Years ago, as people came together to live in communities they decided to name the streets around them created by the new community. They used names like "First" Street and "Main" Street or the street named in the Bible "the street that is called Straight." (Acts 9:11) As the communities got larger it became necessary to assign numbers to each building on a particular street. Typically they started with #1, #2, etc.
As you know Chicago is made up of many smaller communities that came together over time to form one big city. There are currently 178 distinct neighborhoods in Chicago, and each one probably had their own numbering system in place that had no relation to the numbering of the surrounding neighborhoods. It was said that because of rapid-fire annexations carried out in the late 1800s, the city's street system was no system at all, but a crazy quilt of names and numbers that confused residents and mystified visitors.
The fact that Chicago has an orderly arrangement of streets and street numbers today is due to a man named Edward Paul Brennan (1866-1942).
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| Edward Paul Brennan |
Brennan was not a famous civic leader, nor a politician, nor a noted cartographer - he was a bill collector for Lyon and Healy, a company that sold sheet music and musical instruments.
Before we get into the four-decade crusade that would change the face of Chicago, let's see what we can "dig up" about Edward Brennan.
Edward Paul Brennan was born January 30, 1866 in Chicago. He was the firstborn of Matthew James Brennan (1835-1915) and Bridget Frances Kinsella (1843-1914). Matthew and Bridget were both born in County Carlow, Ireland, but were married at St. John's Church in Chicago on February 26, 1865. The groom was 29; the bride was 21. Matthew came to the US from Ireland in 1848, Bridget came in 1850. Matthew was a boot and shoe maker by trade.
Matthew and Bridget were blessed with seven sons: Edward Paul (1866-1942), Thomas P.F. (1868-1951), Ambrose Matthew (1871-1948), Louis J. (1873-1876), Martin Bernard (1877-1932), Francis Joseph (1879-1881), and Leo Marquette/Brother Louis, CSC (1882-1950).
Edward Brennan makes his first appearance in the 1870 US Census. The Brennan family was living in Chicago's 8th Ward. The family consisted of Matthew Brennan (35 years old), Bridget (24), Edward (11), and Thomas (2). There were also two "Domestic Servants" Eliza Purvis from Scotland and Ellen Kehoe from Ireland. Matthew reported his occupation as "Boot and Shoe Maker." He said that he owned Real Estate worth $12,000.00 ($289,000 in today's funds) and personalty of $600.00 ($14,000 in today's funds).
Of the seven Brennan brothers, five made it to adulthood. Louis had died in 1876 and Francis in 1881. Both are buried in the Brennan Family Plot in Calvary Cemetery in Evanston in Section O - Block 1, Lot 17. Here is their tombstone:
The 1880 US Census finds the Brennan family living at 539 (now 1242) S. Canal Street in Chicago. A FedEx Office Print & Ship Center occupies that plot today. The family now consisted of Matthew Brennan (45 years old), wife Bridget (35), sons "Eddy Paul" (14), Thomas (12), Ambrose (9), Martin (3) and Francis (6/12). According to the Census all of the Brennans could read and write. I think it's safe to say that Francis could not, and perhaps Martin. None of them were "Sick," "Blind," "Deaf and Dumb," "Idiotic," "Insane," or "Disabled" all categories on the 1880 Census form.
The 1890 US Census for this area is lost.
The 1900 US Census finds the Brennans living at 4018 S. Vincennes Avenue in Chicago. The plot is now occupied by Phase IV of the Paul G. Stewart Apartments. The Brennan family consisted of Matthew (64 years old), Bridget (55), Edward (34), Thomas (32), Ambrose (29), Martin (23), and Leo (18). Living with them was "Servant" Mary Murphy (26). Matthew and Bridget said they had been married for thirty-five years. Bridget said she had given birth to seven children; five were still living in 1900. The dates that Matthew and Bridget immigrated and their Naturalization Status was "Unknown." Matthew and Bridget did not report Occupations. Edward was a "Collector (Music)," Thomas was "Superintendent of a Facing Company," Ambrose was a "Cashier," Martin was a "Clerk (Books)," and Leo was "At School." They could all read, write and speak English.
The Chicago Street Renumbering Project
The Standard Guide to Chicago from 1891 tried to outline the problems with the way Chicago was laid out:
Street nomenclature in Chicago is likely to confuse the visitor. It is not clear even to old residents. There is an entire absence of system in the naming of streets, and where a system has been attempted it has only served to increase the confusion. For instance, the streets running east and west, south of the Chicago river, are named South Water, Lake, Randolph, Washington, Madison, Monroe, etc. Now from Washington south it was the evident intention to name the streets after the presidents, but those which are so named are not in the proper order, and Jefferson and Lincoln sts. are on the West Side, running north and south, while Johnson is a little back street in the southwestern part of the city. Streets named after trees, such as Elm, Oak, Pine, etc., are on the North Side, and Walnut is on the West Side.
