Eugene Cary

Eugene Cary (February 20, 1835–March 22, 1904) was an American judge, lawyer, insurance executive, and politician who was active in Chicago, Illinois; Nashville, Tennessee; Sheboygan County, Wisconsin; and Erie County, New York.

Cary was raised in Erie County, New York. He studied law, first in the city of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, under David Taylor; and later in Buffalo, New York, under Nathan K. Hall. After finishing his legal studies, he settled again in Sheboygan, where he held office first as city attorney and later as county judge. During his tenure as county judge, he also began working in the insurance industry as a local agent for Aetna and The Hartford. During the American Civil War, Cary served in the Union army. After the war, he relocated to Nashville, where he worked both in law and the insurance industry (for Aetna). In Nashville, Cary served one term as a member of the Tennessee Senate, and also served as an elected circuit court judge.

In 1871, after the Great Chicago Fire, Cary moved to Chicago to work as the general agent for the Imperial Insurance Company. He later worked as the general manager of the Western United States operations of the German-American Insurance Company. From 1877 to 1879, Cary served a single term on the Chicago City Council as an alderman from the 3rd ward. Cary unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Chicago in 1883 as the nominee of the city's Republican Party, losing to incumbent mayor Carter Harrison III (a Democrat). He continued working in the insurance industry until his death in 1904, by which time he was regarded to be the "dean" among all insurance agents in the Western United States.

Early life Cary was born February 20, 1835, in Boston, New York. using he free time to begin reading law.

After finishing those legal studies in Buffalo, Cary returned to Sheboygan

Cary married Martha Rowe in 1858. He personally raised the H company, and led it to was warfront.

For most of his civil war service, Cary was assigned as a judge advocate (military lawyer) for the first division of the XIV corps, being placed on the staff of generals Lovell Rousseau and Absalom Baird.

Cary was urged by leading attorneys of the area, including former governor Neill S. Brown and incumbent governor Henry S. Foote, to run for a circuit judgeship. and served until a change to the state constitution ended his term. having been asked to work as the company's general agent in the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire. By the end of his life, Cary was one of the most well-known insurance industry professionals in the Western United States, and had become regarded the "dean" among Western United States insurance agents. At the time of his death, he was the presiding officer of the Association of Insurance Agents of Chicago.

Chicago politics

Cary was a staunch Republican,

In 1877, Cary was away from Chicago on a trip to California, city Republicans nominated Cary to run for the Chicago City Council as an alderman from the third ward. He won election, running unopposed and receiving the more votes than had ever before been cast for an aldermanic candidate in that ward.