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-7 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 OF 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
 I i^i^TLTSTF^^x^r e:l:) 
 
 pciipic tlial (al^c i/ii f-rii/r in the noble arIii,\-( nn iits of rcii/otc ai/cos/urs tt /'// ntvcr acliicn 
 ai/y/fiii/i; -vor/i/y to Ar /■< n/i ////'( /'k/ \ciili frii/c iy lu u/o/c i;! i/( rat ioi/s." — JSI ACA LI.K\' 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 The S. .1. Clarke Publishinc; Company. 
 
 1898. 
 

 
 "Biography is the only true history." 
 
 T9m= 
 
 u ii.siix. niMr'irifi;^ s \ 
 i.otiANsrnin. ixjt. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 HE tircatest of English historians, Macaui-ay, and one of the most 
 brilliant writers of tiie present century, has said : "The history of a 
 country is best told in a record of the lives of its people."' In con- 
 fonnit\ with this idea, the Biograpmical Record has been prepared. 
 Instead of going to musty records, and taking therefrom dry statistical 
 matter that can be appreciated by but few, our corps of writers have 
 gone to the people, the men and women who have, by their enterprise 
 and industry, brought these counties to a rank second to none among 
 those comprising this great and noble State, and from their lips have the story of their life 
 struggles. Xo more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelligent 
 public. In this \olume will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the imitation 
 of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by industry and 
 economy have accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited advantages for securing 
 an education, luiye become learned men and women, with an inlluence extending throughout 
 the length and breadth of the land. It tells of men who have risen from the lower walks of 
 life to eminence as statesmen, and whose names have become famous. It tells of those in 
 every walk in life who have striven to succeed, and records how that success has usually 
 crowned their efforts. It tells also of many, very many, who, not seeking the applause of the 
 world, have pursueil the ■■ even tenor of their way," content to have it said of them, as Christ 
 said of the woman performing a deed of mercy — -'They have done what they could." It 
 tells how man_y, in the pride and strength of young manhood, left the plow and the anvil, the 
 lawyer's office and the counting-room, left every trade and protession, and at their country's 
 call went forth valiantly " to do or die," and how through their efforts the Union was 
 restored and peace once more reigned in the lanil. In the life of every man and of every 
 woman is a lesson that should not be lost upon those who follow after. 
 
 Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a sacred treasure, from 
 the fact that it contains so much that would never find its way into public records, and which 
 would otherwise be inaccessible. Great care has been taken in the compilation of the work, 
 and every opportunity possible given to those represented to insure correctness in what has 
 been written ; and the publishers flatter themselves that they give to their readers a work with 
 few errors of consequence. In addition to biographical sketches, portraits of a number of 
 representative citizens are given. 
 
 The faces of some, and biographical sketches of many, will be missed in this volume. 
 For this the pidjjishers are not to blame. Not having a proper conception of the work, some 
 refused to give the information necessary to compile a sketch, while others were indiff'erent. 
 Occasionally some member of the family would oppose the enterprise, and on account of such 
 opposition the support of the interested one would be withheld. In a few instances men 
 never could b_' found, though repeated calls were made at their residence or place of business. 
 
 N'ovember, 1808. 
 
 The S. T- Ci-.\uke Pi'isi.ishing Co. 
 
GEN. DANIEL DUSTIN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL 
 
 GENERAL DANIEL DUSTIN. —Among 
 the many citizens of De Kalb county, 
 who have attained distinction in civil and 
 mihtary life, is the subject of this memoir, 
 who probably was personally known to more 
 of the people of the county than any other 
 man that ever resided within its borders, 
 and whose friends were legion. He was 
 born in the town of Topsham, Orange coun- 
 ty, Vermont, October 5, 1820, and was the 
 son of John Knight and Sallie (Thompson) 
 Dustin, the former a native of Atkinson, 
 New Hampshire born January 24, 1784, 
 and the latter born in Newbury, Ver- 
 mont, January 15, 1788. They were the 
 parents of thirteen children, eight of whom 
 lived to maturity and were married. John 
 K. Dustin, who was a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, died in Topsham, Vermont, in August, 
 1858. His wife preceded him many years, 
 dying December 14, 1829, also at Topsham, 
 Vermont. 
 
 The Dustin family is of Scotch and 
 English descent, our subject tracing his an- 
 cestry back to Thomas and Hannah Dustin, 
 of Haverhill, Massachusetts, who were 
 married in 1677. She was the daughter of 
 Michael and Hannah (Webster) Emerson, 
 and was born at Haverhill, Massachusetts, 
 December 23, 1657. Hannah Dustin was 
 the heroine of an exploit famous in the 
 early annals of New England. She was 
 taken prisoner by the Indians, in the attack 
 
 on Haverhill, March 15, 1698. Her nurse 
 and an infant one year old were also taken, 
 but the child was soon afterwards killed. 
 She was taken to an island in the Merrimac, 
 afterwards known as Dustin's Island, and 
 with her were twelve Indians. One night, 
 with the aid of the nurse and a white cap- 
 tive boy, she killed all the Indians in their 
 sleep, except a squaw and a boy who 
 escaped. She then returned to Haverhill 
 with their scalps. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our sub- 
 ject was Nathaniel Dustin, who was born 
 September 8, 1756, and who died March 3, 
 1815. He married Judith Knight, who was 
 born May 2, 1756, and who died June 3, 
 1842. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native town and county, and 
 after attending the subscription schools, was 
 a student in the famous old academy at 
 Newbury, Vermont. After studying medi- 
 cine at Topsham and Corinth, he attended 
 three full courses of medical lectures at 
 Dartsmouth College, Hanover, New Hamp- 
 shire, at a time when Oliver Wendell Holmes 
 was professor of anatomy. From that in- 
 stitution he was graduated November 18, 
 1846, and immediately commenced the 
 practice of his profession at Corinth, in his 
 native county. While residing there he was 
 married at Topsham, Vermont, in 1846, to 
 Miss Isabel Taplin, a daughter of Colonel 
 
lO 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Gouldsburn Taplin, of Corinth, Vermont. 
 By this union there were three children. 
 Emma married William Myers, of Carth- 
 age, Missouri. Electa married Walter Water- 
 man, a grocer of Sycamore, Illinois. William 
 G. is editor of a paper at Uwight, Illinois, and 
 is also postmaster of that city. In August, 
 1850, a few months after Dr. Dustin left 
 Vermont, Mrs. Dustin died. 
 
 The discovery of gold in California 
 caused great excitement throughout the 
 length and breadth of the land, and every 
 state in the union sent its representatives 
 to the New Eldorado. In the spring of 
 1850, Dr. Dustin started for the land of 
 gold, sailing from New York, on the steam- 
 er Georgia, March i 3. Landing at Charles- 
 ton, South Carolina, a number of slaves 
 were brought on board, which was his first 
 glimpse of slavery as it then existed in 
 the south. It was a strange sight to him, 
 and the incident was firmly fixed in mem- 
 ory, causing him afterwards to become a 
 thorough anti-slavery man. From Charles- 
 ton he went to Panama, and crossing the 
 Isthmus, reached San Francisco the mid- 
 dle of June of that year. He was accom- 
 panied by several partners, and they took 
 with them a dredging machine to wash the 
 gold from submerged bars, but sold the 
 same immediately on their arrival for a 
 large advance. After selling the dredger, 
 Dr. Dustin went first to Benecia, and later 
 to Sacramento, and in the latter place en- 
 gaged in the practice of his profession. 
 Going to the mining regions at Hangtown, 
 he engaged in mining for a time, but finally 
 drifted into the French Corral in Nevada 
 county, at which place he met the lady 
 who later became his wife, and at Spring 
 Valley, California, October 15, 1854, the 
 Doctor was united in marriage with Miss 
 
 Elmira Pauly, a native of Lebanon, Ohio, 
 and a daughter of Aaron Pauly, also a 
 native of the same state, whose father emi- 
 grated from western Germany to Amer- 
 ica in the early part of the century. Aaron 
 Pauly married Lydia Birdsall, a native of 
 Wilmington, Ohio, and a daughter of Daniel 
 and Zada (Hinman) Birdsall. Elmira was 
 their only child. Her mother dying, her 
 father later married, and in 1849 went to 
 California, and was followed in 1852 by 
 his second wife and family. Aaron Pauly 
 was a merchant tailor in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 but engaged in the general mercantile busi- 
 ness in California. He retired from busi- 
 ness about 1884, and died in San Diego, 
 California, in 1890. By this second union 
 Dr. Dustin had one child, Zada, wife of 
 John C. Craft, cashier of the Bankers Na- 
 tional Bank, Chicago. 
 
 On locating in Nevada county, Cali- 
 fornia, Dr. Dustin engaged in the mercan- 
 tile trade, and also in the practice of his 
 profession, his services being more in de- 
 mand in cases of surgery than in medicine. 
 Cuttings and shootings were quite frequent, 
 while the climate was remarkably healthy. 
 While there he gave some attention to sur- 
 face mining with fair success. He also 
 mingled in political affairs, and in 1855-6 
 he was chosen to represent Nevada county 
 in the legislature of that state. 
 
 Having seen enough of California, he de- 
 termined to again return east, but instead 
 of returning to his own home, came to 
 Sycamore, Illinois, where he became asso- 
 ciated with J. E. and Chauncey Ellwood, 
 in the mercantile business, continuing with 
 them until the outbreak of the Civil war. 
 He enlisted first in the Eighth Illinois Cav- 
 alry, and by Governor Yates was commis- 
 sioned captain, January 3, 1862, taking the 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 1 
 
 rank from September i, 1861, and was pro- 
 moted major in 1862, ranking from January 
 8, 1862. In March, 1862, his regiment 
 joined in the general advance on Manassas, 
 in General Sumner's division. In the early 
 part of the spring of that year, at four dif- 
 ferent times it drove the enemy across the 
 Rappahannock. His regiment did impor- 
 tant service at Gaines Hill and Malvern 
 Hill, leading the advance on the second oc- 
 cupation of Malvern Hill, and with Benson's 
 Battery, United States Artillery, bore the 
 brunt of the fight, and brought up the rear 
 of our retreating forces at Barrett's Ford 
 and at Chickahominy. At the opening of 
 the Seven Days Fight, Major Dustin was in 
 command of a squadron of the Eighth, on 
 the extreme right of our lines, and where 
 the rebel troops first encountered the Union 
 army. The first volley of musketry on the 
 first day of that memorable succession of 
 engagements, was fired at Major Dustin, his 
 orderly and a captain of his command, by 
 the advance guard of the enemy at close 
 range, the captain being shot down by the 
 Major's side. 
 
 In July, 1862, Major Dustin resigned, 
 came home, and assisted in raising the One 
 Hundred and Fifth Regiment Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry, which was mustered into 
 the service September 2, 1862, at Di.xon, Illi- 
 nois. Major Dustin received the commis- 
 sion of colonel, October 4, 1862, ranking 
 from September i, 1862, and was placed in 
 command of the regiment. Soon after 
 muster, the regiment joined the Army of 
 the Cumberland, with which it remained 
 throughout the war. In the spring of 1864, 
 with the One Hundred and Second and One 
 Hundred and Twenty-ninth Illinois, the 
 Seventieth Indiana and Seventy-ninth 
 Ohio, the regiment formed the First Bri- 
 
 gade, Third Division of the Twentieth Army 
 Corps. After the Atlanta campaign. Colonel 
 Dustin was placed in command of the Sec- 
 ond Brigade of the same division and corps, 
 and remained its commander during the 
 war. He accompanied General Sherman 
 in his march to the sea, and after the bat- 
 tle of Averysboro, North Carolina, he was 
 breveted brigadier-general, a promotion 
 which was well deserved. His commission 
 was received April 9, 1866, ranking from 
 March 16, 1865, and given for gallant serv- 
 ices in the campaign in Georgia and South 
 Carolina. Marching with his brigade to 
 Washington, he participated in the grand 
 review, and June 7, 1865, was mustered 
 out of the service, having made a record of 
 which he might well be proud. Returning 
 home, in the summer of 1865, General 
 Dustin was nominated on the Republican 
 ticket for the office of county clerk, and was 
 duly elected in November following, and 
 served a term of four years. He was later 
 elected county treasurer and served a 
 term of two years, and in 1880 was 
 elected circuit clerk, re-elected in 1884, 
 and again in 1888. He resigned the latter 
 office and by President Harrison was ap- 
 pointed, May 2, i8go, sub-treasurer of the 
 United States treasury at Chicago. In the 
 latter office he served with distinguished 
 ability until his death at Carthage, Mis- 
 souri, March 30, 1892, while on a visit to 
 his daughter. During the construction of 
 the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Quincy, 
 Illinois, he was president of the board of 
 trustees. 
 
 From the organization of the party un- 
 til his death, General Dustin was a consist- 
 ent Republican. In the councils of his 
 party, his views always commanded re- 
 spect, and his advice was generally found 
 
"12 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to be correct. Twice was he the choice of 
 the Republicans of De Kalb county for 
 congress, but withdrew in favor of personal 
 friends. In the various political campaigns 
 he took an active part, and did yeoman 
 service for his party. Fluent of speech, 
 and possessing rare grace and power of 
 oratory, he was a most effective stump 
 speaker. Fraternally, he was a Mason of 
 high standing, having attained the thirty- 
 second degree. In 1872, he was elected 
 right eminent commander of the grand 
 commandery of Ivnight Templars of Illi- 
 nois, a position which he creditably filled. 
 He was appointed representative of New 
 Jersey in the Illinois grand lodge. Relig- 
 iously, he was a member of the Congrega- 
 tional church, of which body his wife and 
 daughters are also members. As a friend 
 and neighbor he was universally loved and 
 respected, and his death left a void which 
 can never be filled. 
 
 ALBERT F. ROWLEY, photographer, 
 has a pleasant suite of rooms at No. 
 245 Main street, De Kalb, IlHnois. The 
 growth and development of photography 
 has baen one of the most striking results of 
 the last century of progress. A perfection of 
 results has been obtained, which marks the 
 highest type of artistic development. In- 
 deed there is no branch of art which has 
 made such rapid strides in so short a time, 
 and it is thought that the time is not far 
 distant when landscape scenes will be pro- 
 duced by means of photography in their 
 natural colors, thus combining truth, art 
 and nature. Photography is indeed one of 
 the fine arts, and the successful photogra- 
 pher must be an artist in the true sense of 
 the term. Such we find Mr. Rowley to be. 
 
 He is a young man of progressive ideas, 
 thoroughly in love with his art, and has con- 
 stantly adopted the latest devices for pro- 
 ducing superior work. A visit to the studio 
 of Mr. Rowley is a rare treat to the lover 
 of true beauty in art. It is ornamented 
 with many specimens from the camera, 
 brush and pencil of Mr. and Mrs. Rowley 
 (the latter being an artist of high merit), 
 and afford the best possible evidence of the 
 genius and skill which is brought to bear in 
 the management of this establishment. 
 
 Mr. Rowley was born in Rochelle, Ogle 
 county, Illinois, May 18, 1864, and is the 
 son of Thomas and Susan Rowley. His 
 father is one of the oldest settlers in Ogle 
 county, having resided there for more than 
 forty years. He owns a valuable farm of 
 two hundred acres, and is a well known and 
 influential man in the community where he 
 resides, having been honored by his fellow 
 citizens with various local offices of honor 
 and trust. He is a native of Syracuse, 
 New York. 
 
 Our subject grew to manhood in his na- 
 tive county, and was educated in the public 
 schools. He early evinced a taste for art, 
 and began to practice photography as an 
 amateur, first at Aurora. He saw then, as 
 all young aspirants should see, "room at 
 the top" and began preparations to fill it. 
 While residing in Aurora, on June i, 1893, 
 he married Miss Eva E. Shippee, the daugh- 
 ter of Silas H. and Ami Shippee. Shortly 
 after his marriage, he went to Chicago, 
 placing himself under the instruction of 
 Hoyt & Gale, to perfect himself in his pro- 
 fession. Returning to Aurora, he remained 
 there a short time, and in 1896 moved to 
 De Kalb, where he purchased the establish- 
 ment and good will of Mr. Oleson, since 
 which time his business has increased four- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '3 
 
 fold. His establishment is supplied with 
 the most perfect apparatus and an admira- 
 bly adapted arrangement for securing the 
 proper light and shade, to produce the de- 
 sired results. His reception room is spa- 
 cious, and handsomely and appropriately 
 furnished. In addition to his regular busi- 
 ness, he keeps a full line of amateur sup- 
 plies. His work consists of commercial 
 landscapes, crayon, new process bromide, 
 lantern slides, stereoscopic and colored 
 work, in fact everything in the line of pho- 
 tography. His wife ably assists him in his 
 fine work, especially in retouching, which is 
 executed by what is termed the retouching 
 device, worked by electricity. Mrs. Row- 
 ley has many students under her, who prac- 
 tice with pencil and brush. 
 