There is a Lake st. and a Lake ave., the latter miles away from the former. There is a Park ave. on the West Side and a South Park ave, miles away, on the South Side. We have a Garfield ave. on the North Side, Garfield Park on the West Side, and a Garfield blvd. on the South Side. We have a Washington St., Washington ave. and Washington blvd., each in a different district of the city. So also we have Madison st. and Madison ave. Again, we have Michigan st., Michigan ave. and Michigan blvd., Indiana St. and Indiana ave. etc., etc. There is at present a scheme before the authorities for correcting the nomenclature of streets, but it is so radical as to be unpopular. Practically there is no distinction between streets and avenues. Both run north and south, east and west, and diagonal.
By 1901 the situation was even worse: In 1901, Chicago had 13 streets called Washington, 13 called Center and 14 called Park. It had nine Forest streets, nine Sheridan streets and 10 Oak streets. Seven were called 40th, and eight were named 42nd. There were even five named for former U.S. Vice President Schuyler Colfax.
Depending on the part of the city you were in, the street just west of Halsted was called Green Street, Lime Street, Dayton Street, Florence Avenue, Craft Street, Reta Avenue or Newberry Avenue.
Frankly it's amazing that anyone was ever to get where they were going. In the Summer of 1901 Edward Brennan went on a planned a trip to Paw Paw, Michigan with an armload of Chicago maps. He came back with a set of proposals making the city’s street system rational. He wanted to change the way streets were named and numbered so that residents and tourists could find their way around easily.
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| Edward Brennan from about the time when he proposed the standardization of Chicago streets and numbering |
After his Michigan vacation Brennan, wrote a letter to the Committee on Street Nomenclature and suggested that Chicago be ordered as a large grid with a uniform street numbering system, and proposed State and Madison Streets as the city’s primary north-south and east-west axis. His letter contained five main proposals:
(1) Rename hundreds of streets. Over the next 23 years, that’s what the aldermen did, giving new names to more than 1,200. At least 130 of those names, and maybe as many as 300, were suggested by Brennan.
(2) Establish a numbering system that used State and Madison as baselines. The Council agreed, and, on Sept. 1, 1909 --- just two months after the publication of the Burnham Plan --- the intersection of those streets became the nexus of the street grid. All numbers north, south, east and west proceed from 0 at that corner.
(3) Use a numbering system that would indicate how far a house address was from the base lines. Because of this, a system was imposed under which each 800 in an address generally indicates a mile. Thus, a home in the 6400 block of North Paulina Street is roughly eight miles north of Madison while a store in the 2400 block of West Cermak Road about three miles west of State.
(4) Use odd and even numbers to indicate the side of a street on which a house is located. Ultimately, the Council established that odd numbers are on the east side of north-south streets, and even numbers on the west side. For east-west streets, odd numbers are on the south side, and even numbers on the north side.
(5) Use street names beginning with the same letter to designate north-south streets within the same mile as an indication of how far west they are of State Street. This resulted in the streets between Crawford Avenue (now Pulaski Road) and Cicero Avenue being rechristened with names beginning with K, such as Keeler and Karlov. Further west, there were the L streets, then the N streets, then the O streets, such as Oketo.
Don't think for a minute that Edward Brennan just walked in with his proposals, the aldermen looked them over and approved them as submitted. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was estimated that Brennan, during his quest, attended more than 600 City Hall meetings.
Brennan knew that getting politicians to agree on anything was difficult at best, so he decided he needed backup for his proposal. At the same time that he sent his proposal to the city's Committee on Street Nomenclature he also forwarded it to the Chicago Record-Herald newspaper, and most importantly gave a copy to his second cousin, Chicago alderman Charles Byrne. He hoped that if there was pressure coming from all sides, the City would be unable to oppose the changes. Over time he was able to get the support of the City Club of Chicago, as well as major Chicago businesses such as Marshall Field's.
Although Brennan's suggestion pointed to his civic-mindedness, there was actually a more selfish reason for his proposals. As a bill collector for Lyon and Healy, he had to travel all over Chicagoland in his attempts to collect delinquent accounts. He had the customer's address, to be sure, but in actuality he had no idea where that address was located. Finding an address in Chicago was a nightmare for all the reasons outlined above. By getting all Chicago addresses standardized he was in effect making his job much easier.
After literally years of debate, the Council approved Brennan's numbering system in 1908, and it went into effect in 1909, everywhere except the Loop. It worked so well, though, that five years later the Loop addresses were reoriented to State and Madison.
While all this was going on, Edward Brennan was also living his life and continuing to work for Lyon and Healy. The 1910 US Census is the last one where Edward would be living with his parents. The Brennans were still living at 4018 S. Vincennes Avenue in Chicago. The family consisted of: Matthew J. (75 years old), wife Bridget (65), and sons Edward (43), Thomas (40), Matthew (37), Martin (28) and Leo (24). Also living with them was "Servant" Margaret Sullivan (19). Matthew and Bridget said they had been married for 45 years. Bridget said she had given birth to seven children; five of whom were still alive in 1910. Matthew said he had come to the US in 1848; Bridget said 1850, and they were Naturalized Citizens. Matthew reported his occupation as "Own Income," Edward as "Manager of a Piano Company," Thomas as "Bookkeeper for the Stockyards," Andrew as "Bookkeeper for a Liquor House," Martin as a "Salesman in a Department Store," and Leo as an "Artist at College." Matthew said that the owned their house free and clear.
