Manuscript Letter Relating to The Great Chicago Fire Relief Efforts

Folio sheet. 1p. Very good with creases from being folded with some spots of soiling and contemporary ink smudges. A letter sent to William H. Baldwin by the founders of the Young Men's Christian Union of Chicago in the days following The Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The first duty of the newly created YMCU were relief efforts for which Baldwin was invaluable. As the president of the YMCU of Boston, he was able to secure for the city 750 cases of goods totaling $150,000. This formal invitation honors Baldwin and is Signed by industrialist George Pullman and 25 other prominent citizens of Chicago: "We . beg leave to tender you a complimentary dinner . as a mark of our appreciation of your distinguished service in behalf of the sufferers by the late fire, and in recognition of your efforts to promote the welfare of the Chicago Christian Union." Three years later the YMCU changed its name to the Chicago Athenaeum and relocated to a building at Nos. 48-54 Dearborn Street where it occupied the second, third, and fourth floors with classrooms and a full gymnasium, and still later to a seven-story building occupying 18 -26 Van Buren Street. In addition to Pullman, who served as president of the organization from 1872-1874, the document is signed by numerous important citizens of Chicago, businessmen, doctors, judges, and clergy who play a role in the rebuilding of Chicago and the officers of the Chicago YMCU (and then Chicago Athenaeum). Some of the notables include Wirt Dexter, esteemed Chicago lawyer and father of Suffragette Katharine Dexter McCormick, D.L. Shorey, judge and city council member; and Lewis L. Coburn, lawyer and first president of the Chicago Union League. An intriguing document noting an important relief effort following the Great Fire bearing the signatures of over two dozen important member of Chicago Society.…