Hoyne Avenue

2100 W., from 7546 N. to 11160 S. This street is in BOTH Rogers Park and West Ridge from Howard south to Nowood

The Chicago City Council passed a lengthy ordinance January 14, 1895, rationalizing the street naming system. Because Hoyne Avenue did not exist at this time, no addresses on Hoyne Avenue require converting.

Not listed in the 1895, 1897, 1898, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904 Chicago Blue Book.

In the Land of Lincoln, Thomas Hoyne (1817-1883) is better remembered for besting Abraham Lincoln in a trial than for the three months in 1876 when he served as the disputed Mayor of Chicago. Hoyne was the newly appointed United States Attorney for the District of Illinois in 1853 when, in his first case, he prosecuted a mail robber. Abraham Lincoln defended the accused, but Hoyne won the case. The victory secured Hoyne’s legal reputation.

A self-made-man, Thomas Hoyne was born to a poor family in New York City and was orphaned at the age of 13. Going west to Chicago in 1837, he got his first public job, working for the Clerk of the Circuit Court for $10 a week. In 1840, Hoyne was elected City Clerk and drew up the city’s first Thanksgiving Day proclamation. Later he was elected or appointed as a Justice of the Peace, U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshal, and finally, Mayor of Chicago. Hoyne was elected Mayor in May 1876, at a mass meeting of 40,000 Chicago citizens. As Mayor, he abolished the city’s practice of borrowing money on certificates, a move credited with placing the city’s credit rating on solid ground. But, on July 12, 1876, after Hoyne was in office for only three months, a special election was held and Monroe Heath (Republican, 1827-1894) was elected 23rd Mayor (1876-1879). The Circuit Court had ordered the special election, ruling Hoyne had not been properly elected. Although they were once adversaries in the courtroom, Thomas Hoyne and Abraham Lincoln were personal friends. When Lincoln was slain, Hoyne was part of the escort that brought the body to Chicago to lie in state. Hoyne himself died in a train crash while traveling to Niagara Falls.