 HON. GEORGE STEWART ROBIN- 
 SON was for years a well known citi- 
 zen of Sycamore, Illinois, a lawyer of rec- 
 ognized ability, one who enjoyed the respect 
 and confidence of the entire community. He 
 was a native of Derby, Vermont, born June 
 24, 1824, and was second in the family of 
 three sons born to George and Harriet 
 (Stewart) Robinson. His father was a na- 
 tive of Connecticut, and the son of Eber 
 Robinson, a captain in the war of the Rev- 
 olution. His mother was a native of Ver- 
 mont and a daughter of Rufus Stewart, 
 a major in the war of 1812. George Rob- 
 inson was by occupation a farmer, and also 
 served his country faithfully during the war 
 of 1812. He died about 1870, when about 
 seventy-five years old. 
 
 In his native city, our subject received 
 his primary education in the common 
 schools, and later attended the Derby Acad- 
 emy. When nineteen years old he entered 
 
 the law office of Hon. S. B. Colby, at Der- 
 by, and began his professional studies. After 
 reading under Mr. Colby's instruction for 
 two years, he finished his legal course with 
 Hon. Lucius B. Peck, of Montpelier, one 
 of Vermont's most prominent attorneys, 
 and was admitted to the bar of his native 
 state November 18, 1846. On account of 
 close application to his studies, his health 
 failed, and with the hope of its restoration, 
 in 1847, he went south, where he was oc- 
 cupied in teaching. In 1853 he returned to 
 Vermont, and in his native town, October 
 13, he married Olive A. Colby, also a na- 
 tive of Derby, and a daughter of Nehemiah 
 Colby, and a granddaughter of Samuel Col- 
 by, both of whom were natives of New 
 Hampshire. Nehemiah Colby was for many 
 years engaged in the mercantile trade, and 
 also followed the occupation of farming for 
 a time. For some fifteen years he was 
 postmaster of Derby, and was one of its 
 best known men. Religiously he was a 
 Congregationalist, and a firm believer in the 
 Christian religion. His death occurred in 
 1862, at the age of seventy-five years, be- 
 ing preceded by his wife, Malinda Larra- 
 bee, born in 1790, and a daughter of John 
 Larrabee. She died in 1842, at the age of 
 fifty-two years. They were the parents of 
 thirteen children, of whom Mrs. Robinson 
 was twelfth in order of birth. 
 
 Immediately after their marriage, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Robinson went to Cuthbert, 
 Georgia, and he began the practice of law 
 in that city, where he resided during the 
 trying times of the Civil war. For a few 
 months during the war, much against his 
 will, he was compelled to serve in the 
 Georgia State Militia. Being a well known 
 Union man, he suffered many inconven- 
 iences, and his practice was completely 
 
14 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 broken up. Having a cousin residing in 
 Sycamore, Illinois, by his invitation, he 
 came to this place in 1866, and soon after- 
 ward became associated with Hon. Charles 
 Kellum, a partnership which continued for 
 four years. He then continued alone until his 
 election as county judge in 1S77, a position 
 which he continued to hold until 1SS2, when 
 he resigned to attend to private business in 
 Vermont. 
 
 For several years prior to his election as 
 judge of the county court, he held the posi- 
 tion of master in chancery, which position 
 he resigned soon after his election. \Mien 
 Sycamore was organized as a city, he was 
 elected alderman and served two terms. He 
 was also city attorney, and drafted the ordi- 
 nances under which the city was governed 
 for years, many of which are still in force. 
 In 1869, he was appointed on the board of 
 state commissioners of public charities for 
 the state of Illinois, by Governor John M. 
 Palmer, was re-appointed by Governor John 
 L. Beveridge, in 1874, and again by Gover- 
 nor Shelby M. Cullom, in 1879. He was 
 an active member of the board until March, 
 1884, when he resigned, being unable to 
 attend to the duties of the position by reason 
 of absence from the state on business de- 
 manding his entire time. For nearly fifteen 
 years he was a member of the board, and 
 was its president for nine years, devoting 
 from two to three months of his time each 
 year to its work, spending much more than 
 he received for his services. 
 
 To Judge and Mrs. Robinson three chil- 
 dren were born: Harriet M., Lucius P. and 
 Nellie C, the second named dying in In- 
 fancy. Harriet M. , who was born in Georgia, 
 married C. L. Buchan, of Rockford, 111., and 
 they have one son, George Buchan Robin- 
 son, the son having been adopted by the 
 
 Judge to bear his name. He is now at the 
 Morgan Park Academy, a preparatory school 
 for the Chicago University. Nellie C. mar- 
 ried James B. Ellwood, and died in 1892, 
 and was soon followed by her only child, a 
 daughter, Muriel Olive. 
 
 Judge Robinson was a man of more than 
 ordinary ability, was well read in the law, 
 and withal was endowed with good com- 
 mon sense. As judge of the county and 
 probate courts no man ever filled the posi- 
 tion in a more satisfactory manner. His 
 popularity with the bar and the people was 
 always maintained, and he was always con- 
 sidered an able lawyer, and a safe counsel- 
 lor. As a member of the state board of 
 public charities, he made a state reputation 
 and notwithstanding he received no compen- 
 sation, he devoted his time just as faithfully 
 and as energetically as though he was re- 
 ceiving a handsome salary. He was always 
 interested in educational affairs, and gave 
 much of his time to advance the interests of 
 the school, being president of the school 
 board at the time of his death. Frater- 
 nally, he v.'as a Mason, holding membership 
 in the blue lodge, chapter and command- 
 ery. He was a man of excellent qualities 
 of head and heart, and his friends were 
 numerous, not only throughout De Kalb 
 county, but the entire state. His death, 
 which occurred October 30, i 894, left a void 
 which could not well be filled. 
 
 EDWIN GILSON, deceased, was well- 
 known throughout DeKalb county, as a 
 man of upright character, one whom to know 
 was to love. He was born in Westminster, 
 Vermont, December 27, 181 i, and was the 
 son of Michael Gilson, who was also born in 
 Westminster, in 1782, and who died in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 IS 
 
 1852. His father, Zackariah Gilson, was 
 born in 1736, and died in 1804. He mar- 
 ried Hannah Patch, who died in 1826, at 
 the age of eighty-four years. Zackariah 
 moved from Massachusetts, in an early day, 
 and built a house in which three generations 
 were born. Michael Gilson married Eunice 
 Haywood, born in 1783, and died in 1838. 
 She was the daughter of Deacon David 
 Haywood, who was a descendant of John 
 Haywood, who was born in Concord, Mas- 
 sachusetts, in 1633, and who attained the 
 age of sixty-seven years. His son. Deacon 
 John Haywood, was born in the same place 
 in 1662, and died at the age of fifty years. 
 He was the father of Samuel Haywood, born 
 in Concord, in 1687, and who died at the 
 age of sixty-three years. Charles, the son 
 of Samuel, was born in Winchendon in 1723, 
 and died at the age of eighty-six years: He 
 was the father of Deacon David, who was 
 born in 1755, and died at the age of seventy- 
 one years. The latter married in 17S0, Abi- 
 gail Bixby, whose mother, Jerusha Hough- 
 ton, was of an old English family. Abigail 
 died at Weathersfield, Massachusetts, in 
 1824. Deacon David Haywood enlisted at 
 Holden, Vermont, in 1777, and served two 
 years in the revolutionary army, being at 
 one time stationed at West Point. To 
 Deacon David Haywood and wife, a daugh- 
 ter, Eunice, was born in 1783. She mar- 
 ried Michael Gilson, and bore him five sons: 
 Michael, Jr., Solon, Edwin, Ira and Charles. 
 The latter for many years was professor of 
 modern languages in Williams college. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the home farm, and in his boyhood attended 
 the common schools. He early assumed 
 charge of the farm, and consequently his 
 school life was limited. He was self-edu- 
 cated in later life, having mastered algebra 
 
 alone, and studied astronomy, knowing all 
 the principal constellations and stars by 
 name. He was a omniverous reader, with 
 mind clear to the end of life, hand steady 
 and writing clear, regular and distinct at the 
 age of eighty years. 
 
 He was married in Putney, Vermont, 
 May 20, 1845, to Miss Fanny Evans, born 
 in Athens, Vermont, October i, 1816, and 
 who is yet living, and making her home 
 with her daughter, Mrs. Mary G. Shurtleff. 
 She is the daughter of Roswell Evans, who 
 married Jerusha Chaffee. By this union 
 three children were born. Solon died in 
 infancy. Carrie died unmarried at the age 
 of twenty-five years. Mary G., who was 
 born at Westminster, Vermont, in the Con- 
 necticut valley, in the house where her 
 father and grandfather were born, received 
 a good education and inherited her father's 
 bright mind. As successful teacher, she 
 found her father a great help in school work 
 and always went to him wiih difficult prob- 
 lems. A member of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church, she is active in church work, 
 being a willing worker in the cause of her 
 master. She was married June 4, 1885, to 
 Ephraim Shurtleff, a descendant of one of 
 the old pioneer families of DeKalb county. 
 
 In the fall of 1855, Mr. Gilson visited a 
 brother in Wisconsin, and after looking over 
 a portion of that state and also a portion of 
 northern Illinois, he decided to settle in 
 DeKalb county. Purchasing a farm of one 
 hundred and sixty acres near Cortland, in 
 Cortland township, and in the spring of 
 1856, brought his family from Vermont and 
 at once engaged in farming. He became a 
 well known and influential man in the town- 
 ship, and for several years served as super- 
 visor from the township and also as asses- 
 sor. He lived on the farm until 1867, when 
 
i6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he removed to Sycamore, where he pur- 
 chased eight acres north of the city, which 
 he cultivated in order that he might have 
 something to keep him busy. He was for 
 sixty-five years a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and was very active in 
 church work, being for years chairman of 
 its official board. He attended all meetings 
 of the church, and was a liberal giver in its 
 support. He was never sick in his life, 
 never seemed old but always young in heart 
 and mind — a man that everybody respected 
 and loved. He passed away April 21, 1891. 
 
 HON. CHARLES KELLUM, late judge 
 of the twelfth judicial circuit, now the 
 sixteenth circuit, had the reputation of being 
 one of the best judges that ever occupied 
 the bench in the state, a state that has 
 always been distinguished for the high rank 
 of her bench and bar. In him were found 
 united many of the rare qualities which go 
 to make up the successful lawyer and jurist. 
 He was born March 16, 1821, in Susque- 
 hanna county, Pennsylvania, and is the son 
 of Samuel and Lucretia (Eldridge) Kellum, 
 the former a native of Connecticut, born in 
 New London county, October 19, 1783, and 
 the latter in the same county, November 
 27, 1786. The maternal grandfather, 
 James Eldridge, and the maternal grand- 
 mother, Sarah (Newton) Eldridge, were 
 also born in the same county. The former 
 was born November 16, 1753, and died 
 August 2, 1841. The latter was born De- 
 cember 17, 1757, and died August 6, 1824. 
 Samuel Kellum, the father, was a son of 
 Samuel Kellum, Sr. , a native of Connecti- 
 cut, who served as captain in the militia, 
 and was otherwise prominent in the affairs 
 of the state. The father was also a prom- 
 
 inent man in the state, and likewise served 
 as captain in the militia. He was a Mason 
 of high standing in the order, and the Judge 
 treasures among his possessions a notice 
 sent his father of which the following is a 
 copy: 
 
 "Companion Samuel Kellum: 
 
 "You are requested to attend the duties 
 of Franklin Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, 
 at Newcome Kunys, their chamber of con- 
 vocation, in the city of Norwich, on Wednes- 
 day next, at five o'clock P. M., on special 
 business. 
 
 "Norwich, ist March, A. D. 1809. 
 
 "Joseph Powers, Sec'y F. C. 
 
 " By order of the M. E. H. P." 
 
 By occupation Samuel Kellum, the fa- 
 ther, was a farmer, which vocation he fol- 
 lowed during his entire residence in the 
 state. Politically he was a Whig, having 
 an abiding faith in the principles of that 
 party. With it he continued to act until 
 the formation of the Republican party 
 when, on account of its liberty loving prin- 
 ciples, he gave adhesion to it, and continued 
 to act with it during the remainder of his life. 
 In 1866, he came west and made his home 
 with the Judge, where his death occurred 
 January 2, 1869. His wife, who was a na- 
 tive of New London county, Connecticut, 
 survived him ten years, dying at Prophets- 
 town, Illinois, January 2, 1879. Samuel 
 Kellum was a large, athletic man, over six 
 feet in height, and strongly built. He was 
 over eighty-five years old when his death 
 occurred, while his wife was over ninety- 
 two years old when she departed this life. 
 They were the parents of seven children: 
 Samuel, Elizabeth, Isaac S., Ann E., Hen- 
 ry F., Charles and William C. All are de- 
 ceased but our subject, 
 
HON. CHARLES KELLUM. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 19 
 
 Charles Kellum, our subject, received 
 his primary education in the district school, 
 and was then sent to Mannington academy 
 and boarding school, in Susquehanna coun- 
 ty, where he passed through all the courses. 
 He then began the study of law at Mont- 
 rose, Pennsylvania, in the office of Lusk & 
 Little, where he read law about two and a 
 half years, and in 1844 was admitted to 
 the bar. With his preceptors he remained 
 two years on a salary, and then went home 
 to his father's farm in Bradford county, and 
 gave his time to outdoor pursuits in order 
 that he might recover his health, which had 
 been impaired by close study and work for 
 more than four years. After the recovery 
 of his health, he went to Towanda, Brad- 
 ford county, where he opened an office, and 
 commenced the practice of his profession. 
 He continued there in practice about four 
 years; during a year and a half he was in 
 partnership with the late Judge Henry 
 Booth. 
 
 In 1854, Mr. Kellum started for the 
 great west, coming on the Erie railroad to 
 LaPorte, Indiana, where he remained about 
 one year with his brother, Isaac S. Kellum, 
 who was engaged in the banking business at 
 that place. While there he assisted his 
 brother in the office, and got an insight into 
 the banking business. Leaving LaPorte, he 
 came to Sycamore, Illinois, arriving March 
 17, 1855, when he formed a partnership 
 with William Eordham, under the firm name 
 of Fordham & Kellum, which lasted one 
 year. He was then alone for a time, after 
 which at different times he had various part- 
 ners, the firms being Kellum & Webster, 
 Kellum & Robinson, Mayo, Kellum & Chase, 
 Kellum & Cames, Ivellum & Stephens and 
 Kellum & Balliet. In 1879 he received the 
 nomination from the Republican judicial 
 
 convention for judge of the twelfth circuit, 
 and was duly elected. The circuit at that 
 time embraced DeKalb, Boone, McHenry, 
 Lake, Kane, DuPage and Ivendall counties. 
 He was re-elected in 1885, and again in 
 1 891, serving until 1897, when he retired 
 from the bench. His eighteen years on the 
 bench was one of arduous labor. He is 
 now engaged only as counselor, and does 
 not try cases in court. 
 
 Judge Ivellum was married March 15, 
 1855, at LaPorte, Indiana, to Miss Chloe 
 Clement, a native of LaPorte, Indiana, and 
 a daughter of William and Caroline (Reed) 
 Clement, both of whom were from Erie, 
 Pennsylvania. By this union two children 
 were born. The eldest, William C, was 
 born in Sycamore, December 14, 1855, and 
 was educated at Todd's school, at Wood- 
 stock, Illinois. He studied law in his 
 father's office and was admitted to the bar 
 in 1878, and at once commenced practice. 
 He is a good attorney, and is worthy to 
 wear the mantle of his .distinguished sire. 
 He married Laura McKinnon, by whom he 
 lias one child, Charles S. The Judge's 
 second son, Samuel, was born December 22, 
 1857, is married and has one child, Charles. 
 He is in business in Chicago, where he has 
 made many friends. Mrs. Kellum departed 
 this life, January 24. 1898, deeply mourned 
 by all who knew her, being a woman who 
 won the hearts of all. 
 
