Constable: Woman with moxie left gift forever changing Naperville
Leaving their home in the Edinburgh region of Scotland, the Martin family arrived in Naperville in 1833, just a couple of years after the Naper family. As a 15-year-old boy, George Martin took over management of the family's 30-acre farm in DuPage County after the death of his father in 1841 and became a success story.
But it was his youngest daughter who changed Naperville forever.
Martin did well enough farming to buy more land, much of which was rich with limestone and clay deposits. After a quarry opened along the DuPage River in 1849, Martin started a brickworks business in 1853. One of Naperville's first trustees, George and his wife, Sibelia, had four children: Elizabeth (Lizzie), Catherine (Kittie), George and Caroline (Carrie).
His business grew after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 led to a building boom with limestone, and, in 1883, he built a mansion called Pine Craig on what was known as Locust Hill. He died in 1889. His son, a lawyer, was in poor health and had moved away.
"The sisters were left to manage the brick and tile business," says Rena Tamayo-Calabrese, president and CEO of Naper Settlement. Together, they formed an amazing team to do more than replace their father.
"While he was successful, they really ramped up the business," Tamayo-Calabrese says.
Lizzie, the oldest, possessed "an incredible math mind," and kept the books for their company for 36 years, Tamayo-Calabrese says. Lizzie died in 1920. Kittie was an active member of the community and well respected until her death in 1908.
Carrie was the only daughter to marry, eloping in 1895 with Edward Grant Mitchell, a Hinsdale resident she most likely met while attending the Scottish "Highland" games and picnics. They did not have children.
"Caroline Martin Mitchell was a very astute and successful businesswoman in the late 19th century and early 20th century," Tamayo-Calabrese says. "This was a totally male-dominated business, but she was known in town for being very fierce and a woman with a lot of moxie."
But she was more than a businesswoman.
"She was a true philanthropist," Tamayo-Calabrese says. In honor of the 100th anniversary of her grandparents' arrival in Naperville, she opened Pine Craig to the public, displaying many family heirlooms. Working with her friend, federal judge Win Knoch, Martin Mitchell crafted a will to leave her entire estate to the city of Naperville.
"My home, the one in which I live ... is typical of the better homes and reflects the character and staunchness of the George Martin Family in the early days when life was so full to me," Martin Mitchell wrote. "It is my earnest hope and desire that the home in which I live be preserved as a museum and the land about it used for park or municipal or public purposes by the City of Naperville."
"She was in many ways a visionary and a futurist," says Tamayo-Calabrese, noting the will allowed the city to sell part of the 212-acre gift for an airport or highways if that need arose. She wanted her home and the orchards surrounding it to be "A place to gather my community."
Today, Pine Craig, now called the Martin Mitchell Mansion, is the centerpiece of the Naper Settlement.
"She gave us a sense of place and a community anchor. She also provided the cornerstone for culture and education, and a place where we could find our identity through the power of storytelling," Tamayo-Calabrese.
Some of the land in her gift now houses Naperville Central High School, Rotary Hill, Knoch Park, the Naper Settlement, campgrounds, gardens, a cemetery, part of the hospital grounds, municipal buildings and many other beloved institutions in the town.
While Women's History Month kicks off Tuesday as a way to recognize the many contributions by women that are often overlooked, Caroline Martin Mitchell is more than women's history. She is Naperville's history.
"The importance is not because she's a woman. The gift is important," Tamayo-Calabrese says. "She really shaped the city we have today."