Zearing, Iowa 1956 History

Luelja Zearing Gross said that the early maps of south Chicago registered the land at the head of Lake Calumet as the Zearing Acres. William bought seven acres there from the government with riparian rights. The Zearing building on Dearborn Street, near Harrison, was built by William in 1886. Before the Chicago fire, William was one of the leading property owners in Chicago. His intention to build a Zearing Public Library was cancelled by the fire. He sustained heavy financial losses in the fire.

William made a tour of Europe, Asia, and Africa in 1867. He visited Austria, Scandinavia, and northern Europe in 1873.

William married Annie Cannon of Louisville, Kentucky, on July 24, 1864. The following item appeared in the Louisville Daily Journal on July 28, 1864.

Married: In Chicago, at St. James Church, Hon. W. M. Zearing to Miss Annie Cannon, daughter of the late James B. Cannon of this city.

Annie Cannon was the daughter of Laura McConnell Cannon and James Brown Cannon of Louisville. James Brown Cannon was a commission merchant in Louisville. Some of Annie's ancestors were from Pennsylvania. They were pioneers in Kentucky.

Annie died in Chicago on April 27, 1866, less than two years after the marriage. Annie was only twenty-two years old at the time of her death. A notice of her death appeared in the Louisville Daily Journal on May 3, 1866.

Died : In Chicago, Mrs. Annie Cannon Zearing, daughter of the late James B. Cannon of this city. .

According to the August 11, 1899, issue of The Chicago Tribune, Judge William Mitchell Zearing died on Mackinac Island, August 10, 1899. He became ill while at dinner. He is buried in the Oakland Cemetery at Princeton, Illinois.

The following quotation was taken from a letter written by Judge Zearing. I have chosen the section of the letter containing his description of the city where he was born, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The date of the letter was November 15, 1869.

“Harrisburg has the most beautiful types of natural scenery, and containing more that is emblematical of paradise than any other spot. The enchantment of the multifarious landscapes, and the pleasing and romantic wildness, is enhanced by the wide spread, heart gladdening, stream coursing through. No waters more cheerfully sparkle to the concert of song and flute, when the moon and stars tide out their glory on the voyagers' bark. From the silvery stream at morn ascends the moist incense, which is taken and worked in nature's laboratory to be transferred to burst in wild storms on the mountain walled boundaries of this loveliest shrine of nature. I can not recall more blooming hills, and sunnier banks, for sweet repose to dream in Latin and Greek, or on which the genius of seclusion can so delighted bask and muse in thought, and view the light creep up the distant hills, and in its wake, empurpled shadows, pendent, drape the dewy fields. When summer recedes from the earth and resigns her maturing stores to autumn, here