 From 1868 to 1872 Mr. I\ellum was 
 state's attorney for the then thirteenth cir- 
 cuit, during which time he had the prosecu- 
 tion of several murder cases. As an advo- 
 cate he was quite strong, always holding the 
 attention of the jury and the respect of the 
 court. During his long service on the 
 bench, he was always regarded as a fair, im- 
 partial and able judge. He had the faculty 
 
20 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of establishing precedents when there were 
 none, and his rulings were generally sus- 
 tained by the higher courts. After a con- 
 tinuous service of eighteen years upon the 
 bench, he voluntarily retired, on account of 
 approacliing old age, and by the bar was 
 presented with a set of resolutions of respect 
 and a gold-headed cane, as a mark of re- 
 spect and appreciation. His decisions were 
 always made upon the basis of equality and 
 justice, and were marked by the large 
 amount of common sense with which nature 
 and ripe experience so liberally endowed 
 him. 
 
 Judge Kellum is a Mason, and has at- 
 tained the rank of I\night Templar. Polit- 
 ically he is a Republican, and although 
 never a partisan, he has served his party as 
 a delegate to various state conventions. It 
 is, however, as a lawyer and a judge that he 
 will always be remembered. In the midst 
 of friends, who hold him in tlie highest re- 
 gard, he is now enjoying the fruits that 
 come to a noble and well spent life. 
 
 ADOLPH LEIFHEIT, who resides on 
 section i8, Squaw Grove township, is 
 a representative of that class of German- 
 American citizens who have been instru- 
 mental in developing the waste places 
 of this land, and who, by their industrious and 
 thrifty habits, usually place themselves in 
 comfortable circumstances, that their last 
 days may be spent in ease and comfort. The 
 subject of this sketch is the owner of a 
 valuable farm of three hundred and twenty 
 acres, lying three miles west of Hinckley, 
 which he has under the highest state of cul- 
 tivation. He was born on the farm where 
 he now resides July 24, 1857, and is the son 
 of William Leifheit, a native of Germany, 
 
 born in 1821, and who grew to manhood in 
 his native country, and there married Caro- 
 line Eckhart, also a native of Germany. 
 Together they emigrated to the New World 
 about iS45,and first located in Kendallcoun- 
 ty, where he went to work on a farm by the 
 month. Later he rented land in Kendall 
 county, and engaged in farming for himself. 
 After residing in Kendall county for a few 
 years, he moved to De Kalb county, and 
 purchased one hundred and si.xty acres in 
 Squaw Grove township, which comprises a 
 part of the present farm of our subject. On 
 locating here he built a small frame house, 
 and began the improvement of the place. 
 Later he purchased more land, and finally 
 was the owner of eight eighty-acre tracts, 
 or six hundred and forty acres in all, and 
 which all lay in one body. Year by year the 
 improvements went on, now a barn, then 
 some other outbuilding, then the tiling of 
 the land, until it resulted in one of the most 
 productive far iis in the entire county. He 
 was a very successful farmer, and actively 
 engaged in that vocation until about 1S84, 
 when he rented the place and has since lived 
 a retired life. He is now seventy-seven 
 years old, and a well-preserved man. His 
 wife died about 1892. They were the pa- 
 rents of eleven children, all of whom grew 
 to mature j'ears, while nine are yet living, 
 three daughters and six sons. 
 
 Adolph Leifheit was fifth in order of 
 birth, and grew to manhood on the farm 
 and was educated in the common schools of 
 Squaw Grove township. He remained with 
 his father until he attained his majority 
 and render faithful assistance in the improve- 
 ment of the place. He was married in De- 
 Kalb county, March 14, 1881, to Miss 
 Louisa Granart, a native of the county and 
 a daughter of Ferdinand Granart, a sub- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 21 
 
 stantial farmer of Squaw Grove township, 
 and who was originally from Germany. 
 After his marriage he rented one hundred 
 and sixty acres of his father's farm, which 
 he operated for five years, and then returned 
 to the old home, which he rented for a pe- 
 riod of eight years. In 1894 he bought a 
 part oi the old farm, comprising three 
 hundred and twenty acres, and since that 
 time has made many improvements upon 
 the place, remodeling the old house and 
 erecting a new and large barn. In addition 
 to general farming, he is engaged in dealing 
 and breeding in Short-horned cattle and 
 Poland China hogs. In all his operations 
 he has met with success, and is now num- 
 bered among the most substantial farmers 
 of De Kalb county. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Leifheit are the parents 
 of five children, four of whom are living — 
 Ella, Hattie, William and Irvin, all of whom 
 yet remain at home. Mr. Leifheit is a life- 
 long Republican, and while he gives the 
 party his support, he asks no favors in the 
 way of local office, but gives his undivided 
 attention to his farming interests. He and 
 his wife are members of the German Lu- 
 theran church. A life-long resident of the 
 county, he has an extensive acquaintance 
 and is held in the highest esteem by those 
 who know him. 
 
 THOMAS HOLLAND, the present sup- 
 ervisor and a substantial farmer of 
 Cortland township, is well known to the 
 great majority of citizens of De Kalb coun- 
 ty. He was born in Richfield township, 
 Fairfield county, Connecticut, April 28, 
 1845, and is the son of Robert and Grace 
 (Keeler) Holland, the foriiTer a native of 
 Ireland, and the latter of Fairfield county. 
 
 Connecticut. They were the parents of five 
 children — Ellen, Thomas, George, Nathan 
 G. and Jane E. The first and last named 
 are deceased. 
 
 Robert Holland, the father, was born in 
 Fermanagh, Ireland, March 26, 181 5, and 
 was the son of Thomas and Ellen (Graham) 
 Holland, also natives of Ireland, and who 
 passed all their lives in that land. In May, 
 1839, Robert Holland came to the United 
 States, landing in New York, and spending 
 the first three months after his arrival at 
 Poughkeepsie, New York, where he found 
 employment in a brick yard. He was next 
 employed by a hotel keeper in Dutchess 
 county. New York, with whom he remained 
 about one year, then went to the town of 
 Richfield, Fairfield county, Connecticut, 
 where on the 28th of June, 1843, he mar- 
 ried Grace IveeFer, a daughter of Thomas 
 S. and Emily (Gilbert) Keeler. After re- 
 maining in Fairfield county about fourteen 
 years, in 1854 he came west and located in 
 Kaneville township, Kane county, Illinois, 
 where he remained some ten years, and 
 then came to De Kalb county, Illinois, lo- ' 
 eating in Cortland township. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was nine 
 years of age when he came with his parents 
 to Illinois, and about twenty years old when 
 they located in De Kalb county. His edu- 
 cation was obtained in the schools of his 
 native county, and also in the public 
 schools of Kaneville township, Kane coun- 
 ty, Illinois. His entire life has been passed 
 on the farm, and he was required to do his 
 full share of farm labor from his boyhood 
 up. On the i ith of October, 1870, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Fanny A. 
 Hojakins, a native of Cortland township, 
 and a daughter of Cyrus B. Hopkins, and 
 a sister of Hon. Albert J. Hopkins, at pres- 
 
22 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ent representing the eighth Illinois district 
 in congress. By this nnion there has been 
 five children, two of whom died in infancy. 
 The living are Floyd J., Ellen M. and Fan- 
 nie M. 
 
 In politics Mr. Holland is a stanch Re- 
 publican, with which party he has been 
 connected since attaining his majority. For 
 nine years in succession he has served as 
 supervisor of Cortland township, and is yet 
 serving in the same capacity. That he has 
 served his township faithfully and well, is 
 attested by his re-election from time to 
 time. He has also served as school direc- 
 tor, school trustee, and in other minor 
 township offices. For a number of years 
 he has served his party as a member of the 
 county central committee, and as such has 
 wielded considerable influence in that body. 
 Religiously he and his wife*are members of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church. He is 
 the owner of eighty-six acres of highly im- 
 proved land, and no man in Cortland town- 
 ship holds the regard of the people in a high- 
 er degree. 
 
 m; 
 
 p. ANDERSON, one of the proprie- 
 ors of the De Kalb Tea and Coffee 
 Companj', is a native of Sweden, born in 
 1864. His education was obtained m the 
 schools of his native land. In 18S2, when 
 but eighteen years of age, he came to the 
 United States, and first located in McKean 
 county, Pennsylvania, wliere he remained 
 about five years, engaged in lumbering and 
 where he had his first experience of Ameri- 
 ca's primeval forests. In 1887 he went to 
 Montana, where he was engaged in the 
 same business, and where he remained four 
 years. From there he came to Illinois, and 
 located at Rockford, which was his home 
 
 until 1895, at which time he removed to the 
 city of De Kalb. 
 
 In 1890 Mr. Anderson was united in 
 marriage with Miss Ida C. Swanson, a na- 
 tive of Sweden. By this union are four 
 children, Mamie, Ada, Adla and Ruth. 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members 
 of the Swedish Lutheran church, and are 
 actively interested in the work of that body. 
 
 When Mr. Anderson, with his partner, 
 S. Carlson, first began business, their stock 
 was confined to tea and coffee. Their trade 
 grew to such proportions in a very short 
 time as to necessitate a larger store room. 
 This was obtained by moving farther east 
 into their present commodious store build- 
 ing, situated on Main street, between Sixth 
 and Seventh, and which ranks second to 
 none in that section of the city. Since re- 
 moving into their new quarters, they have 
 not only enlarged their stock, but put in a 
 greater variety, including many of the lux- 
 uries and delicacies, their stock varying and 
 changing with the season. A splendid 
 showing is made in choice teas and coffees, 
 of which they keep a superior quality. They 
 are both good business men and have the 
 confidence of the community in which they 
 reside. 
 
 CAPT. ANTHONY RAMER, of Hinch- 
 ley, Illinois, is a well known citizen of 
 De Kalb county, one who has resided here 
 since 1846. He is a native of Crawford 
 county, Ohio, born March 17, 1842, and is 
 the son of Henry L. and Susanna (Troup) 
 Ramer, both of whom were natives of 
 Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, the former 
 born August 8, 1804, and the latter Novem- 
 ber 2, 1808. In 1833, they emigrated to 
 Ohio, and settled in Richland county, where 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 23 
 
 they remained until 1846. In that year 
 they came to Illinois, and first settled in Du 
 Page county, where he rented a farm and 
 there remained until 1849, when he came 
 to De Kalb county, and purchased a farm 
 of one hundred and sixty acres on section 
 27, Pierce township. He built a frame 
 house upon it, for which he drew the lumber 
 from Du Page county. On that farm he 
 spent the remainder of his life, dying in April, 
 1 88 1. His first wife died in January 9, 
 1877, and he later married Catherine Smith, 
 who lived but five months after their mar- 
 riage. When he first located in Pierce 
 township, his nearest neighbor was four 
 miles away and there were but two or three 
 residents in Pierce township. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in Pierce township, and had very 
 limited educational advantages in the com- 
 mon schools of pioneer days. On the 15th 
 of January, 1863, he enlisted in Company 
 C, Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, his regi- 
 ment being assigned to the Western De- 
 partment, joining the army at St. Louis. 
 He participated in a great many skirmishes, 
 and was in the fight at Wilson Creek, where 
 the Union army captured General Marma- 
 duke, and seven thousand prisoners. He 
 was later in the engagement near Fort 
 Scott, Kansas, and for a time his regiment 
 was in active pursuit of the noted guerrilla 
 Quantrell. At Black River, Arkansas, he 
 was injured by being thrown from a horse, 
 having two ribs broken, shoulder dislocated 
 and hips fractured, being permanently dis- 
 abled. Some time later he was sent to Fort 
 Leavenworth, and had his injuries dressed, 
 and later was sent to the hospital at St. 
 Joseph, Missouri. He was not discharged, 
 however, until the fall of 1865, long after 
 the close of the war. Enhsting as a private, 
 
 he was promoted quartermaster of his regi- 
 ment, and being made drilling master, he 
 was given the honorary title of Captain. 
 
 On receiving his discharge. Captain 
 Ramer returned home, went back on the 
 farm and assisted his father eight years. 
 He was married in Pierce township, Janu- 
 ary 15, 1875, to Miss Lucinda Jane 
 Shoop, a native of Pierce township and 
 a daughter of Solomon Shoop, one of 
 the pioneer settlers of the township. 
 After marriage, he bought a farm of eighty 
 acres in Pierce township, a place which was 
 fairly well improved and began life for him- 
 self. He remained on that place for twenty- 
 five years, then sold and purchased the 
 place where he now resides, near Hinckley. 
 His farm now comprises ninety-seven acres, 
 the improvements on which are of a most 
 substantial character. The Captain still 
 suffers from the injuries received in the 
 service, but notwithstanding gives personal 
 attention to the cultivation of his farm. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Ramer Ijave one daughter, Alta, a 
 young lady at home. 
 
 Politically Mr. Ramer is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and has voted that party ticket 
 since 1864, when he cast his first presiden- 
 tial ballot for Abraham Lincoln. For two 
 years he ser\-ed as collector in Pierce town- 
 ship, constable five years and road commis- 
 sioner three years. He has ever been a 
 friend of education and the public schools, 
 and for fourteen years served as a member 
 of the school board. Since residing in 
 Hinckley, he was elected and served as 
 township collector of Squaw Grove town- 
 ship for one year. For years he has served 
 as a delegate to the various county and con- 
 gressional conventions of his party, and 
 usually in each campaign he organizes a 
 campaign marching club, from sixty to 
 
24 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 eighty strong. The club usually attends 
 all political gatherings within a reasonable 
 distance. At the laying of the corner stone 
 at De Kalb for the normal school building. 
 he was appointed and served as marshal of 
 the day. Fraternally he is a member of 
 Aurora Post, No. 20, G. A. R. Few men 
 are better known and none more highly re- 
 spected. 
 
 HO. GARY, superintendent of the barb 
 wire, staple and field fence depart- 
 ment of the American Steel Wire Com- 
 pany, De Kalb, Illinois, was born in \\'ind- 
 ham, Connecticut, March 6, 1850, and is 
 the son of Horace H. and Cornelia E. 
 (Brown) Gary, both of whom were also na- 
 tives of Connecticut. Horace H. Gary was 
 born in Scotland, Connecticut, August 5, 
 1 8 19. By occupation he was a contractor 
 and builder, and was a fearless abolitionist, 
 a stanch Republican, and a patriotic citi- 
 zen. He cast his first presidential vote for 
 William Henry Harrison, and his last one 
 for the grandson, Benjamin Harrison. His 
 family consisted of eight children, all of 
 whom grew to maturity, and si.x of whom 
 are now living. Edgar A. is a grocer in 
 Joliet, Illinois. Frederick A. is a farmer 
 residing near Joliet. Frank L. is a mem- 
 ber of Company B, Third Illinois Volunteer 
 Infantry, engaged in the war with Spain. 
 Dwight P. is in the office of the superin- 
 tendent of the Illinois Steel Company at 
 Joliet. Oscar E. is engaged in farming 
 near Joliet. One daughter is now engaged 
 in teaching in the public schools of Chi- 
 cago. 
 
 Horace H. Gary was the son of Gapt. 
 William Gary, born in Scotland, Connecti- 
 cut, December 10, 1782, and who fought 
 
 for his country in the war of 1S12. He 
 was a farmer of influence and prominence, 
 but in early life he learned the carpenter's 
 trade, which he carried on in connection 
 with farming. Captain William was the 
 son of William Gary, born in Scotland, 
 Connecticut, October 25, 174". He was 
 the son of Deacon John Gary, born in 
 Scotland, Connecticut, April 12, 1717. 
 Deacon John was the son of John Gary, 
 born June 23, 1695. John was the son of 
 Deacon Joseph Gary, born in Bridgewater, 
 Connecticut, in 1663. He was a prominent 
 man in Bridgewater, and a member of the 
 First Congregational church in \\'indham, 
 Connecticut. He owned one thousand 
 acres of land, which he purchased from the 
 British government for ten pounds and nine 
 shillings. He was buried by his townsmen 
 under arms, a very unusual occurrence in 
 those days. Deacon Joseph was a son of 
 John Gary, who was a native of England, 
 and the progenitor of the Garys in this 
 country. He came from Somersetshire, 
 near Bristol, England, in 1634, and joined 
 the Plymouth colony in New England. 
 Their coat of arms had on it the inscrip- 
 tion, " Virtute excerpta." 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 and educated at Dover, Bureau county, Illi- 
 nois, and after he received his education he 
 taught school for some time, and also as- 
 sisted his father in his building: and con- 
 tracting. In 1873, he removed from Do- 
 ver to Joliet, Illinois, where he engaged in 
 the manufacture of paints and oils, which 
 business he followed until 1886, when his 
 health failed, which necessitated his selling 
 the plant. He subsequently went to I<"lor- 
 ida to regain his impaired health, which in 
 a measure he did. It was at this time 
 (1886) that I. L. Ell wood recognized in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 25 
 
 him one who would be an important at- 
 taclic to his extensive works at De^ Kalb. 
 Mr. Cary was therefore duly authorized to 
 take charge of the paint department of the 
 I. L. Ellwood Manufacturing Company, 
 which he did with successful results. He 
 was soon afterwards removed to the office, 
 and finally given entire charge of the plant 
 as superintendent. 
 
