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John E. Traeger (1858–1946) was a
farmer-turned-grocer-turned-beer-wagon-driver-turned-public
servant. His public office career began in 1897 when
he was elected collector for Town of Lake (Lake
Township, Cook County, Illinois). In 1903 he was
elected as Chicago's coroner during the
administration of
Mayor Carter Harrison
Jr, also a Democrat. As coroner, it was Traeger's job to
conduct the inquest for Iroquois Theater deaths. The
function of an inquest is fact-finding, to determine
the cause of death. In the case of the Iroquois
coroner's jury, circuit court judge Richard Stanley Tuthill ruled on January 27, 1904, that charges
brought against mayor Harrison were not lawful,
invalidating his arrest, and issued a writ of habeas
corpus releasing him.
Traeger and his jurors performed their task
expeditiously and thoroughly but
overstepped their authority. Nonetheless, if not for
their efforts and the corresponding media coverage,
we would know much less today about the Iroquois
disaster.
To fully record the inquest, Traeger requested and
was granted additional stenographers and clerical
help, paid for from the city's emergency fund.
Unfortunately, in the century after the fire,
transcripts of the inquest disappeared. Since the
grand jury trial was not public, newspaper reports
of the coroner's inquest, flawed though they may be,
are all we have in the way of a record.
Traeger the Un-Democrat
As can be expected, arresting mayor Harrison won
approval from republicans but was not appreciated by
the democratic party, who viewed Traeger's behavior
as a betrayal of his party and benefactor. Mayor
Harrison's endorsement had played a crucial role in Traeger's first-term election. One source asserted
that he was even unpopular in his own ward, the
13th. Reading between the lines, it appears that
Traeger had bipartisan support and bipartisan
opposition. People either loved or hated him. Not
much middle ground.
His detractors were pleased when Traeger lost his
bid in 1904 for a second term as coroner by a wide
margin (to republican Peter M. Hoffman).
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Mayor Carter Harrison's successor, Edward F. Dunne
(1853–1937), appointed Traeger City Collector in the
spring of 1906, and in 1907 Traeger won the office
of City Treasurer (salary $12,000). When Carter
Harrison began a second stint as mayor in 1911, to
the puzzlement and annoyance of some in the party,
he appointed Traeger City Comptroller.
When Traeger was rumored to be interested in running
against Harrison for the mayoral nomination, some of
his critics went nuts. A mark of how conflicted
attitudes were about Traeger was the November 22,
1913 issue of a Democrat weekly newspaper, Chicago
Eagle (1889–1912),
that devoted its entire front page to a diatribe
against "Appetite John Traeger." That rant was
penned by a republican,
Charles H. Wacker.
(Wacker, for which Wacker Drive and Wacker School
were named, was chairman of the Chicago Plan
Commission, aka Burnham plan.)
Wacker accused Traeger of being a political
opportunist who repeatedly betrayed friendships for
the sake of his political ambition and of failing in
his job as controller by selling too few of the
city's bonds. Wacker also implied, without offering
supporting details, that Traeger spent too much of
his time on his other job as vice president of the
Stockman's Trust & Savings bank on Halstead near the
stockyards.
Despite the bad press, Traeger remained in politics
for thirty-five more years, serving twice as
sheriff, as city collector, city comptroller, and as
jury commissioner, as well as on boards for various
hospitals and charitable organizations.
Eighty-eight years old at his death, Traeger was the
oldest county official, having held public office
for forty-nine years. He left behind an estate of
over $100,000.
The son of John and Mary Traeger, John and his wife,
Emma, had three children, including John E. Traeger
Jr., who served as a county commissioner (dying four
years after his father).
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