Charles G. Dawes

Notable people · Politics · Business · Music · Military · Nobel Prize

Charles G. Dawes

Marietta-born banker who drew up the 1924 Dawes Plan for German reparations, shared the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize, served as Coolidge's vice president, and wrote the tune that became 'It's All in the Game'.

Born August 27, 1865, Marietta
Died April 23, 1951, Evanston, Illinois

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: August 27, 1865, Marietta (Washington County) source
Died: April 23, 1951, Evanston, Illinois source
Buried: Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago (private mausoleum, Section 102) source
Also known as: Charles G. Dawes, Charles Dawes, General Dawes
Known as: Politics, Business, Music, Military, Nobel Prize

Life story

Charles G. Dawes was born in Marietta in 1865, the eldest son of Rufus R. Dawes, who had commanded the 6th Wisconsin in the Iron Brigade and came home to run a lumber business, sit on the Marietta College board and serve a term in Congress. He grew up in the family's 1857 brick house on Fourth Street, graduated from Marietta College in 1884 and from the University of Cincinnati's law school in 1886, then left Ohio in 1887 for Lincoln, Nebraska. From there he built a fortune in gas and electric utilities and Chicago banking. He raised money for fellow Ohioan William McKinley's 1896 campaign, was McKinley's Comptroller of the Currency, ran army supply procurement in France as a brigadier general in 1918, and was the first director of the Bureau of the Budget. His 1924 plan for German reparations earned him a share of the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize, and he was vice president under Calvin Coolidge from 1925 to 1929, then ambassador to Britain and first head of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. A self-taught musician, he wrote a 1911 melody that became the 1958 number-one hit 'It's All in the Game'. He died in Evanston, Illinois, in 1951.

Ohio ties

Marietta, Fourth Street (Rufus Dawes House) (1865-1887)
born in Marietta; childhood home built for his parents in 1857 Washington County · source
Marietta College, Marietta (c. 1880-1884; later master's degree)
B.A. 1884 at 19; later returned to earn a master's degree; his father was a trustee Washington County · source
Cincinnati Law School (University of Cincinnati) (1884-1886)
LL.B. 1886 Hamilton County · source

Timeline

1865 Born on 27 August in Marietta to Rufus R. Dawes, a former Iron Brigade commander, and Mary Beman Gates Dawes. source
1884 Graduated from Marietta College at 19. source
1886 Received his LL.B. from the University of Cincinnati's law school after two years, then returned to Marietta for a master's degree. source
1887 Left Ohio for Lincoln, Nebraska, where he practised law until 1894 and befriended John J. Pershing and William Jennings Bryan. source
1889 Married Caro Blymyer on 24 January. source
1894 Bought control of gas plants in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Evanston, Illinois, the start of a utility business that reached 28 plants in ten states. source
1894 Published The Banking System of the United States and Its Relation to the Money and Business of the Country. source
1896 Managed the Illinois end of William McKinley's presidential campaign and raised funds for it. source
1898 Appointed Comptroller of the Currency by McKinley, serving until 1901. source
1899 His father, Rufus R. Dawes, died in Marietta on 1 August and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery there. source
1902 Founded the Central Trust Company of Illinois, the 'Dawes Bank', and was its president until 1921. source
1909 Moved into the lakeshore house at 225 Greenwood Street, Evanston, his home until his death. source
1911 Composed 'Melody in A Major' at one sitting at his Evanston home; it was published in 1912. source
1912 His 21-year-old son Rufus Fearing Dawes drowned in Geneva Lake on 5 September. source
1917 Commissioned a major; on Pershing's staff he ran supply procurement for the American Expeditionary Force and left the army 26 months later as a brigadier general. source
1921 Became the first Director of the Bureau of the Budget under President Harding; published A Journal of the Great War. source
1924 His committee's report on German reparations, the Dawes Plan, was submitted in April; in November he was elected vice president with Calvin Coolidge. source
1925 Inaugurated vice president on 4 March; awarded the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Austen Chamberlain, and gave the prize money to Johns Hopkins University's new Walter Hines Page School of International Relations. source
1929 Became U.S. ambassador to Britain (to January 1932). source
1932 Chaired the new Reconstruction Finance Corporation for a few months, then resigned to rescue his Chicago bank and formed the City National Bank and Trust Co. source
1951 Died of coronary thrombosis at his Evanston home on 23 April and was entombed at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago. source
1958 Tommy Edwards's recording of 'It's All in the Game', Carl Sigman's 1951 lyrics set to Dawes's melody, topped the Billboard chart for six weeks. source
1976 The Charles G. Dawes House in Evanston was designated a National Historic Landmark on 8 December. source