 Mr. Cary was united in marriage Octo- 
 ber 24, 1 87 1, with Miss Anna E. Knight, 
 who was born near Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
 vania, May 18, 1852, and a daughter of 
 Clayton E. and Lydia E. Knight. By this 
 union five children have been born: Charles 
 M., August 25, 1872; Herbert L. , June 18, 
 1876; Ralph H., August, 1882; George B., 
 October, 1884; and Mabel, August, 1887. 
 
 Mr. Cary is well born, descending from 
 one of the best families in England, and is 
 a refined gentleman in the full acceptation 
 of the term. His maternal grandfather 
 Brown was a captain in the war of 1812. 
 His great-grandfather and five of the broth- 
 ers of the latter were brave and valiant 
 soldiers in the Revolutionary war. Mr. 
 Cary has in his possession a table which 
 his great -great-grandfather built in his 
 younger days, prior to the Revolution. 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Cary are members of 
 the Baptist church. Socially they are well 
 esteemed wherever known, and have many 
 warm friends in Bureau, Will and De Kalb 
 counties. 
 
 ROBERT NEWITT, who for many years 
 was an active business man in De Kalb, 
 Illinois, is now living a retired life. He 
 was born in Oxfordshire, England, April 22, 
 1822, and is the son of James and Hannah 
 
 Newitt, both of whom were natives of the 
 same country. James Newitt was a soldier 
 in the British army, and having served his 
 full time, was pensioned by the Crown. 
 
 Robert Newitt grew to manhood in his 
 native land, and received but a limited edu- 
 cation in its private schools. He was twice 
 married, his first union being with Miss 
 Zilpah Bass, to whom was born one son, 
 Robert B., who is now deceased. For his 
 second wife he married Susan Rolph, De- 
 cember 10, 1846, and to them were born 
 three children: Zilpah, born August 8, 1848; 
 Eliza, born April 21, 1850; and George, 
 born April 8, 1852. 
 
 Realizing that in his native land there 
 were few opportunities for the aspiring ones 
 to secure what may be termed even a fair 
 living, he determined to emigrate to the 
 New World, and accordingly with his wife 
 and family he took a sailing vessel, and in 
 April, 1854, landed at New York, from 
 which place he came directly to De Kalb, 
 Illinois, and engaged in the boot and shoe 
 trade, in which he continued for forty-three 
 years. As may well be imagined, the coun- 
 try at that time was comparatively new, 
 with no such evidence of thrift as is now 
 shown by the manufactories of the city. 
 He grew up with the country and town, and 
 what he has accumulated is the result of 
 close application to business, strict economy 
 and fair dealing with his fellow men. 
 
 In politics Mr. Newitt is a Republican, 
 and has served his town in various offices, 
 both previous and subsequent to its incor- 
 poration. It goes without saying that in 
 ever position occupied, he discharged its 
 duties faithfully and well, with the same 
 conscientious regard for right that char- 
 acterized him in his private business In 
 1897, when he sold his mercantile establish- 
 
26 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 meiit, he visited his native land, where he 
 enjoyed the associations of former years. 
 The old world, however, had not the at- 
 tractions of the new, and he returned to the 
 scenes of his active life, where he is now 
 living retired, spending his time in looking 
 after his city property, now owning several 
 houses and vacant lots. As a citizen he is 
 regarded highly, and has always been pro- 
 gressive, with an eye single to the best in- 
 terests of his adopted city and county. 
 
 ISAAC LEONARD ELLWOOD.— The 
 1 life history of him whose name heads 
 this sketch is closely identified with the 
 history of De Kalb, which has been his 
 home for forty-three years. He began his 
 remarkable career here when the city was 
 a little village. He has grown with its 
 growth, and has been largely instrumental 
 in its development. His life has been one 
 of untiring activity, and has been crowned 
 with a degree of success attained by com- 
 ])aratively few men. 
 
 A native of New York, Isaac L. Ell- 
 wood was born in Salt Springville, Mont- 
 gomery county, August 3, 1833, and is the 
 seventh son in the family of Abraham and 
 Sarah (Delong) EUwood. In early youth 
 he began to earn his own livelihood. He 
 was fitted for the responsible duties of life 
 only by a limited common-school educa- 
 tion, but his force of character, unflagging 
 energy and perseverance made up for his 
 lack of early opportunities. Driving a team 
 on the Erie canal at ten dollars per month, 
 and later clerking in a store until eighteen 
 years of age, thus his youth was passed. 
 The discovery of gold on the Pacific slope, 
 however, brought a change in his life, for, 
 
 with the hope of more quickl}- realizing a 
 fortune, he made his way to California in 
 185 1 and spent four years in that state. 
 He worked in the mines for a year, and 
 then secured a position as salesman in a 
 Sacramento store. By industry and econ- 
 omy he managed to secure a small capital, 
 but not wishing to invest this in the far 
 west he retraced his steps to Illinois, and 
 established a little hardware store in De 
 Kalb in 1855. His history from that time 
 forward is one of interest, showing, as it 
 does, that there is no royal road to wealth, 
 but that industry and a fit utilization of his 
 opportunities has brought him to the goal 
 toward which all business men are eagerly 
 wending their way. For twenty years he 
 carried on his store, increasing his stock as 
 his patronage justified. 
 
 His travels through Illinois as an auc- 
 tioneer, and his contact with farmers, 
 brought to his knowledge a condition of 
 affairs which in later years he was able to 
 improve. Illinois' broad prairies offered 
 special inducements to the agriculturists, 
 but they had great difficulty in securing 
 fences which would indicate the boundaries 
 of their land and prevent cattle from de- 
 stroying the crops. As there were no for- 
 ests lumber was very expensive, and then, 
 too, the board fences were being continu- 
 ally broken down and in need of repair. 
 J. F. Glidden invented what is to-day 
 known as the Glidden barb wire and Mr. 
 Ellwood assisted him in obtaining patents, 
 having a half interest in the invention. In 
 1876 Mr. Glidden sold his interest to the 
 Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, and they together, after a litigation 
 of some years, granted licenses to various 
 factories. Through Mr. lillwood's influence 
 and foresight, all of the underlying and first 
 
ISAAC L. ELLWOOD. 
 
The biographical record. 
 
 29 
 
 patents on barb wire and machinery for 
 making the same were combined together, 
 enabling him, with the assistance of others, 
 to build up one of the largest and most suc- 
 cessful business enterprises in the history 
 of the country. For forty years farming 
 was carried on in this section of the United 
 States with the same need of fencing mate- 
 rial, yet not until the year mentioned did 
 any one take advantage of the opportunity 
 to give the world this important invention. 
 For a time Mr. Ellwood was associated in 
 the manufacture of barb wire v.'ith Mr. 
 Glidden and afterward with the Washburn 
 & Moen Manufacturing Company, of Wor- 
 cester, Massachusetts. This connection 
 continued for some time, but Mr. Ellwood 
 is now exclusive owner and manager of the 
 large manufacturing establishment at De 
 Kalb, doing business under the firm name 
 of the I. L. Ellwood Manufacturing Com- 
 pany. When he was associated with Mr. 
 Glidden he was placed in charge of the 
 business management of the firm, and to 
 his tact and business ability may be attrib- 
 uted in no small measure the success of the 
 enterprise. 
 
 From time to time improvements have 
 of course been made. Countless objections 
 were urged against the new fencing ma- 
 terial, but this was to be expected, for no 
 successful invention ever came at once into 
 general use. Its utility, however, was soon 
 demonstrated, and the sales increased rap- 
 idly after a time. The fencing began to be 
 used not only by the farmers but also by 
 the railroad companies; and although the 
 railroad corporations were loath at first to 
 accept the invention, they have to-day thou- 
 sands of miles of road enclosed with barb- 
 wire fence. In order to turn out his ma- 
 terial at a lower cost, it was seen that it 
 2 
 
 would be necessary to have automatic ma- 
 chinery, which was secured through the 
 efforts of Mr. Ellwood. This machine was 
 made for the purpose of taking the raw wire 
 from the coil, barb, twist and spool it ready 
 for use; and in perfecting this invention 
 over one million dollars were spent, but the 
 result was at length attained, and one ma- 
 chine was able to do the work of eight men 
 and do it more perfectly. The works of 
 the I. L. Ellwood Manufacturing Company 
 are very extensive, the capacity being about 
 twenty-five car loads every ten hours, and 
 in this establishment employment is fur- 
 nished to about six hundred men. It is 
 now consolidated with the American Steel 
 & Wire Company. While others are also 
 engaged in the manufacture of barbed wire, 
 it is a widely recognized fact throughout the 
 country that this industry owes its success- 
 ful establishment to Mr. Ellwood. 
 
 On the 27th of January, 1859, Mr. Ell- 
 wood married Miss Harriet Miller, and they 
 became the parents of four sons and three 
 daughters, but two of the sons are now de- 
 ceased. Those living are William L. , Mrs. 
 Dr. Mayo, Mrs. J. H. Lewis, Mrs. B. F. 
 Ray and E. P. Ellwood. 
 
 Although a stanch Republican in his po- 
 litical views, Mr. Ellwood has always de- 
 clined to accept political office, save that 
 of alderman of his adopted city, in which 
 capacity he served his fellow townsmen for 
 a time. He has always taken great inter- 
 est in the promulgation of the principles of 
 the party, and in the annual meetings of 
 its representative men in Illinois he is 
 always invited and his advice is listened to 
 with interest, and his views meet with gen- 
 eral acceptance. While refusing office, he 
 was, however, appointed upon the staff of 
 Governor Tanner, with the rank of colonel, 
 
30 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and is now serving in that position. There 
 is no more progressive or pubHc-spirited 
 citizen in De Kalb county, and he with- 
 holds his support from no movement or en- 
 terprise tending to advance the public good. 
 In securing for De Kalb the Northern Illi- 
 nois State Normal, Colonel Ellvvood gave 
 much time and attention, spending weeks 
 at the state capitol, using his influence with 
 legislators in securing the passage of the 
 bill creating the institution, and its location 
 at De Kalb. In 1896, a bill was passed 
 by the general assembly of the state, ap- 
 propriating seventy-five thousand dollars to 
 the buildings, and in 1898, one appropria- 
 ing fifty thousand dollars. In addition to 
 this the city of De Kalb gave seventy thou- 
 sand dollars. By the governor he was ap- 
 pointed a trustee of the school, and is now 
 serving as such. While others were work- 
 ing for the same object, it is due him the 
 greater share of credit for securing such a 
 noble institution. 
 
 Colonel Ellwood is a charitable and be- 
 nevolent man, one of broad humanitarian 
 principles, who regards not lightly his duty 
 to his fellow men. He has climbed steadily 
 upwards, and all the time he has had a 
 hand reaching down to assist others less 
 fortunate. Always ready to encourage in- 
 dustry and energy, his employees know that 
 faithful service means promotions as oppor- 
 tunity offers. He has won for himself very 
 favorable comment for the careful and sys- 
 tematic methods he has followed in business. 
 He realized the intrinsic value of minor as 
 well as greater opportunities, has ever stood 
 ready to take advantage of circumstances, 
 and even mold adverse conditions until 
 they serve his ends, and in all relations has 
 maintained an unassailable reputation for 
 integrity and honor. 
 
 GEORGE G. LEWIS, a teacher of 
 music in Sycamore, Illinois. He was 
 born in the village of Cortland, De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, June 30, 1864. His father, 
 Dr. George W. Lewis, was born in Albion, 
 Orleans county. New York, in 1832. He 
 read medicine in Cincinnati, and latter at- 
 tended the Miami Medical College. About 
 1853 he came west, locating in Galena, Illi- 
 nois, from which place he moved to Cort- 
 land in 1856. He was a great student and 
 investigator, and gave much time to private 
 research. In his profession he was not 
 bigoted, but adopted successful methods 
 from every school of medicine. A method- 
 ical man, he kept a diary from the time he 
 was six years old until his death in 1895, 
 in the Wesleyan hospital at Chicago, where 
 he was being treated. For several years 
 prior to his death he made his home with 
 our subject. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 George Lewis, who married a Miss Ferry, 
 was a farmer by occupation, and lived many 
 years near Flint, Michigan, where he died 
 at a good old age. The maternal grand- 
 father, Littlefield, attained the age of one 
 hundred and three years, and at that age 
 performed on a violincello, on which instru- 
 ment he was a fine musician. He was with 
 General Washington at Valley Forge and 
 acted as one of his body guards. 
 
 Dr. George W. Lewis married Miss Julia 
 Teachout, born in Royalton, Ohio, near 
 Cleveland in 1833, and who died in De- 
 Kalb county, in 1892. She was the daugh- 
 ter of John and Lydia (Throop) Teachout, 
 the former a native of New Amsterdam, 
 New York, who was an old-fashion herb 
 doctor, and an expert in the use of nature's 
 remedies. Many of his formulas have since 
 been used by practicing physicans. The 
 
The biographical record. 
 
 3t 
 
 Throop family were early settlers of Chi- 
 cago, locating there when the place was 
 more than a village. Throop street was 
 named in honor of one of the family. John 
 Teachout was a son of John Teachout, 
 senior, who in early colonial days took up a 
 tract of land where New Amsterdam, New 
 York, now stands. 
 
 Willi the exception of a short time in 
 Cincinnati, while an infant, and two years 
 when his parents resided in Michigan, our 
 subject lived in Cortland, until the age of 
 sixteen. He attended the public schools of 
 Cortland, until that age, after which he 
 went to Evanston, where he took a course 
 in the Northwestern University, and later 
 one at Oberlin, Ohio. At the age of sev- 
 enteen he began the teaching of music, 
 having made a study of it for several years. 
 He later attended the Cincinnati College 
 of Music, perfecting himself in his profes- 
 sion. He also took private lessons under 
 the best musicians in Chicago. For a 
 number of years he traveled through many 
 of the states in the union, teaching on the 
 way. He has made five or six trips to 
 California and Oregon, and traveled all 
 along the Pacific coast. In 1889, he came 
 to Sycamore, taking charge of the musical 
 department of Waterman Hall. 
 
 George G. Lewis was married in Dixon, 
 Illinois, August I, 1 888, to Miss Harriet C. 
 Chapell, a native of South Grove township, 
 De Kalb county, Illinois, and a daughter of 
 Enoch and Sarah (Winchell) Chapell. By 
 this union there is one child, Gertrude, a 
 bright little miss of two years. Mr. Lewis 
 is of an inventive turn of mind, and among 
 other inventions is an appliance for turning 
 music with foot while both hands are play- 
 ing; also an appliance for watering poultry, 
 by which the water is kept fresh and clean. 
 
 The most important invention, however, is a 
 machine for re-insulating electric wires that 
 have become weatherworn, without remov- 
 ing from the poles. With his partner, 
 William A. Buehl, he is now making practi- 
 cal use of the invention. Politically the Pro- 
 fessor is a Republican, and fraternally a Ma- 
 son, holding membership with the blue lodge 
 and chapter at Sycamore. 
 
 EDWARD I. BOIES, of the firm of Van 
 Galder & Boies, publishers of the True 
 Republican, Sycamore, Illinois, is a native 
 of the city, born February 19. i860, and is 
 the son of Henry L. and Harriets. (Holmes) 
 Boies, the former a native of South Hadley, 
 Massachusetts, born July 5, 1830, and the 
 latter a native of Sherburne, New York, and 
 the daughter of Alexander and Margaret 
 (Rumrill) Holmes. They were married at 
 Springfield, Massachusetts, February 9, 
 1858, and became the parents of three chil- 
 dren — Edward I., our subject; Charles Ar- 
 temas, who is engaged in the practice of law 
 at Del\alb, Illinois; and Lucy M., who was 
 born in Sycamore, Illinois, February. 1865. 
 She received her early education in the 
 Sycamore schools, graduating from the high 
 school at the age of sixteen years. She 
 taught school in the country for a few terms, 
 then attended Oberlin College. She after- 
 wards was employed as teacher in Syca- 
 more schools. In 1888 she went on a pleas- 
 ure trip to the Bahama islands. The winter 
 of 1891-92 she spent in study and travel in 
 Europe. In June of the latter year she re- 
 turned home where she remained until the 
 fall of last year when, upon the advice of 
 physicians, she went to California. In spite 
 of the most assiduous care and attention of 
 her devoted mother, and the efforts of the 
 
32 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 best medical talent, she continued to grow 
 weaker until death ended her suffering Fri- 
 day, August 9, 1895, at Passadena. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, Artemas Boies, was born in Blandford, 
 Massachusetts, in 1792. He was a minis- 
 ter in the Congregational church, and after 
 a useful life of fifty-three years, died Sept- 
 ember 20, 1845. The family are of French 
 origin, and were among the Huguenots who 
 were driven from their native land into 
 Scotland, and who came to this country 
 about 1680. Henry L. Boies grew to man- 
 hood in his native state, and in 1854 came 
 DeKalb county, Illinois, and engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits in South Grove town- 
 ship. In 1858 he located at Sycamore, 
 where he purchased a small farm, which was 
 afterwards surveyed and platted, and is 
 known as Boies' Subdivision of Sycamore. 
 He later became associated in the publica- 
 tion of the True Republican, and in 1865, 
 its editorial management passed into his 
 hands. He continued with the paper as 
 editor and publisher up to the time of his 
 death, April 26, 1887. His widow is still 
 living in Sycamore, where she is well known 
 and highly respected, being an active mem- 
 ber of the Congregational church. 
 
