The Memoirs of an American Citizen

Edward V. Harrington's rags-to-riches story, set in the turbulent years from 1880 to 1905, is a perfect mirror image of the social and economic conditions existing in Chicago during that time, which made possible the phenomenal rise of many common people to positions of wealth and power. A poor boy who leaves home to seek his fortune in the city, Harrington first appears to the reader as an accused pickpocket in the Chicago Police Court. From Police Court to driver of a grocery wagon to meat packer to United States Senator, Harrington fights his way to prominence, using fair means whenever possible, resorting to devious methods when the need arises. Writing in a first-person, autobiographical style, Herrick immerses himself completely into the character of Harrington to present a history of the times and of the man in intimate detail.--Book Review Digest, 1905, p. 165.