Stories

A Marietta upbringing

Dawes's father, Rufus R. Dawes, had led the 6th Wisconsin's counterattack on the first day at Gettysburg. After the war he came home to Marietta, went into the lumber business, and in August 1865 his first son, Charles, was born. Rufus sat on the Marietta College board of trustees for 28 years from 1871, served one term in Congress from 1881, and was a trustee of Ohio's Institute for the Deaf and Dumb. The family's 1857 Italianate brick house on Fourth Street, now a contributing building in the Marietta Historic District, was Charles's childhood home. The Nobel committee's biography says it was 'almost inevitable' that he would enroll at Marietta College, from which he graduated in 1884 at 19.

Source

The vice president's tune

Dawes was a self-taught pianist and flautist. In 1911 he wrote a short piece for the flute at one sitting at his lakeshore house in Evanston and played it for his friend, the violinist Francis MacMillen, who took the sheet music to a publisher. 'Melody in A Major' came out in 1912 and became a popular recital piece, played so often at his public appearances that he grew to detest it. In 1951, the year Dawes died, Carl Sigman wrote lyrics for it. Tommy Edwards's 1958 recording of 'It's All in the Game' spent six weeks at number one in the United States and also topped the British chart.

Source

From Marietta lumber to the Dawes Plan

According to the Nobel committee's biography, Dawes treated money as a family inheritance just as much as patriotism: his father ran a Marietta lumber company and an uncle was a prosperous banker. After a few years in Lincoln, Nebraska, he and his brothers came to control 28 gas and electric plants in ten states. In 1923 he was invited to chair the committee on German reparations, and its April 1924 report set out Germany's budget and resources, measures to stabilise its currency and a sliding schedule of payments. The report won him a share of the 1925 Peace Prize, and he gave the prize money to Johns Hopkins University's new Walter Hines Page School of International Relations.

Source

Named for Charles G. Dawes

Dawes Plan (1924 German reparations plan) source

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1 Rufus Dawes House (1857), Charles G. Dawes's childhood home; contributing building, Marietta Historic District (private)
Fourth Street, Marietta Washington County · source
2 Marietta College (B.A. 1884)
Marietta Washington County · source
Charles G. Dawes House, Evanston History Center (National Historic Landmark 1976; NRHP 76000706)
225 Greenwood Street, Evanston, Illinois source
Dawes mausoleum, Rosehill Cemetery
Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois source

Ohio places

Where Charles G. Dawes was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Born: Marietta, Washington County Marietta · Washington County
Connected: Marietta, Washington County Marietta · Washington County
Connected: Marietta College, Washington County Washington County
Connected: Cincinnati Law School, Hamilton County Hamilton County

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Charles G. Dawes, and what the record shows.

Often said Vice President Dawes wrote the hit song 'It's All in the Game'.

The record Dawes wrote only the wordless 'Melody in A Major' (composed 1911, published 1912). Carl Sigman added the lyrics in 1951, the year Dawes died, and Tommy Edwards's number-one recording came in 1958, seven years after his death. By then Dawes had grown to detest hearing the tune. source

Often said Dawes lived in his Evanston house from 1929 until his death (the 1976 NHL nomination).

The record The same nomination says he lived there for 42 years until 1951, which fits a 1909 move-in, and Wikipedia gives 1909-1951. The '1929' is a typing error. source

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

National Historic Landmark nomination: Charles Gates Dawes House, Evanston (NRIS 76000706), with biography 1976, National Park Service, NPGallery
Charles G. Dawes, A Journal of the Great War, vol. 1 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1921) 1921, Boston Public Library (Internet Archive)
Charles G. Dawes, The Banking System of the United States and Its Relation to the Money and Business of the Country (1894) 1894, University of California Libraries (Internet Archive)
Nobel Prize biography: Charles G. Dawes, Peace 1925 Nobel Foundation

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

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Charles G. Dawes, former Vice President of the United States.
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Admiral Nulton and Mrs. Nulton join Vice President Dawes and Second Lady Dawes during the 1926 Army–Navy Game ...
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Title: Allied Experts in Berlin -- Flora - Sir R. Kindersley - McFadyean - Pirelli - Allix - Parmentier - Dawe...
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Title: Arlington Mem. Bridge Com:, Dawes, Sen. Fernald, Longworth, Maj. Grant, Rep. Elliott Abstract/medium: 1...
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Title: C.G. Dawes and wife Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
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Title: C.G. Dawes Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
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Title: C.G. Dawes Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
Public domain
Title: C.G. Dawes Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
Public domain
Title: C.G. Dawes Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
Public domain