 In politics Henry L. Boies was a stanch 
 Republican from the organization of the 
 party. During the administration of Pres- 
 ident Hayes, he served as postmaster of 
 Sycamore, and in 1870, was secretary of the 
 Illinois state senate. He was very active 
 and prominent in politics and an earnest 
 worker for the party, ever ready to aid his 
 friends. During his life in Sycamore, he 
 was a prominent member of the Congrega- 
 tional church and did much to strengthen 
 that organization and build up the Master's 
 cause. He was a man of literary tastes. 
 
 and gave much attention to that kind of 
 work. Among his literary productions was 
 Boies' History of Delvalb County, published 
 in 1868, a work of considerable merit, with 
 much practical and statistical information. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 Sycamore, receiving his education in its 
 public schools, and at Todd's Seminary, 
 Woodstock, Illinois. Later he attended 
 the business college at Jacksonville, Illi- 
 nois, in which he received a good busi- 
 ness training. In 1880 he entered the 
 office of the True Republican as a print- 
 er and reporter, and in 1S85 became a 
 partner with his father in the publication of 
 the paper. This partnership was continued 
 until the death of the father, after which he 
 carried on the paper alone for about one 
 year, and then associated with himself F. 
 O. Van Galder, and under the firm name 
 of Van Galder & Boies, the publication of 
 ■ the paper has since been continued. 
 
 The True Republican was founded in 
 1857, and has always been an advocate of 
 the principles of the Republican party. It 
 was published as a weekly until 1868, when 
 it was made a semi-weekly, since which 
 time it has been issued regularly every 
 "Wednesday and Saturday. The paper has 
 a large circulation and is in a prosperous 
 condition. While it makes party politics 
 one of its principal issues, yet it. devotes 
 more attention to local affairs, having its 
 correspondents in almost every town and 
 township in the county. In connection 
 with the paper, the proprietors have a good 
 job printing office, from which they turn 
 out first-class work. 
 
 In 1883 Mr. Boies was bill clerk for the 
 state senate, and again in 1885, serving in 
 a most acceptable manner. In 1884 he 
 took a vacation from newspaper work, and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 33 
 
 went to the Dakotas and took up a quarter- 
 section of government land, remaining 
 there about one year, in order that he 
 might prove up his claim. On returning 
 home he settled down to his work, in which 
 he has continued to the present time. He 
 is now serving as alderman of the second 
 ward, being elected in 1897. In all mat- 
 ters pertaining to the public welfare, Mr. 
 Boies takes an especially active interest, 
 rendering all the aid in his power, person- 
 ally and through the paper with which he 
 is connected. 
 
 JOHN MULLINS resides on section 18, 
 Sliabbona township, where he owns and 
 operates a farm of two hundred and forty 
 acres, while owning another farm of one 
 hundred and fifty-four acres in the same 
 township, both being highly improved 
 places. He is a native of Yorkshire, Eng- 
 land, born October 4, 1844, and is the son 
 of Robert MuUins, also a native of England, 
 born in 181 1, and who grew to manhood 
 and there married Sarah Ulyett, who was 
 born in Yorkshire. By occupation Robert 
 Mullins was a farmer in Yorkshire, and was 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits in that 
 shire for some years. In 1852 he emigrated 
 to the United States, taking passage on a 
 steamer, the Sarah Sands, an English ves- 
 sel, and was fifteen days in crossing the At- 
 lantic. Landing at New York, he came 
 directly west to Buffalo, by rail, and then 
 by boat on the lakes to Chicago, and from 
 Chicago to Aurora, by rail, that being as far 
 west as the railroads then extended. From 
 Aurora he came with teams to Shabbona, 
 where he joined some English friends who 
 had located there the previous year. Rob- 
 ert Mullins purchased one hundred and sixty 
 
 acres on section 17, erected a small house 
 and at once commenced to improve his 
 farm. He later bought one hundred and 
 sixty acres, and from time to time made 
 other purchases of land until he owned over 
 five hundred acres of the most productive 
 land in Shabbona township. He continued 
 to reside upon his farm until his death, in 
 February, 1886, at the age of seventy-five 
 years. He was twice married, his first wife 
 dying in 1858, when he subsequently mar- 
 ried an English lad}', who survives him, and 
 now resides near Manchester, England. He 
 was the father of six sons and one daughter 
 who grew to mature years. Mary, the eld- 
 est born, is now the wife of Septimus Story, 
 of whom mention is made elsewhere in this 
 work. George is a substantial farmer of 
 Willow Creek township, Lee county. John 
 is the subject of this review. Robert is a 
 farmer residing in Wright county, Iowa. 
 William and Henry also reside in Iowa. 
 Thomas resides south of Chicago. 
 
 John Mullins came to the United States 
 when a lad of eight years, and in opening 
 up and developing the home farm he ren- 
 dered what assistance he could. He had 
 but limited school advantages in early life, 
 but is now a well informed man. He en- 
 listed, August 13, 1862, in Company E, One 
 Hundred and Fifth Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
 try, under Colonel Dustin,the regiment being 
 assigned to the Army of the Cumberland. 
 He participated in the battles of Resaca, 
 Burnt Hickory, Kenesaw Mountain, Mariet- 
 ta, Georgia, and Peach Tree Creek. In the 
 latter engagement he received a gunshot 
 wound in the left arm, which permanentlj' 
 disabled him, the arm being broken. He 
 still carries the lead, which was never ex- 
 tracted. After being in the hospital for a 
 time, in October, 1864, he received a fur- 
 
34 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 lough and came home. While here he cast 
 his first presidential ballot for Abraham 
 Lincoln. In the winter following he re- 
 joined his regiment at Blackville, South 
 Carolina, and was later in a few skirmishes. 
 He was at Raleigh, North Carolina, where 
 Johnson surrendered to Sherman. Later 
 he participated in the grand review at Wash- 
 ington, and was there discharged June 17, 
 1865, and was paid off at Camp Fry, Chi- 
 cago, about two weeks later. 
 
 Returning home, he went to work on 
 the farm, and remained with his father 
 until 1869, when, in Shabbona township, 
 October 12, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Martha R. Nicholson, a native of 
 Ohio, but of English parentage. Her fa- 
 ther, Rev. William Nicholson, a minister 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, removed 
 from Ohio to Indiana, and later to Illinois, 
 where Mrs. Mullins was mostly reared and 
 educated. By this union were si.x children, 
 five daughters and one son. Clara is the 
 wife of Henry Longford, a farmer of Lee 
 county. Anna is the wife of Thomas Fair- 
 cloth, a farmer of Shabbona -township. 
 Gertrude, Cora, Grace and Elmer Howard 
 reside at home. 
 
 Immediately after marriage, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Mullins commenced their domestic life 
 on the southeast corner of the farm on 
 which they now reside. Mr. Mullins first 
 purchased fifty acres, and later one hun- 
 dred and si.xty acres of his father, compris- 
 ing the home place, and there resided for 
 some years. In 1892, he built on section 
 18 the house in which they now live. No 
 farm in the township shows better improve- 
 ment, and Mr. Mullins has the reputation 
 of being a No. i farmer. Politically he is a 
 stanch Republican, and has served three 
 consecutive ternis as one of the highway 
 
 commissioners. He and his wife are mem- 
 bers of the West Shabbona Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, of which he is trustee and 
 steward. He has been connected with the 
 Sunday school and has been its superin- 
 tendent for nearly a quarter of a century. 
 Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of 
 Shabbona Lodge, and is also an Ancient 
 Odd Fellow. His long-continued residence 
 in De Kalb county has made for him many 
 warm friends. 
 
 PHILO FERNANDO SLATER is the 
 owner of a fine farm of one hundred 
 and sixty-seven acres, a part of which lies 
 within the village limits of Hinckley. He 
 was born in Sugar Grove, Kane county, 
 Illinois, July 24, 1853, and came to De 
 Kalb county with his father, Philo Slater, 
 in 1854. Philo Slater was a native of New 
 York, born in Tompkins county, in 1824, 
 while his grandfather, Thomas Slater, was 
 a native of Connecticut. The family are 
 of English descent, the first of the name 
 locating in Connecticut at a very early dfty. 
 Thomas Slater was a soldier in the war of 
 1S12, and was an officer of the state militia. 
 From Connecticut he moved to Tompkins 
 county. New York, and in 1837 came to 
 Illinois, and located iri Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, Kane county, where he engaged in 
 farming. Philo Slater at that time was 
 only thirteen years of age. He there grew 
 to manhood and married Sallie Nichols, a 
 native of Chenango county, New York, and 
 a daughter of Cyrus C. Nichols, who was 
 an early settler of Kane county. After his 
 marriage, Philo Slater engaged in farming 
 for five years in Kane count}', and in 1854 
 came to De Kalb county, and purchased a 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres, adjoin- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 35 
 
 ing the present village of Hinckley, a par- 
 tially improved place. Later he purchased 
 one hundred and seventy-three acres adjoin- 
 ing, making the home farm comprise three 
 hundred and thirty-three acres, in addition to 
 which he became the owner of two small 
 farms near Hinckley. He was recognized 
 as one of the most enterprising and practical 
 farmers of De Kalb county. Politically, he 
 was a Republican from the organization of 
 the party, having in 1856 voted for John C. 
 Fremont, its first presidential candidate. 
 He took an active part in local politics, and 
 for years served as supervisor of Squaw 
 Grove township, and also held other offices 
 of honor and trust. He was a man of good 
 habits, and a strong temperance man. He 
 died on his home farm, March 28, 1894. 
 He was twice married, his first wife dying 
 in 1884, and he later married Miss Maria 
 Severance, who still survives him. By his 
 first wife, he was the father of the following 
 named children: Cyrus, a farmer of Squaw 
 Grove township; Mary S. , wife of Albert 
 G. White, of Idaho; Philo F. , the subject 
 of this sketch; Sarah, who grew to woman- 
 hood and died single at the age of twenty- 
 one years; and Eva, wife of Elmer Benton, 
 who resides in Hinsdale, Illinois. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood on the home farm, and received a 
 good common-school education. He was 
 married June 4, 1879, to Miss Alice J. 
 Sebree, a daughter of W. M. Sebree, whose 
 sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. 
 By this union there are two children, Roy 
 M. and Elva E. After marriage he located 
 on a part of the old place, which he culti- 
 vated for several years. After his father's 
 death he and his brother, Cyrus, bought 
 out the heirs, arid succeeded to the old 
 homestead, which they divided equally be- 
 
 tween them. Since coming into possession 
 of the place he has greatly improved it, and 
 has now one of the most valuable farms in 
 Squaw Grove township. 
 
 In connection with his farming Mr. 
 Slater has been engaged for some years in 
 the sheep business, and has the largest flock 
 of recorded pure-blood Shropshire sheep in 
 De Kalb county. His flock now consists of 
 about one hundred and fifty head. His 
 reputation as a breeder and dealer in these 
 sheep extends throughout the whole coun- 
 try. Politically he is a thoroughbred Re- 
 publican, casting his first presidential ballot 
 for R. B. Hayes in 1876. He has taken an 
 active part in local politics, and has served 
 on the county central committee for several 
 years, and has been chairman of the town- 
 ship committee. As a delegate he has 
 attended various conventions of his party, 
 and has always exerted a good influence. 
 He and his wife attend the Methodist 
 Episcopal church at Hinckley, and frater- 
 nally he is a member of the Modern Wood- 
 men of America. 
 
 ROBERT DUFFEY is a retired farmer 
 residing in the city of De Kalb, where 
 he is now enjoying the fruits of a life of 
 toil. He was born in Coshocton county, 
 Ohio, in 1830, and is the son of James and 
 Belle Duffey, the former being a prosperous 
 farmer of Coshocton county. In 1844, 
 accompanied by his family, James Duffey 
 came to De Kalb county, Illinois, and pur- 
 chased one hundred and sixty acres of land 
 in De Kalb township, which he placed un- 
 der a high state of cultivation, and which 
 was his home during the remainder of his 
 life. After a somewhat uneventful but use- 
 ful life, his death occurred in 1872. He 
 
36 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was highly respected as a citizen, beloved 
 as a husband and honored as a father. 
 
 Robert is the second son in a family of 
 eight children, and was fourteen years of 
 age when with his father he removed to 
 De Kalb county, Illinois. He lived with 
 his father, assisting in the cultivation of the 
 farm, and attending the district schools as 
 opportunity offered him, until he reached his 
 majorit}', when he was employed by J. M. 
 Goodell, who was then engaged in mer- 
 cantile business at De Kalb. He remained 
 with Mr. Goodell two years, and then pur- 
 chased a threshing machine, which he run 
 for several years in connection with farm- 
 ing. In 1855 he removed to Storey 
 county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm 
 of one hundred and seventy-two acres, 
 and there remained engaged in its cultiva- 
 tion for two years. Returning to DeKalb 
 county, he remained here two years, en- 
 gaged in farming, after which he removed to 
 California, in 1859. He had a similar ex- 
 perience to all other gold seekers, who took 
 the overland route by ox teams to the New 
 Eldorado. In California he engaged in 
 handling and hauling freight, using horses 
 and mules as locomotive power. He there 
 remained five years, meeting with fair suc- 
 cess. 
 
 After his return to De Kalb, in 1864, Mr. 
 Duffey engaged in the livery business, which 
 he followed for four years. He then pur- 
 chased eighty acres of land which he im- 
 proved, and sold at an advance in price. 
 He next speculated in city property, which 
 has grown on his hands to a phenomenal 
 extent. At present he is living a retired 
 life, as the result of former activity and 
 push. 
 
 On the twentieth of February, 1865, 
 Mr. Duffey was united in marriage with 
 
 Miss Ellen M. Fox, daughter of P. L. Fox, 
 and by this union were born seven children, 
 six of whom are living, and who have each 
 received a good education. 
 
 In politics Mr. Duffey is a Democrat, 
 and was honored by his fellow-citizens with 
 various town offices, including road com- 
 missioner, which office he held for three 
 years, and was trustee for nine years. He 
 is highly respected in the city of De Kalb, 
 of which he is a loyal and patriotic citizen. 
 
 DANIEL PIERCE. — Success in any line 
 of occupation, in any avenue of busi- 
 ness, is not a matter of spontaneity, but is a 
 legitimate offspring of the proper use of the 
 means at hand, the improvement of oppor- 
 tunity, and the exercise of the highest func- 
 tions made possible in any case. Young 
 men in the past have often been deterred 
 from devoting themselves to a business life 
 because of the widespread impression that 
 such a life yields no opportunity for the dis- 
 play of genius. The time, however, has 
 gone by when, other things being equal, the 
 business man must take a secondary place 
 to the lawyer, the doctor, the minister or 
 the editor. In fact, as a rule, let the busi- 
 ness man be equally well-equipped by edu- 
 cation and natural endowment, and you will 
 find him to-day in every community, exert- 
 ing a wider influence and wielding a larger 
 power than a man of equal capacity in other 
 walks of life. The men of affairs have 
 come to be in a large degree the men upon 
 whom the country leans. The subject of 
 this sketch is pre-eminently a man of affairs. 
 Daniel Pierce was born in the town of 
 Neversink, Sullivan county. New York, July 
 18, 1 8 14, and is the son of Joseph and 
 Elizabeth (Cargill) Pierce. His father was 
 
DANIEL PIERCE. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 39 
 
 a native of Westchester county, New York, 
 and when fifteen years of age went to Sulli- 
 van county, where his marriage with Eliza- 
 beth Cargill was solemnized. They became 
 the parents of six children — William, Polly, 
 John, Daniel, Penelope and Catherine. He 
 died in March, 1819, at the age of thirty- 
 one years, and his widow, three years later, 
 married Edward Porter. 
 
