| Edwin Walter Sims |
| 1870-1948 |
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Edwin Walter Sims was a man of dedication, strong moral conviction and Victorian authoritarianism. |
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Edwin Walter Sims circa 1930 |
Edwin Walter Sims was a man of dedication, raised with strong moral convictions and work ethic with a belief in Victorian authoritarianism.
He was born in Mount Hope, a southwestern suburb of Hamilton, Glanford Township, Ontario, Canada on June 4, 1870.
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Map of Hamilton, Ontario area with marker on Mount Hope, Ontario via Google Maps. |
In 1875 his family moved to Michigan when his father, Walter Sims, got a job in Detroit as a newspaper editor for a Railroad publication; they moved again in November, 1878 to West Bay City, Michigan when Walter was asked to become a fulltime speaker and orator in the area.
Young Ed Sims became a cub reporter on the Bay City Times in 1890. While still a teen, he rode his bicycle, still a rather new invention, back to Hamilton, Ontario to visit friends and family. His youth was filled, with religion, hard work, sailing and outdoor activities including camping along the shores of Saginaw Bay.
Ed Sims put himself through law school at the University of Michigan and obtained his law degree in 1894.
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Leisure time on campus at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor circa 1893 |
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Edwin W Sims as new graduate of University of Michigan Law Department 1894 |
| As a newly minted attorney, he flipped a coin to see if his future lay in New York City or Chicago; Chicago won the toss. He was licensed to practice law in both Illinois and Michigan by Nov. 1894 and worked under the aegis of many attorneys until 1898, when he opened his first law partnership, Malley and Sims. He was appointed County Attorney for Cook County, Illinois (1901-1903). Having belonged to the Republican Club while in Ann Arbor, Ed continued his political activity by joining the Thirty-fourth Ward Republican Club and was elected its president in Nov 1897. |
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List of registered voters, dated 1898, from E.W. Sim’s scrapbook. He is listed in the right column, and his name is followed by those of his brother Robert Harry “Henry” Sims and George Reginald Sims. |
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By 1890, E.W. Sims was president of his local Republican committee |
As president of the 7th ward Republican Club in Cook County, Illinois and as a supporter for President William McKinley before his assassination, Ed became acquainted with the in-coming Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt. A personal friendship developed between them based on mutual respect and a love of the outdoors.
These presidential appointments culminated in Ed’s appointment as a special agent of the government, in which capacity he was sent to investigate the problem of Japanese fur seal poaching off Alaska. His Report on Alaskan Fur-Seal Fisheries was printed for the public in 1906 and led to improvements in fishing and hunting treaties. |
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Chicago Tribune: March 7, 1905
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Well wishs from Teddy Roosevelt addressed to E.W. Sims
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| After spending three years in Washington DC, his work at the Dept. of Commerce was completed and Ed returned, with his family, to Chicago. President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him as a U.S. District Attorney for the northern district of Illinois (1906-1911).
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Chicago Tribune: July 10, 1906 |
| In this capacity, he argued many cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and wrote two chapters and the introduction to the book "War on the White Slave Trade: a book designed to awaken the sleeping and to protect the innocent". |
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Edwin proclaimed "Most Feared" man |
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Part of the first page on a treatise against white slavery by Rev. Ernest A Bell, 1910 Publ G S Ball |
| He worked closely with James R. Mann, a Congressional representative and, in a 1913 letter to Theodore Roosevelt, stated that he had written legislation against white slavery for Representative Mann who introduced the bill in the US House in 1909; this bill became known as the Mann Act. He went on to run James Mann’s bid for US president in 1914. |
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Muncie Evening Press (Muncie, Indiana) June 21, 1915: E.W. Sims announces he is directing James R Mann’s presidential bid |
| One of the best-known cases of his early career was the 1907 suit against Standard Oil of Illinois for accepting rebates from the railroads that carried oil for the Rockefeller company. |
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A copy of the proclamation about the Standard Oil Anti-Trust decision courtesy of Richard Coffin Ramsay
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While winning a significant fine of $29,000,000 against Standard Oil [later overturned on appeal] Edwin Sims also brought anti-trust suits against meat packers such as Armour and Co. and National Packing Concerns and charges against Corn Products Refining co, in Argo, IL for imprisoning up to 1000 workers.
In 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt ran in a primary bid for the Republican nomination for President of the US, E.W. Sims was treasurer of the Illinois committee and secretary of the national election committee. Ed Sims was the only man standing on the train platform to greet Roosevelt when he came to Chicago to campaign. Upon arrival, Roosevelt faced a head to head nomination showdown between Roosevelt and Taft during the 1912 Republican National Convention. When Theodore Roosevelt broke with the conservative Taft “Machine”, E.W. Sims was a part of his national election bid. This act of loyalty exemplifies the strong bonds of friendship personified by Edwin W. Sims.
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Arrival of Teddy Roosevelt in Chicago on June 15th, 1912 prior to the Republican National Convention starting June 18th. E.W. Sims is seated in the vehicle with Roosevelt. Photo taken at the corner of Jackson Blvd and Wabash facing NW en route to the Congress Hotel on Michigan Ave.
