John C. Babcock was born in Warwick, Rhode Island back in 1836. The family moved to Chicago in 1855. He worked for one of the largest architectural firms in Chicago contributing designs to Athenian mansions on Millionaire’s Row along Michigan Avenue.
He served during the entire Civil War volunteering for the Sturgis Rifles as an enlisted soldier. However, it wasn’t long before he was offered a civilian position as a scout of the Army of the Potomac. He became a skilled interrogator of captured Confederates. He helped with the order-of-battle planning with topographical maps and made maps for General George B. McClellan.
He was then moved to the intelligence section under Colonel George H. Sharpe and thus we can start to hear the rest of the story. No hidden names today and I still haven’t figured out what the C. stand for but what I can tell you is he was an important member of the secret service for the Union Army during the Civil War. There is one other thing I also need to tell you about John. He was also an inventor and a rowing enthusiast. The one invention he is noted for in the history books, he invented the sliding seat for rowing, hence he and his friend William Curtis (who with John founded the Metropolitan Rowing Club of Chicago) won every rowing event in the annual games from 1869/1870.
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