 When our subject was but twelve years 
 of age, he commenced hfe for himself, work- 
 ing for three dollars per month for the first 
 seven months. His education was very 
 limited, for the reason that he was thrown 
 upon his own resources at such a tender 
 age. But there was in him the making of 
 a man. He toiled early and late, working 
 for others until he attained his majority, 
 when he began working a farm on his own 
 account. He worked during the summers, 
 and in the winters worked for his board 
 while going to school. He was married De- 
 cember 17, 1835, to Miss Phebe J. Brund- 
 age, a native of Orange county. New York, 
 born August 17, 1818, and a daughter of 
 Abijah and Sarah (Lane) Brundage. Her 
 father, who was born April 23, 1781, was 
 by occupation a farmer, and during the war 
 of 1 81 2 served as a soldier. He died in 
 Sullivan county, April 23, 1850. His wife 
 was born September 23, 1786, and died Oc- 
 tober 21, 1837. Abijah Brundage was the 
 son of John and Martha (Ogden) Brundage, 
 the former born February 12, 1733, and 
 died February 9, 1796. The latter born 
 December 10, 1738, died October 28, 1799. 
 To our subject and wife three children were 
 born, the first dying in infancy. Eleanor is 
 now the widow of A. W. Townsend. Sarah 
 married G. P. Wild, cashier of the banking 
 house of Daniel Pierce & Company. She 
 died June 11, 1896. Mrs. Pierce died Oc- 
 
 tober 4, 1 876, leaving many friends to mourn 
 her loss. 
 
 Alter his marriage, Mr. Pierce operated 
 the old homestead for four years, and then 
 purchased the lease of a farm in a different 
 locality, which he operated five years, and 
 upon a third farm he remained until 1848, 
 when he purchased the titles of three farms 
 in Sullivan county. New York, including the 
 old homestead. From there he removed 
 to Deming, Ulster county. New York, and 
 purchased an interest in a tannery where 
 he remained two years. The desire was 
 in him, however, to increase his worldly 
 possessions more rapidly than he could in 
 the east, and he therefore determined on 
 coming to Illinois, where the opportunities 
 for advancement were much greater. Ac- 
 cordingly, in 1855, he sold the greater 
 part of his possessions in his native county, 
 and came to De Kalb county, where he 
 rented a farm in Mayfield township for 
 one year. In 1856, he removed to the city 
 of Sycamore and engaged in the real estate 
 business, buying and selling both improved 
 and unimproved farms. He continued in 
 that business exclusively until 1867, when 
 the banking house of Pierce, Dean & Com- 
 pany was established, of which he took the 
 active management. The firm name was 
 changed in 1871, to Pierce & Dean, and in 
 1883 to Daniel Pierce & Company. Until 
 1888 Mr. Pierce had the active manage- 
 ment of his bank, but on account of im- 
 paired health, he is now practically living a 
 retired life. During the past ten years he 
 has devoted his time principally to his Iowa 
 interests. 
 
 For more than forty years Mr. Pierce 
 has ranked among the ablest financiers of 
 northern Illinois. Successful beyond even 
 his own highest expectations, he has added 
 
40 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to his possessions until he is the owner of 
 many large and productive farms in De 
 Kalb county, and several thousand acres in 
 Iowa and other western states. The bank- 
 ing house so long managed by him has al- 
 ways been regarded as one of the safest 
 financial institutions in the state, and this 
 confidence in the soundness of the bank has 
 been brought about by his well-known con- 
 servative character and strict integrity. 
 While as stated, his early education was 
 limited, \et by reading and observation he 
 became well informed, and his judgment of 
 men and affairs, especially as affecting finan- 
 cial interests, has been almost infallible. 
 He always knew when to buy and when to 
 sell a piece of real estate, and the tiuctua- 
 tions in the money market were generally 
 foreseen by him. His word was always 
 kept inviolate and a promise made by him 
 was fulfilled to the letter. 
 
 PROF. FREDERICK BRINK BETTIS 
 is a musician whose skill and ability is 
 acknowledged by all. Since 1893 he has 
 made his home in Sycamore, but has classes 
 in music in man\' of the surrounding towns. 
 He was born in Lacon, Marshall county, 
 Illinois, December 5, 1853, and is the son 
 of John W. and Sarah A. (Brink) Bettis, 
 the former a native of Montreal, Canada, 
 and the latter born at Saugerties, on the 
 Hudson, opposite the old Robert Livingston 
 manor. They were the parents of seven 
 sons and three daughters, of whom three 
 sons and one daughter survive. Two of 
 the sons served during the war of the 
 rebellion. By trade the father was an 
 architect and builder, and for some years 
 resided in Kingston, New York, from which 
 place he moved to Lacon, Illinois, in the 
 
 early fifties. In that place he engaged in 
 the lumber business, and also had a large 
 farm near the city, on which he resided. 
 His wife dying in 1856, he later went to 
 California, where he remained seventeen 
 years, then returned to the residence of a 
 son in Kansas, where his death occurred in 
 1888. His father, the grandfather of our 
 subject, was one of the Revolutionary heroes. 
 The mother of our subject dying when 
 he was three years of age, he went to live 
 with relatives, but being of an independent 
 turn of mind, at the age of ten years he 
 began supporting himself. He attended 
 school until the age of fifteen, working on 
 farms during the summer months for his 
 board and clothes, and part of the time for 
 the opportunity of attending school. At 
 the age of fifteen he commenced to learn 
 the painters' trade, and during the time 
 thus employed was studying music, which 
 he intended to make his profession. After 
 ten years he began the study of vocal music 
 with C. E. Leslie, a well-known Chicago 
 author and teacher of music, and with him 
 traveled for ten years, over nearly a score of 
 states, singing at conventions and musical 
 gatherings. He traveled eight months in 
 the year, and during the remainder of the 
 time he perfected himself in his chosen 
 profession. He spent several seasons in 
 the New England Conservatory of Music, 
 in Boston, and took private lessons there at 
 Professor H. E. Holt's Normal School for 
 Trained Teachers, for public-school work. 
 In 1888 he went to St. Joseph, Missouri, 
 and there remained two years, engaged in 
 teaching music in its public schools. In 
 1S90 he moved to Chicago, and taught 
 music in the schools of South Evanston. 
 \\'hile residing there he frequently came to 
 Sycamore to give lessons to the pupils in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 41 
 
 the public schools, and in 1893 he took up 
 his residence in this city. He gives special 
 attention to vocal culture and harmony, 
 and has private pupils in Creston, Malta, 
 Genoa, Kingston and other places. He 
 takes great interest in musical conventions, 
 and often reads papers before them on 
 musical topics. 
 
 Professor Bettis was married in Austin, 
 a suburb of Chicago, December 27, 1890, 
 to Miss Blanche Bentley, born in Chagrin 
 Falls, Ohio, and a daughter of Martin 
 Bentley, a native of Warren, Ohio, who 
 moved to Boone county, Illinois, and was 
 one of the forty-niners of California, where 
 he engaged in farming a number of years. 
 With two companions, he engaged a man 
 to take them across the plains in a wagon, 
 each of them paying one hundred dollars in 
 advance. At Omaha the man deserted 
 them, and all three walked across the 
 plains and mountains to the land of gold. 
 Returning later to Ohio, he remained a 
 short time, and then removed to Austin, 
 Illinois, where he died. 
 
 In politics Professor Bettis is a stanch 
 Republican, although he gives little atten- 
 tion to political affairs. Fraternally he is a 
 Mason, holding membership with the blue 
 lodge at Sycamore. 
 
 GEORGE D. BENTLY, dealer in real 
 estate and loans, De Kalb, Illinois, 
 was born in Poughkeepsie, Duchess county. 
 New York, in 1825. He is the son of John 
 and Cornelia Bently. John Bently was a 
 shoemaker, but in middle life gave up the 
 trade to follow agricultural pursuits. In 
 1834 he removed to the city of Auburn, 
 New York, where he passed away at the 
 advanced age of ninety- four years. 
 
 George D. Bently, the subject of this 
 sketch, emigrated to Illinois in 1854. locat- 
 ing in De Kalb, De Kalb county, on the 
 same place where he now resides. In his 
 early life in De Kalb he was busily en- 
 gaged in the grain, lumber and coal busi- 
 ness, at which he continued for thirteen 
 years. At the expiration of that time he 
 began to deal in real estate and loans, and 
 little by little worked himself into the busi- 
 ness. 
 
 In 1854 Mr. Bently was married to Miss 
 Ada E. Brown, daughter of F. W. Brown, 
 by whom he had si.\ children, four of whom 
 are now living. Frank W. is a conductor 
 on the Northwestern Railroad, and has been 
 employed by that road for the past twenty 
 years. Chester is secretary of the Cripple 
 Creek Mining Company. Fred is foreman 
 for the Omaha Packing Company. Jesse is 
 yardmaster at Tracy. Mrs. Ada E. Bently 
 died in 1870, and he married for his second 
 wife Miss Jennie Streubly, in 1878. To 
 this union have been born two children, 
 George D. and Ada E. The latter is pos- 
 sessed of. more than ordinary intelligence, a 
 fine musician and an accomplished elocu- 
 tionist. 
 
 Mr. Bently has never, strange to relate, 
 advertised, nor does he have an office; 
 when his patrons want land or money, they 
 find him without difficulty. While he is 
 getting along in years, Mr. Bently is not 
 above doing a day's work that any other 
 laboring man can accomplish. By his in- 
 dustrial habits and his close application to 
 the golden rule, he has accumulated a nice 
 fortune. He owns several houses in addi- 
 tion to his other city property. He is a plain, 
 honest, unassuming man, whom his fellow 
 citizens highly respect. Among the various 
 local offices with which he has been hon- 
 
42 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ored, was that of city commissioner, hold- 
 ing it for several years. He was also a 
 member of the Board of Health for a period 
 of ten years. 
 
 "I X nLLIAM VON OHLEN, now living a 
 V V retired life in the village of Hinckley, 
 was for nearly thirty years an active and 
 enterprising farmer of De Kalb county. He 
 is a native of Germany, born in the Duke- 
 dom of Brunswick, May 14, 1843. His 
 father. Christian H. Von Ohlen, was a 
 native of the same place, born in 1798. 
 He there grew to manhood and married 
 Johanna Borneman, also a native of Ger- 
 many. He was a mechanic and carried on 
 a manufacturing business for some years. 
 His ability was recognized by his fellow 
 citizens, and he served in the legislature 
 of his native country. In 1855, he came to 
 the United States, and arrived at Sand- 
 wich, De Kalb count)-, October 30, and 
 first located on a farm near that place, and 
 later moved to the town of Victor, and 
 lived a retired life. He died in 1880, at the 
 age of eighty- two years. His wife survived 
 him two years, dying in 1882. They were 
 the parents of four sons and three daugh- 
 ters, who grew to mature years. Louis 
 grew to manhood, married and died at the 
 age of thirty-nine years, leaving a wife and 
 five children. Christian is a farmer of De 
 I\alb county, and a well-to-do and substan- 
 tial citizen. Mrs. Christian Bale resides in 
 Hinckley, where her husband is living a re- 
 tired life. Mrs. Henry Thoerel, with her 
 husband, is living retired in the village of 
 Hinckley. Henry lives a retired life in the 
 village of Somonauk. William and Mrs. 
 Boiler reside in Hnickley. 
 
 William Von Ohlen came to De Kalb 
 
 county, Illinois, when but twelve years of 
 age. His education, began in the old coun- 
 try, was completed in the schools of Victor 
 township, where the family resided. In 
 September. i86r, he showed his loyalty to 
 his adopted country by enlisting in Com- 
 pany B, Thirty-Sixth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, which was sent to Rolla, Missouri, 
 soon after being mustered into the service. 
 He there participated in the battle of Pea 
 Ridge. With his regiment he was in the 
 siege of Corinth, the battles of Perryville, 
 Kentucky, and Stone River. He was 
 wounded at Pea Ridge, being shot through 
 the abdomen, and at Stone River was shot 
 through both thighs, and permanently dis- 
 abled. He was sent to the hospital at 
 Nashville, Tennessee, and later at Louis- 
 ville, Kentucky, and was discharged from 
 the service May 13, 1864. 
 
 Returning home, Mr. Von Ohlen was 
 unable to work to any extent for some 
 years. When able he first rented a farm 
 for two years, and then purchased a place 
 in the township of Victor, comprising sev- 
 enty-five acres. Removing to that farm, he 
 began its further development, and there 
 remained until 1874, when he sold out and 
 purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres, a fairly well improved place in Squaw 
 Grove township. On this farm he moved 
 his family and there resided for some years. 
 He later built a good house, barn and other 
 out buildings, making of it one of the best 
 farms in the township. To the original 
 farm he added eighty acres, all of which he 
 improved, and during his residence there he 
 engaged in general farming and dairy busi- 
 ness. In 1893, he rented his place to his 
 son and purchased a residence in the village 
 of Hinckley, a neat and comfortable home 
 where he is now living retired. In addi- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 43 
 
 tion to his farm of two hundred and forty 
 acres, he also owns another well improved 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres. 
 
 At Pierceville, Illinois, September i, 
 1867, Mr. Von Ohlen married Miss Mary 
 Roth, a native of Germany, who came to the 
 United States a child of six years with her 
 father, Henry Roth, who is now one of the 
 substantial farmers of Pierce township, a hale 
 and hearty man of eighty-five years. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Von Ohlen four children have been 
 born as follows: Amelia C, now the wife 
 of Edward Ramer, a farmer of Squaw Grove 
 township; Arvet H., who is married and 
 carrying on the old home farm; Alta A. and 
 Veda May, who are attending the high 
 school at Hinckley, Illinois. Mrs. Von 
 Ohlen, who was a worthy and consistent 
 member of the Evangelical church, died 
 October 28, 1894. 
 
 Politically Mr. Von Ohlen is a stanch 
 Republican, being reared in the faith of that 
 party, and with which he has been identified 
 ever since he cast his first ballot in 1864 
 for Abraham Lincoln. He was elected and 
 served as commissioner of highways for 
 twelve years, and has also served as town- 
 ship trustee and school trustee, and is yet 
 filling the latter office. In 1894 he was 
 elected supervisor of Squaw Grove town- 
 ship, re-elected in 1896, and also in 1S98, 
 and is now serving his third term. He has 
 made a valuable member of the board, serv- 
 ing on several important committees, in- 
 cluding the finance committee, equalization 
 of personal property, and of fees and salaries, 
 being chairman of the latter committee. 
 Religiously he is a member of the Evangeli- 
 cal church, and fraternally he is a Mason, 
 and also a member of Aurora Post, No. 20, 
 G. A. R. For forty-three years he has been 
 a resident of De Kalb county, and has wit- 
 
 nessed its wonderful growth, contributing 
 his full share to its development. He is 
 well and favorably known throughout the 
 county, and no man stands higher in the 
 estimation of his fellow citizens. 
 
 PATRICK BROCK, a farmer by occu- 
 pation, but who is now living a retired 
 life in the city of De Kalb, was born in 
 Dublin, Ireland, December 13, 1830. In 
 the winter of 1842, when but a lad of 
 twelve, he immigrated to the United States, 
 locating in New York, where he engaged in 
 stage driving. After residing there three 
 years, he removed to New Jersey, where he 
 was engaged in the manufacture of white 
 lead, remaining here until 1855, at which 
 time he determined to come west, believing 
 that a better chance for worldly success 
 could be had in the then newly opened up 
 states. On coming west he located in De 
 Ivalb county, where he purchased eighty 
 acres of land and at once commenced its 
 improvement. As the country was new, 
 the land wild and unimproved, Mr. Brock 
 had a task before him. But like many of 
 his countrymen in De Kalb county, he 
 was anxious and determined to make for 
 himself and family a comfortable home. 
 By perseverance, industry and economy, 
 Mr. Brock succeeded beyond all expecta- 
 tions. He purchased more land, still more, 
 adding acre to acre, while land was low, and 
 at one time owned some four hundred and 
 forty acres. When land took a boom in later 
 years, Mr. Brock was ready to sell, and did 
 sell at a great advance. Every dollar put 
 out brought in at least two. After dispos- 
 ing of his farm, he purchased property in the 
 city of De Kalb, and is yet the owner of 
 several houses in the city. 
 