View Source: Collier’s Magazine 49, Episode 15, Page 10
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| The scene of his arrival was described by the Chicago Tribune. Upon arrival, Roosevelt gave a rousing speech to those in attndance below on Michigan Ave.
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Chicago Tribune: June 15th, 1912
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| Prior to the Republic Convention, Teddy felt postive about his odds to upset Taft and win the ticket. The Chicago Tribune recorded the following sentiment:
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Chicago Tribune: June 1912
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After Roosevelt lost the contested Republican ticket to Taft, Teddy utilized these sentiments to found the progressive, storied Bull Moose Party. E.W. Sims aided in the national election bid within the Bull Moose Party. Ultimately, Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson won the 1912 election, but Roosevelt finished second splitting the Republican vote and beating Taft.
His personal life was full and fruitful. He met Charlotte (Lottie) Smith, the daughter of the well-known Chicago attorney Frank J Smith, at church in 1896. The couple was married in a small home service Feb 9, 1898 and started married life living with Lottie’s parents. By 1913, his family had grown to include six children; Betsy, Helen, Frank, Susan and Ed Jr. (Ned) and Priscilla.
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From Left: Frank Sims, Charlotte Smith Sims, Helen V Sims, Edwin Sims Jr., Betsy Sims, Priscilla Sims, Edwin W Sims, Susan K Sims circa 1915 |
| The family lived in a large Southside home at 6520 Kimbark Avenue in Chicago where they remained until 1921, when they moved to the more exclusive neighborhood of Hyde Park, Chicago [4800 Kenwood Avenue]. The house still stands in the neighborhood as of 2023.
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4800 S Kenwood, Chicago, IL |
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4800 S Kenwood, Chicago, IL circa 2018 |
The family vacationed on Saginaw Bay spending summers at Linwood Beach or on a houseboat. After deciding to make their presence in the area permanent, Ed and Lottie started buying property in Arenac County, Michigan in 1906 and continued until the 1940’s except for pauses during the two World Wars. They built the family “Ranch House” in 1909 when Ned was a baby and expanded it in the 1920’s. They bought land on Point Au Gres, in Deep River township, and White Stone Point. Eventually the Sims’ family and ended up owning more than 6000 acres with almost 2 miles of shorefront on Saginaw Bay. Starting in 1914 they organized annual hunts to which governors, judges, law clients and even cartoonists were invited. The family spent every summer at what later became Sims Ranch (initially called Bay Meadows Farm). Ed Sims continued to participate in local politics convincing the residents around him to split the township from Whitney Township in 1917 leading to the creation of Sims Township. He also lobbied his friends to redirect the route of US 23 to follow the shoreline and open the area to the rising tide of tourism in 1930. He went to Washington DC in 1938 to press for a safe harbor near Point Lookout, Michigan with the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors of the War Department and the next year sold the Army Corps of Engineers land that would allow access for building a new lighthouse on Gravelly Shoals.
While still keeping a hand in the politics of Chicago, in 1913, Ed moved into private law practice in Chicago, establishing the law firm of Sims, Welch and Godman. Over the years various partners came and went, including some who served on the state supreme court such as Franklin J Stransky. His final law firm was Sims, Handy, McKnight and Carey, from which Ed retired in 1946. In 1919, Ed Sims was appointed the first president of the Chicago Crime Commission and wrote a monograph on Fighting Crime in Chicago: the Crime commission. He held this position until 1922.
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| In the 1920’s, Ed Sims was appointed the first president of the Chicago Crime Commission and wrote a monograph on "Fighting Crime in Chicago: the Crime Commission".
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Morrison’s Chicago Magazine |
| In 1925, Ed’s social standing required that he move closer to the heart of the city and he bought a spacious home at 112 Bellevue Place, close to the Miracle Mile.
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112 Bellevue Place, Chicago – Just off the Miracle Mile and around the corner from the Drake Hotel. Circa 2020 |
He sold this house in 1930 to a consortium and moved down the street to the Elting home at 48 Bellevue Place; he also repurchased 4800 Kenwood. By 1931, he had sold both the Elting home and 4800 Kenwood property and moved back to 112 Bellevue Place. This was to remain his family home until his death in 1948. His heart was most at home on Saginaw Bay, and it is here that he chose to remain in perpetuity.
Edwin Walter Sims is still remembered by his family as the Pater Familia extraordinaire. He arranged marriages for his children, gave monetary rewards for grandchildren named Sims and left a legacy of land, a family center, and the Sims Family Cemetery that remains today.
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| Edwin Sims biography printed in the October, 1907 edition of the Saturday Evening Post: View Full Publication |
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Sources:
History of Bay County Michigan with Illustrations and Biographical sketches. H.R.Page and Co. Chicago, 1883
Bell, Ernest Albert, ed. War on the White Slave Trade: A Book Designed to Awaken the Sleeping and to Protect the Innocent. Charles C. Thompson Company, 1909.
Sims E.W. Fighting crime in Chicago: the Crime commission. J of Criminal Law and Criminology. May 1920. P21-8.
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