Wakeley Residence

Ebenezer Wakeley, Jr. was born in Trumbull, CT in 1843. He served in the Union Army in the Civil War, and the next year found him in Dixon, IL, listed on the tax rolls as a peddler. By 1871, Ebenezer had arrived in Chicago and taken up the study of law. The 1871 City Directory lists him as a lawyer with offices at 149 LaSalle Street (now the 600 block of North LaSalle Street), and the following year as a clerk with the firm of Hoyne, Horton & Hoyne in the Morrison Block at the southeast corner of Clark and Madison Streets. In 1874, Mr. Wakeley had moved his law practice to 188 Madison Street (now 803 W. Madison Street), and his residence to 311 W. Randolph Street (1042 W. Randolph Street).

He married Emma Stone of Wisconsin in 1879, and Mr. Wakeley worked as an attorney for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. At first, they lived at 29 25th Street (now 421 E. 25th Street), but moved frequently in the following years, including 3956 S. Drexel Boulevard. The couple had four children. Their oldest son, Tilden, was killed in 1907 while working in the Philippines. By 1910, the Wakeleys lived at 6033 S. Prairie Avenue. After Mr. Wakeley's death in 1916, his widow moved back to her native Wisconsin for some years. She returned to Chicago in the 1930s and died in 1939 at 9525 S. Hamilton Street. The Wakeleys are buried at Mount Hope cemetery in Chicago.

For further details, contact the Chicago Genealogical Society. Ebenezer Wakeley is Pioneer ancestor number 277.