44 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Brock was married April 26, 1851, 
 to Miss Catherine Fitzpatrick, also a native 
 of Ireland, and a most estimable lady, and 
 and to them were born eight children, five 
 of whom are yet living, and are an honor 
 to the parents who reared them. Their 
 names are Mary Ann, Bridget, Elizabeth, 
 Agnes and Lawrence. Mrs. Brock passed 
 from this life September 11, 1894, and her 
 death was greatly mourned by a large circle 
 of friends. She was a consistent member 
 of the Roman Catholic church, of which 
 her husband and family are also members. 
 Politically Mr. Brock is a democrat, and 
 has supported that party since becoming a 
 naturalized citizen. He is a man much 
 respected by his fellow-citizens, because 
 of his many sterling qualities of head and 
 heart. 
 
 CHARLES O. BOYNTON, of Sycamore, 
 Illinois, is a self-made man in the best 
 sense of the term. The family are of Eng- 
 lish descent, but were probably descendants 
 of the Norman-French in earlier generations. 
 The earliest member of tlie family known in 
 England was Bartholomew de Boj'nton, of 
 Boynton, lord of the manor, in 1607. As 
 the name would indicate Norman-French 
 origin, it is more than likely that some of 
 the ancestors came over with William the 
 Conquerer. The family is extensive in 
 England, where some of its members for 
 many generations have held positions of 
 honor and trust. The first of the name in 
 America were William and John Boynton, 
 who came from Yorkshire, England, in 
 1638, one settling in Massachusetts and the 
 other in Vermont. Our subject is a de- 
 scendant of the latter. 
 
 Of the immediate ancestors, Abraham 
 Boynton, grandfather of our subject, is the 
 
 earliest of whom anything definitely is 
 known. He was probably born in Vermont, 
 where it is known that most of his life was 
 spent. In 1828, he moved with his son 
 John, to Tompkins county. New York, and 
 there died at an advanced age. He mar- 
 ried a Miss Marsh and became the father of 
 twelve children, of whom John, the father 
 of our subject, was born in the town of 
 Rockingham, Windham county, Vermont, 
 a short distance above Bellows Falls, July 
 2, 1798. He there lived until 1828, when 
 he removed to Tompkins count}'. New York. 
 In early life he was a carpenter and joiner 
 by trade, and although his school advantages 
 were meager, he was possessed of a clear, 
 strong mind, and was a great reader and 
 student. Being of a thrifty disposition, he 
 accumulated enough from the proceeds of 
 his trade to enter upon mercantile pursuits 
 in McLean, New York. Success crowned 
 him in that work, and from his profits he 
 purchased land and at the time of his death 
 was possessed of large farming interests. 
 By William H. Seward, who was then gov- 
 ernor of New York, he was appointed judge 
 of the circuit court, and served with distinc- 
 tion. He was a man whose opinions had 
 great weight with all who came in contact 
 with him. His death occurred April 28, 
 1869, at his home in Tompkins county. 
 New York. He was twice married, his first 
 union being with Elizabeth Davis, of Rock- 
 ingham, Vermont, who was of a family 
 known for their mental and bodily vigor, 
 many of them being distinguished in profes- 
 sional and business life. She was one of 
 twelve children. One of the number served 
 two terms as mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 Betsy Davis, as she was called, was born in 
 1797, and died in 1834, in the prime of life, 
 leaving si.\ children, three of whom are yet 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 45 
 
 living — diaries O., our subject; Laura Carr, 
 of Jersey City; and Lydia Jarvis, of Elgin, 
 Illinois. The father married a second time, 
 Miss Ann Fitts, by whom two children were 
 born, one surviving, Edward, now engaged 
 in business in Sycamore. 
 
 Charles O. Boynton was born in the town 
 of Rockingham, Windham county, Vermont, 
 July 19, 1826, and was but two years of 
 age when his parents moved to Tompkins 
 county, New York. He there grew to man- 
 hood, and attended the district schools and 
 the Homer Academy until the age of sixteen 
 years. He remained at home assisting in 
 the work of the farm, and also in the store 
 at McLean, until he attained his majority. 
 In September, 1847, he came west to Chi- 
 cago, where he engaged in the mercantile 
 business in his own name, although the 
 store was partly owned by another person. 
 Closing out his interests there, in February, 
 1849, he came to Sycamore, where he 
 opened a general store, and continued for 
 three years. Seeing a better opportunity 
 in financial fields, he secured funds in the 
 east at the low rate of interest prevailing 
 there, and loaned it in the west at a higher 
 rate. He continued in that business for 
 some twenty years, and by good manage- 
 ment prospered beyond the usual success of 
 men. In 1871 he engaged in the banking 
 business, as a junior member of the firm of 
 Divine & Boynton, but after one year sold 
 his interest and has since been interested in 
 land speculations. He now owns some 
 sixty thousand acres of fine timber land in 
 Arkansas, covered with hard wood timber, 
 much of it being walnut. On his land, 
 among other large trees, there is a black 
 walnut tree eight feet in diameter. On 
 the property he has lately erected a large 
 mill, with the capacity of about twenty 
 
 thousand feet, the lumber from which he 
 sends to the best markets in the south and 
 west. Also owns about fifteen thousand 
 acres in Iowa, Minnesota, North and South 
 Dakota and Kansas. He also owns some 
 two thousand acres of fine farming land in 
 northern Illinois, the garden spot of the 
 Great Central Valley. 
 
 Mr. Boynton was married in Ledyard, 
 New York, November 26, 1S61, to Miss Lu- 
 cetta P. Stark, daughter of Paul and Paul- 
 ine (Billings) Stark, both of Tunkhannock, 
 Pennsylvania, the latter being one of a fam- 
 ily of ten children. Paul Stark vvas born in 
 1802, and died in 1873, in Ledyard, New 
 York, to which place he had removed on 
 retiring from active life. The first Ameri- 
 can ancestor was Aaron Stark, who resided 
 near the head of Mystic river, and whose 
 death occurred in New London, Connecti- 
 cut, in 1685. He was first mentioned in 
 Hartford, in 1639, and in Windsor, in 1643, 
 and at Mystic, in 1653. He was elected 
 freeman in 1666, at Stonington, Connecti- 
 cut, and also at New London, Connecticut, 
 in 1669. His son William, whose birth is 
 not given, died Septembers, 1730. His son 
 Christopher, the oldest of five children, 
 lived in Dutchess county, New York, but 
 moved to Wyoming Valley in 1769, and 
 died in 1771. Christopher's son, William, 
 moved from Dutchess county, and located 
 on Tuckhannock creek, where he married 
 Polly Carey, and died in 1795, but was 
 buried at Joshua, New York. Nathan, son 
 of William, father of Paul, was eldest of a 
 family of eleven children. He was born 
 December 24, 1768, and died May 23, 1837. 
 He married Dorcas Dixon, by whom he 
 had several children. After her death he 
 married Rachel Hewett, but by this last 
 marriage there was no issue. 
 
46 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Boynton four children 
 have been born, one of whom died in in- 
 fancy. Charles Douglass lately closed his 
 bank in Carroll, Iowa, to take charge of the 
 mills and lumber interests of his father, in 
 Arkansas. Mary is the wife of Frederick 
 B. Townsend, a sketch of whom appears 
 elsewhere in this work. Elmer resides with 
 his parents in Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Boynton was formerly a Mason and 
 Odd Fellow, but has been dimitted from 
 each order. In politics he is a Democrat, 
 but independent of party lash, always refus- 
 ing to give support to candidates not cred- 
 itable to party. Under the old organization 
 he served as chairman of the city board, 
 and has been a member of the board of 
 supervisors. Religiously Mrs. Boynton is a 
 member of the Episcopal church. As a 
 citizen, he is enterprising in all things, and 
 as already stated, is truly a self-made man. 
 He never received a dollar from his par- 
 ents, although he was given the help of his 
 father's credit in starting in business. All 
 that he has was acquired by his own brain 
 and energy, and his success has been mar- 
 velous when compared with others who have 
 started out in life well acquipded with funds, 
 and given many opportunities. Few attain 
 his success in material wealth. Mr. Boyn- 
 ton has one of the finest residences and 
 grounds in De Kalb county. He also built 
 and presented to his daughter the house ad- 
 joing the one in which he lives, and both 
 together make a desirable addition to any 
 community. 
 
 HON. CHARLES A. BISHOP, judge 
 of the sixteenth judicial circuit of Illi- 
 nois, residing at Sycamore, takes rank 
 among the ablest members of the bar in 
 
 northern Illinois. Upright, reliable and 
 honorable, his strict adherence to principle 
 commands the respect of all. The place 
 he has won in the legal profession is ac- 
 corded him in recognition of his skill and 
 ability, and the place he occupies in the 
 social world is a tribute to that genuine 
 worth and true nobleness of character 
 which are universally recognized and hon- 
 ored. 
 
 He was born September 26, 1854, and 
 is the son of Adolphus and Joanna (Wil- 
 lett) Bishop. His father is a native of 
 Kings county. Nova Scotia, born May 26, 
 1829, and is the son of Gordon Bishop, 
 also a native of Nova Scotia, who was a 
 son of Captain William Bishop, Jr., who 
 was a son of Captain William Bishop, Sr. , 
 who was a son of John Bishop, Sr. John 
 Bishop, Sr. , after the French were expelled 
 from Nova Scotia, upon invitation of Gov- 
 ernor Lawrence, was one of the colonists 
 who took possession of the lands previously 
 occupied by the French Canadians. Ac- 
 cordingly many came from the British col- 
 onies along the Atlantic shore to different 
 parts of Nova Scotia, and John Bishop, Sr., 
 was one of these men who came from Con- 
 necticut to Horton, Nova Scotia, with his 
 four sons, about the year 1762. His four 
 sons who went with him from Connecticut 
 were Colonel John Bishop, Captain William 
 Bishop, Peter Bishop and Timothy Bishop. 
 
 Gordon Bishop, the grandfather of our 
 subject, was a farmer, and lived and died 
 in Kings county, Nova Scotia. His wife 
 was Louisa Oaks, by whom he had eight 
 children: Eunice Ann, Mary Eliza, Adol- 
 phus, Edward, James L., Allen, Ainsley 
 and Charles A., all of whom are living ex- 
 cept Eunice Ann, Edward and Charles A. 
 Adolphus Bishop, the father of our sub- 
 
HON. CHARLES A. BISHOP. 
 
THIC B10(.RAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 •)9 
 
 ject, is a farmer by occupation and is now 
 living in Grand Pre, Nova Scotia. Joanna 
 (Wiliett) Bishop, his wife, was born at An- 
 napoHs, Nova Scotia, August 27, 1833. 
 They were married al 'Horton, Nova Sco- 
 tia, March 30, 1852. Adolphus Bishop was 
 born May 26, 1829. Joanna died Novem- 
 ber 3, 1861. Of that marriage were born 
 Charles Alford Bishop, the subject of this 
 sketch, David Averd Bishop and Franklin 
 Wiliett Bishop. Franklin \\'illett Bishop 
 died July 4, 1894. David A. is living at 
 Truro, Nova Scotia. 
 
 For his second wife Adolphus Bishop 
 married Mary E. Wiliett, by whom he had 
 two children, Ernest A. Bishop, who died 
 in infancy, and Nellie May Bishop, who 
 died December 1, 1896, at the age of twen- 
 ty-one years. Mary E., the mother, died 
 October 3, 1890. Adolphus Bishop mar- 
 ried for his third wife Louise Faulkner. 
 No issue of third marriage. 
 
 Judge Charles A. Bishop, received his 
 primary education in the j^ublic schools of 
 Nova Scotia; attended the Academj' at 
 Acadia, and from there went to the Acad- 
 emy at Mt. Allison, Sackville, New 15runs- 
 vvick, where he took a special course of 
 three years. He then became principal of 
 the high school at Sackville for a term of 
 two years, at the end of which time he 
 started for the west, locating at Sycamore, 
 Illinois, June i, 1878; read law in the office 
 of H. A. Jones and was admitted lo the 
 bar in June, 1880. He then formed a part- 
 nership with his preceptor, under the firm 
 name of Jones & Bishop, which partnership 
 was continued until October 19, 1886. In 
 1886 Judge Bishop was a candidate before 
 the Republican convention for the office of 
 county judge of De Kalb county, but his 
 
 nomination was defeated liv political com- 
 3 
 
 binations, when he ran as an independent 
 candidate and was elected, receiving major- 
 ities in fourteen of the eighteen townships 
 of the county. In 1890 he was nominated 
 by the Republican convention by acclama- 
 tion for the same office and was re-elected. 
 He was again nominated by acclamation in 
 1894; was elected and served until 1897, 
 when he resigned the office of county judge 
 of De Kalb county, having been nomi- 
 nated for circuit judge in the twelfth dis- 
 trict February 3, 1897, After the judicial 
 re-appointment he was re- nominated in 
 May for the sixteenth district, which is com- 
 posed of the counties of De Kalb, Kane, 
 Du Page and Kendall, and elected in June 
 following. 
 
 Judge Bishop was married August 25, 
 1880, to Parmelia, daughter of Major Evans 
 and Martha (Smith) Wharry, of Sycamore. 
 She was a nati\e of Sycamore, a graduate 
 of Wellesley College, New York. She died 
 .-\pril 13, 1889, her death being mourned by 
 a large circle of friends. The Judge was 
 again married November 25, 1890, to Mar- 
 tha E. Stuart, daughter of Charles T. and 
 Nancy D. (Hutchins) Stuart. Her father, 
 Charles T. Stuart, was the son of Nathan 
 and Roxanna (Phelps) Stuart, and was born 
 April 13, 1819. He died October 13, 1892, 
 leaving surviving him Nancy D. .Stuart, his 
 widow, and Martha E. Stuart and Charles 
 H. Stuart, his children. Nancy D. .Stuart 
 was the daughter of Solomon and Nancy 
 (Dillingham) Hutchins, and is the niece of 
 ex-Governor Paul Dillingham, of \ermont. 
 Nancy D. Stuart was born June 29, 1826, 
 and is still living. 
 
 The children of the second marriage of 
 Judge Bishop are Stuart A., born August 21, 
 1892, and Marian O., born January 7, 1896. 
 Mrs. Bishop is a lady of culture and lefiue- 
 
so 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ment, domestic in her tastes, and much de- 
 voted to her fainils'. The Judge and his 
 wife attend the Congrejiational church. 
 
 Fraternally the Judge is a member of 
 Sycamore Lodge, No. 134, A. F. & A. M., 
 Sycamore Chapter, No. 49, R. A. M., Syca- 
 more Comniandery, No. 15, K. T., is a 
 member of Medinah Temple, A. A. O., 
 Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and is past 
 high priest of Sycamore Chapter and past 
 eminent commander of Sjcamore Com- 
 mander}'; member of Sycamore Lodge, No. 
 105, I. O. O. F. , of the Ellwood Encamp- 
 ment of Odd Fellows, and also of the Mod- 
 ern Woodmen of America. 
 
 Judge Bishop is the possessor of the 
 sword worn by his great-grandfather. Cap- 
 tain William Bishop, at the time he was 
 captured by an American privateer in Minas 
 Basin. Captain William, who was captain 
 of a company of militia, when he saw the 
 privateer coming up the bay, got some of 
 his men together, manned a vessel that was 
 faulty, and went out to give battle to the 
 privateer. They were soon, however,' cap- 
 tured and placed in the hold of the privateer 
 in irons. Captain William, during the first 
 night, succeeded in getting out of his irons 
 and releasing his men, conceived the idea 
 of capturing the crew of the privateer: 
 being physically a giant in strength, he went 
 on deck, followed by his crew armed with 
 whatever they could get. Captain William 
 grappled with the guard, fell on the deck 
 holding the man o\er him, and when the 
 crew of the vessel tried to bayonet him he 
 would shield himself with the guard by 
 moving him from side to side. The struggle 
 was short. The crew of the privateer 
 being taken by surprise were soon captured, 
 and Captain Bishop and his crew had con- 
 trol shortly of the vessel, which they 
 
 brought into port, where Wolfville, Nova 
 Scotia, now is; and the sword worn by him 
 on that occasion has been iianded down to 
 the oldest in the family, and is now in the 
 possession of Judge'Bishop. 
 
 While Judge Bishop was serving as 
 county judge of De Kalb county he also 
 assisted Judge Scales and Judge Carter, of 
 Cook county, for about two years, and has 
 also presided at intervals on the circuit 
 bench of Cook county since his election to 
 the circuit bench. 
 
 The judge is a tine specimen of physical 
 manhood, si.x feet four and one-half inches 
 in height, average weight two hundred and 
 fifty pounds, commanding appearance, of 
 pleasing address and affable manner. He is 
 a good lawyer, and as a judge is iinpartial 
 and careful in his rulings, and is giving sat- 
 isfaction to the bar and the people. 
 
