish lumber for the canal near Shohola.[2]

In 1832, Bross enrolled at Milford Academy, then attended

Chicago, Illinois, which he reached on May 12, 1848.[2]

Bross quickly formed a partnership with S. C. Griggs and the Newman & Co. publishing house, opening the book-selling firm of

Griggs, Bross & Co. The partnership dissolved eighteen months later. In the autumn of 1849, Bross co-published the Prairie Herald, a religious newspaper, with Rev. J. A. Wright. Bross first achieved prosperity in 1852 when he teamed with Chicago Postmaster John L. Scripps to start the Democratic Press. The paper espoused Democratic viewpoints, but differed from the party line regarding slavery, notably opposing Stephen A. Douglas's Missouri Compromise.[3]

When the Republican Party formed in 1854, Bross became a public speaker on behalf of the cause. He gave the first public endorsement of John C. Frémont for President in the West, speaking at Dearborn Park the night he was nominated. Bross toured southern Illinois, generally a pro-slavery area, to extoll the virtues of Frémont.[2] While at the former State House in Vandalia, Illinois, he became acquainted with fellow Frémont campaigner Abraham Lincoln and the two would often speak at the same engagements.[3]

In 1857, Bross was elected to the

29th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry. It was commanded by one of his brothers, Col. John A. Bross, who was killed on July 30, 1864, during the Siege of Petersburg.[2]

Bross's support of Lincoln helped him to gain nomination as the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois under Richard J. Oglesby. He traveled with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Schuyler Colfax in 1865 to examine the path west to California. two years later he traveled to Europe with his daughter.[2]

Personal life

Bross's grave at Rosehill Cemetery

Soon after graduating from college and gaining his first job, in 1839 Bross married Mary Jane Jansen, the daughter of Dr. John T. Jansen. They had four sons and four daughters, but only one child, Jessie, survived to adulthood.[2] Their daughter Jessie Bross married Henry Demarest Lloyd, known as a muckraking journalist. Grandson William Bross Lloyd was a founding members of the Communist Labor Party of America.

In 1879, Bross established the Bross Foundation at

John Arthur Thomson, Frederick J. Bliss, and Josiah Royce.[6]

Bross died in Chicago on January 27, 1890, and was buried in Rosehill Cemetery.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Ex-Governor Bross Dead". Chicago Inter Ocean. January 27, 1890. p. 1. Retrieved November 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men of Chicago. Chicago, IL: Wilson & St. Clair. 1868. pp. 36–46.
  3. ^
    ISBN 9781610420006
    .
  4. ^ "Centennial List of Mayors, City Clerks, City Attorneys, City Treasurers, and Aldermen, elected by the people of the city of Chicago, from the incorporation of the city on March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1937, arranged in alphabetical order, showing the years during which each official held office". Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  5. ^ "The Daily News Almanac and Yearbook for 1901". Daily News Almanac and Year-Book1904-. Chicago Daily News: 310. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  6. ^ Royce, Josiah (1912). The Sources of Religious Insight. Edinburgh, Scotland: T. & T. Clark. pp. v–viii.
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
1864 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
1865-1869 		Succeeded by
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