On June 29, 1910 Edward Paul Brennan married Beatrice Angelica Jeffers (1884-1953) in Chicago. The groom was forty-four years old; the bride was twenty-six.
Beatrice Angelica Jeffers was born July 23, 1894 in Chicago to George J. Jeffers (1849-1890) and Julia A. Maher (1850-1891). George and Julia had four children altogether: Margaret Elizabeth/Mrs. John J. McCormick (1878-1961), Mary Aloysious/Mrs. John E. Butler (1879-1938), George Joseph Jr. (1883-1955) and Beatrice Angelica/Mrs. Edward Brennan (1884-1953)
Edward and Beatrice were blessed with three daughters: Agnes Isabella (1912-1999), Mary Beatrice/Mrs. Leo McGraw (1911-2004), and Adelaide Frances/Sister Mary Beatrice, BVM (1914-2014).
Edward's parents, Bridget Kinsella Brennan and Matthew J. Brennan died within a few months of each other. Bridget died April 3, 1914 and Matthew died on Christmas, 1915. Here is Bridget's Death Notice from the Chicago Tribune of April 6, 1914:
Matthew Brennan rated both an Obituary and a Death Notice from the Tribune of December 26, 1915:
Both are buried in the Brennan Family Plot at Calvary Cemetery in Evanston:
The 1920 US Census shows Edward Brennan and his family living at 6446 N. Wayne Avenue in Chicago:
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| 6446 N. Wayne Avenue, Chicago |
The 1930 US Census finds the Brennans still living at 6446 N. Wayne Aenue in Chicago. The family consisted of: Edward P. (63 years old), wife Beatrice (55), daughters Mary (19), Agnes (17) and Adeline (sic) (15). Edward said they owned the building, and it was worth $20,000 ($378.000 in today's funds). Not surprisingly with three daughters in the house, the Brennans owned a radio. Edward said he was 44 when he was married; Beatrice said she was 26. Edward had been promoted at Lyon and Healy - he was now the Building Superintendent. They rented the other unit in their two-flat to the Griffin family for $100.00/month. ($1,900/month in today's funds.)
In 1933 there was a proposal put forth to change the name of Crawford Avenue to Pulaski Road after the noted Polish patriot Casimir Pulaski. There were many people in favor of the name change, and many against. One man firmly opposed to the change was Edward P. Brennan, as reported in the Tribune of November 14, 1933. The article said, "Edward P. Brennan, chairman of the subcommittee on street names of the City Club protested against the proposed Crawford Avenue change on behalf of the Chicago Historical Society. "We have no Bowling Green, as has New York, no Commons as does Boston; no Independence Hall, as does Philadelphia. All of our landmarks were wiped out by the fire. All we have left of historical significance is names, and the Historical Society is opposing the wiping out of the names of the families which helped build Chicago." Any Chicagoan who has driven down Pulaski Road knows that this time Brennan was not successful.
Apparently not all of the Chicago address problems had been fixed in 1908-1909. The Chicago Tribune reported on November 9, 1935 reported that although the grid system had solved the address problems, there were still myriad problems with the names of the streets themselves:
There was an article in the Tribune from January 6, 1935 about early settlers of Chicago who were Irish. Edward P. Brennan is mentioned as a son of Matthew Brennan:
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Apparently everything regarding street naming finally had been resolved as noted in the Chicago Eagle newspaper from April 20, 1937:
One interesting part of the 1940 Census was the part that asked for the Highest Grade Completed in one's education. Edward reported that he had one year of college. The rest had four years of high school.
Edward and Beatrice did not report any occupation. Mary was a Stenographer for a Publishing Company," Agnes was a "Bookkeeper for a Finance Corp." Ambrose Brennan reported that he was an "Accountant in Private Practice."
The Brennans reported that their building was now worth $5,000.00 as opposed to the $20,000.00 they reported in 1930. $5,000.00 in 1940 would be worth approximately $113,000.00 in today's funds. Their apartment was still rented to the Griffins but the rent had been reduced to $75.00/month as opposed to the $100.00/month in 1930. $75.00 in 1940 would be worth approximately $1,691.00 in today's funds. The Great Depression of the 1930s had been hard on everyone.
Since he had now finally fixed all of the problems with Chicago's street names and addresses, Edward Brennan needed another crusade to occupy his free time. In 1941 it was announced that Brennan wanted another star added to the flag of the City of Chicago. this from the Chicago Tribune of February 27, 1941:
He was buried in the family plot in Calvary Cemetery, Evanston:
In 2013, as a further acknowledgement of Brennan's contributions to Chicago, the corner of State Street and Madison Avenue was designated "Honorary Edward Brennan Way."
