Description
Book SynopsisThis well-crafted and engaging biography of Augustus Garrett and his wife, Eliza Clark Garrett, tells two equally compelling stories: an ambitious man's struggle to succeed and the remarkable spiritual journey of a woman attempting to overcome tragedy.
Trade ReviewIn telling the story of Augustus and Eliza Garrett, Charles H. Cosgrove has done an excellent job pulling together the slender threads of antebellum Chicago history. More than just a biography of an early mayor and businessman, this history illuminates the importance of evangelical religion in the social and cultural life of early Chicago." —Theodore J. Karamanski, author of
Rally 'Round the Flag: Chicago and the Civil War"Cosgrove focuses on two individuals who shaped and reshaped the diverse worlds of nineteenth-century Chicago political, religious, business, and educational life. Readable, enlightening, engaging, and instructive, the dual biography invites the reader into the fabric and feel of early nineteenth-century urban life. [Many] will appreciate greatly the careful attention to Eliza Garrett’s role in the founding of the institution that bears her name and her struggles with controlling clergy." —Russell E. Richey, coauthor of
The Methodist Experience in America: A Sourcebook"Grounded in the development of Protestantism in Chicago and especially in the crucial role that Eliza Garrett played in founding Methodist institutions, this thoughtful look at an early Chicago couple who found economic success in the city's rise reminds us of just how many stories of early Chicago are yet to be told." —Ann Durkin Keating, author of
The World of Juliette Kinzie: Chicago before the Fire"Cosgrove captures the personal, economic, and religious struggles of a unique nineteenth-century American couple. Steeped in original research, Cosgrove’s book not only brings the sights and sounds of Old Chicago back to life but also allows us to see how the Garretts formed a unique partnership, leading one to a career in early Chicago politics and the other to become the first woman in the United States to found a theological seminary." —Christopher H. Evans, author of
The Social Gospel in American Religion: A History