 ISAAC S. WOODS, supervisor of Afton 
 1 township, and a leading farmer of the 
 township, is a native of Franklin county, 
 Pennsylvania, born May 17, 1835, and is 
 the son of David H. and Catherine (Camp- 
 bell) Woods, both natives of Pennsyhania, 
 and who were the parents of eleven chil- 
 dren, five of whom are deceased. Those 
 living are Hannah, Cynthia, David, Martha, 
 Catherine and Isaac S. The Woods are of 
 Scotch Irish descent, but were early settlers 
 of the United States. The paternal grand- 
 father of our subject was a native of Cum- 
 berland county, Pennsylvania, and was with 
 Daniel Boone in Kentucky. In April, 1844, 
 the father moved with his family to Rich- 
 land county, Ohio, and two years later came 
 to Illinois, locating in Kendall county, where 
 he purchased one hundred and eighty acres 
 of wild land, which he proceeded to im- 
 
Till': l;lO;.KAI'IIlCAi. RiiCORi;. 
 
 ; I 
 
 prove, and wliere his death occurred June 
 5, 1849, at the age of sixty-six years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared to 
 farm hfe, and received his education in the 
 district-schools of Ohio and Illinois, princi- 
 pally in Kendall county. He remained on 
 the old homestead until after attaining his 
 majority, assisting in the cu!ti\atinn of the 
 farm. On the 20th of December, 1865, he 
 married Miss Pluma E. Ovitt, a native of 
 Kendall county, and a daughter of S. A. 
 Ovitt. I'jy this union there are six children 
 — John W., Minnie E., Charles S., Daisy 
 A., Ida B. and Emma C. Of these chil- 
 dren, John, Minnie and Daisy have each en- 
 gaged in teaching in the district schools, 
 and have been quite successful teachers. 
 
 In 1865 Mr. Woods came to De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, and located on section 34, 
 Alton township. He soon became quite 
 prominent in township affairs, and has 
 served as collector and assessor for several 
 terms, and 1892 was elected supervisor, re- 
 elected in 1894, 1896 and 1898. He is 
 now serving his fourth term and is recog- 
 nized as one of the active members of the 
 board, serving on sexeral of the most im- 
 portant committees. In politics he is a 
 thorough Republican and has \oted that 
 ticket since attaining his majority. Relig- 
 iously he and his family are members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, of Waterman, 
 in which he takes an active part. His farm 
 consists of one hundred and sixty acres, and 
 its general appearance denotes the thrift of 
 its owner. No man in Afton township has 
 more friends than the subject of this sketch. 
 
 BENJAMIN F. ATHERTON, who re- 
 sides on section 31, Shabbona town- 
 ship, has resided in De Kalb count}', since 
 
 September 29, 1854, and now has a farm of 
 two hundred and sixty-eight acres, together 
 with eighty acres in Willow creek township, 
 Lee county, which is just across the county 
 line from the home farm. He was born 
 near Scranton, Lackawanna county, Penn- 
 sylvania, October 24, 1828, and is the son 
 of Joseph Atherton, born in the same county 
 and state and on the same farm. His grand- 
 father, Eleazer Atherton, was a native 
 of Massachusetts, as was also his great- 
 grandfather, Cornelius Atherton. The Ath- 
 ertons are of English ancestry, the original 
 ancestor coming to the New World in 1666. 
 Colonel Humphery Atherton, with his two 
 sons. Rev. Hope Atherton and James Ath- 
 erton, coming to this country in that year. 
 Our subject is a direct descendant of James 
 Atherton, who had twelve sons, one of 
 whom, John, was the father of Cornelius. 
 The latter was a pioneer of that part of 
 Luzerne county which is now Lackawanna 
 county, Penn.sylvania. He went to that 
 locality prior to the Revolutionar}' war, but 
 was compelled to return to New York dur- 
 ing that struggle. After the Revolution, he 
 returned to Lackawanna county, purchased 
 land, and there spent the remainder of his 
 life. His son, Eleazer, there grew to man- 
 hood, but in New |ersey married Martha 
 Kenan, after which he located upon the 
 old farm in Lackawanna count}', Pennsyl- 
 vania, where he reared his family of nine 
 children. 
 
 Joseph Atherton grew to manhood in his 
 native count}', and there married Phebe 
 \'osburg, of German and Holland parent- 
 age. Her father, Cornelius Vosburg, was 
 a resident of the Mohawk \'alle}', and there 
 resided some \ears, prior to his reinoval 
 to Pennsylvania. Joseph .\therton resided 
 on the old homestead, a part of which he 
 
5^ 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 iiiheiitcd, and there died in 1845, "^^ the 
 a^e of forty-five years. He was twice mar- 
 ried, his first wife dyinx at the a^e of twen- 
 ty-seven years. His last wife survived him 
 some years. 
 
 The snbject of this sketch grew to ma- 
 ture years in his native connty, and received 
 a fair common-school education. He re- 
 mained on the ol(j home farm and assisted 
 in its cultivation, until the fall of 1854, 
 when, accompanied by his brother Charles 
 .Vtherton, he came to I)e Kalb county, join- 
 inijaii uncle who was then living here. The 
 brothers bought a tract of one hundred and 
 si.\ty-six acres, on which they erected a 
 small house, and then set about its further 
 improvement. .\s the years went l)y, they 
 erected the various buildings now on the 
 place, planted an orchard, set out forest 
 and shade trees, and also five hundred rods 
 of liedge fence, making of the farm one of 
 the neatest and liest in the entire countv. 
 Charles Atherton remained single and as- 
 sisted in the cultivation of the place until 
 his death in 1888, at the age of hfty-si.\ 
 years. 
 
 Mr. Atherton returned to Pennsylvania, 
 and in W\-oming county, fifteen miles from 
 Scranton, on the 26th oi October, 1858, 
 was united in marriage with Miss Almira 
 Maynard, a native of Wyoming county, 
 Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Thomas 
 Maynard, of the same county. She was 
 reared and educated in her native county, 
 and was a teacher in its public schools pre- 
 vious to her marriage. By this union were 
 four children, two of whom are deceased, 
 Blanche dying in infancy, and Thomas at 
 the age of fifteen years. The living are 
 Ella and Joseph, the latter now assisting 
 in carrying on the home farm. 
 
 Politically Mr. Atherton is a Republican, 
 
 while his father was an old-line Whig, and 
 grandfather a stanch Federalist. The first 
 presidential vote cast by our subject was 
 for General Wir.field Scott, in 1852, and 
 his second \ote for that office for General 
 Fremont. 
 
 The only office our subject has e\er 
 held was that of .=chool director, only ac- 
 cepting that by reason of his interest in the 
 public schools. His wife is a member of 
 the Congregational church, while the fam- 
 il\' in Pennsylvania were Baptists. Success 
 has crowned him in his efforts since coming 
 to De Kalb countj', and he is now num- 
 bered among the most substantial men to 
 be found in it. 
 
 ELIJAH CURTLS, a retired farmer re- 
 siding; in the city of De Kalb, Illinois, 
 has been a resident of the count\' for forty- 
 two years, during which time he has prin- 
 cipall}' engaged in agricLiltnral pursuits, but 
 has also shown his loyalty to his country by 
 a service of nearly four years in its army 
 during the war for the union. He was born 
 in Douglas, \\'orcester county, , Massachu- 
 setts, November 2j, 1836, and is the son 
 of Bryant and Patience (Powers) Curtis. 
 Bryant ("urtis was a native of Worcester 
 county, Massachusetts, and was l)orn De- 
 cember 4, 1803. By occupation he was a 
 farmer, both in the east and after his com- 
 ing to Illinois. Locating in .■\fton township, 
 De Kalb county, he lived a lite of useful- 
 ness and respectabilitw and passed away 
 December 8, 1880. His wife was a nati\e 
 of Croydon, Sullivan county. New Hamp- 
 shire, born June 11, 1803. After proving 
 herself a companion meet for her husband in 
 truthfulness and love, she was called to her 
 reward, March 12, 1876. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 53 
 
 l^rjant Curtis was the son of Ebeiie^er 
 Curtis, who earned for himself an enviable 
 reputation for his daring courage in the 
 Revolutionary war. He participated in the 
 battles in which Burgoyne's army was de- 
 feated and captured. His descendant, the 
 subject of this sketch, owns a musket that 
 he used in those dark and troublous times. 
 Mr. Curtis has also in his possession a cut- 
 lass captured by his great-granduncle at 
 Cape Town, South Africa. The mother of 
 Mr. Curtis bad four uncles who were en- 
 gaged in defense of freedom and independ- 
 ence at the battle f)f Bunker Hill. The 
 Curtis family, as far back as the fourth 
 generation, lived on land in Worcester 
 county, Massachusetts, deeded to them by 
 the I\ing of England. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 and educated on a farm in Worcester coun- 
 ty. .Massachusetts, where he confined him- 
 self to agricultural jiursuits. At the age of 
 nineteen, he came to what was then the 
 west, locating in Dc K;ilb count}-, Illinois. 
 Here he engaged as a farm laborer, work- 
 ing by the month, at which vocation he 
 continued until 1859, when he began to 
 work land on shares. This he followed for 
 two years. At this period in his life's his- 
 tory, his country became imperiled, and, like 
 many others of her brave and patriotic sons, 
 Mr. Curtis went forth, placing himself upon 
 her altar, that the nation's integrity and 
 glory might be retained. How faithfully he 
 performed this sacred duty, the following 
 will attest. 
 
 In 1 86 1 he was enrolled as a member of 
 Company C, Fifty-eighth Illinois Volunteer 
 Infantry, G. W. Kittell, captain, and W. 
 F. Lynch, colonel. The regiment was as- 
 signed to the Second Division of the Si.x- 
 teenth .Army Corps, and participated in the 
 
 battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, 
 Red River, Kansas City, Nashville, and 
 Bayou La Mourie. At Shiloh, April 6, 1862, 
 Mr. Curtis was wounded and was laid up 
 for four months, during which time he vis- 
 ited his home, in Afton township, De Kalb 
 count)', Illinois. After the e.Npiration of his 
 furlough, he returned to his command, then 
 stationed at Camp Danville, Mississippi. 
 .At the battle of Corinth he was again 
 wounded in the ankie, October 4, 1862. 
 This caused an absence of seven months, 
 during which time he again received a fur- 
 lough to \isit his home. \t this time his 
 regiment was recruiting at Springfield, and 
 he joined it at that place. In the winter 
 of 1863-4, his regiment joined Sherman's 
 Army ar. Vicksburg, and participated in 
 a raid through Mississippi. At a battle 
 fought during the Red River E.xpedition, 
 Mr. Curtis received another wound, Ma\' 
 iC, 1864, this time in the thigh. After a 
 four months' furlough and rest, he returned 
 to his command, then slatioiK'd at [efferson 
 Barracks. 
 
 After its brush \sith Price at Kansas 
 C'\{y, the Fifty-eighth returned to St. Louis 
 and shipped frir Nash\ille, to join General 
 Thomas, and arri\ed just m time to engage 
 in a battle at that place. The regiment 
 was then sent to Eastport, at which place 
 Mr. Curtis left it, his time ha\ing e.xpired. 
 He was honorably discharged at Chicago, 
 February 7, 1865, as sergeant of his com- 
 pany, being promoted to that rank at Cor- 
 inth, Mississippi, as a reward for his bravery 
 in that contest. He still carries the ball re- 
 ceived at that battle. At the battle of Shi- 
 loh, his regiment was surrounded and after 
 a well contested struggle it was obliged to 
 surrender, but after being imprisoned seven 
 months it was paroled. A brother of Mr. 
 
54 
 
 'HE BIOGRAl'llICAL RECORD. 
 
 CiiitiswHS a iiifinber of Coinpiiny G. Fift\ - 
 sevuiilli Massachusetts X'oliiiitecr Infanti)-, 
 atid (lied ill Dainillc, \'irj»inia, 
 
 AfltT his disclKirf,'e, Mr. ("iiitis a.!;ain 
 oiifjagcil ill aL;i ii'iih nral |)iiisiiils in ("hnl'Hi 
 t<n\nshi|), where he nwiied huly acres of 
 land, which he soli_l and boiij^ht eighty acres, 
 and til this he added eighty acres more in 
 Milan townshi]^. which later he e.xchanged 
 for a valuable farm of two hundred acres 
 in Afton township, which he still owns, in 
 addition to his tine city residence. On the 
 1st of July, 1865, he married Miss Candace 
 E. Bovee, a daughter of Richard and Or- 
 pha (Parks) Bovee. She was born in Erie 
 county, New York, September 14, 1836. 
 Their wedded life was of short duration, 
 Mrs. Curtis dying June 27, 1867, leaving 
 one son, David G. For his second wife 
 Mr. Curtis married, April ;t, 1879, Miss 
 Juliette E. Hurd, a native of Marion coun- 
 ty, Indiana, born August 14, 1844, and 
 a daughter of Alanson and Jerusha A. 
 (Springer) Hurd, both natives of New York 
 state. By this union two children were 
 born — Hortense, September 9, 1880, and 
 Sarah Elloise, January 10, 1883. The 
 former died October 10, 1884 Mrs. Julia 
 E. Curtis departed this life December i, 
 1886, at the age of forty-two years. For 
 his third wife, December 3, 1891, Mr. 
 Curtis married Mrs. Wealthy M. White, 
 widow of James White, sergeant in the 
 Twelfth New York Volunteer Infantry, and 
 a daughter of Robert Morse and Caroline 
 Smith, both of whom were natives of New 
 York. By her hrst marriage she has one 
 daughter, Nina, who makes her home with 
 her mother. Mrs. Wealthy M. Curtis is a 
 lady of fine talents, a most estimable wife 
 and loving mother. To Mr. and Mrs. Cur- 
 tis one son has been born, Leland Powers, 
 
 June 15, 1S9S. .Mr. Curtis traces his an- 
 eestcirs back to John Iceland, who was anti- 
 (|nary to King Henr\ \'III, nf England. 
 
 I'oliticallv Mr. Curtis is a stanch Ke- 
 piibliran and has been hoiinred bv his 
 friends anil neighbors with several town 
 offices, se'rving as town clerk, road com- 
 missioner, school director, all of which he 
 tilled with much credit. He was formerlj- 
 a member of Merritt Simonds Post, G. A. 
 R. , of De Kalb, of which he served as 
 commander. In 1896 he asked to be trans- 
 ferred to Potter Post, No. 12, G. A. R., of 
 Sycamore, of which he is now a member. 
 Mr. Curtis is of a kind and loving disposition 
 and has the happy faculty of making and 
 retaining friends. By marriage his chil- 
 dren and those of President F'illmore are 
 closely related. 
 
 JOSEPH P. WAYLAND, M. D., Syca- 
 more, Illinois, has attained a high 
 degree of success, both as a physician and 
 surgeon. He is of the Homeopathic school 
 of medicine, well read, not only in the 
 authorities of his own school, but in all 
 schools of medicine. He is a native of 
 Kenton county, Kentucky, born May 4, 
 1841, and resided in his native county 
 until the age of twenty-one years, receiv- 
 ing his education in the district schools 
 and at Aspen Gro\e Academy, attend- 
 ing the latter institution from the age 
 of seventeen until he attained his major- 
 ity. He then went to Hebron, Indiana, 
 where he engaged in teaching and where 
 he remained for eight years, in the mean- 
 time studying medicine, and attending lec- 
 tures at the Cincinnati Pultz Medical Col- 
 lege. In 1870 he removed to Byron, Ogle 
 county, Illinois, where he engaged in prac- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 55 
 
 tice for twenty years. In \^JJ S lie en- 
 tered Hahnemann Medical College, from 
 which he graduated in 187S. At B}ron 
 and Stiliman Valley he built up a good 
 practice, but believing Sycamore to be a 
 better field, he removed to that place in 
 1890, and now has a large and lucrative 
 practice, and has the respect o( the medical 
 fraternity of the place, and the people in 
 general. 
 
 Dr. Wayland is a son of Joseph Waj- 
 land, who was born in Culpeper county, 
 Virginia, September 9, 1778, and who by 
 occupation was a farmer during his entire 
 life. He was a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and because of his dis- 
 like for slavery removed to Kentucky, in 
 1797. His removal was hastened from the 
 fact that his father desired him to take 
 charge of a large plantation on which there 
 were many slaves. Being firmly convinced 
 that no man had the right to hold another in 
 bondage, and that a human being was not 
 subject to property rights, he declined to 
 accede to the wishes of his father. This 
 made the father angry, and the son left 
 home, going to Kentucky. Notwithstand- 
 ing the latter became a slave state, and 
 that he was always surrounded by slaves, 
 he never owned one, nor would he receive 
 one hundred and fifty of them left by his 
 father on his death. His action displeased 
 his relatives, especially when he publicly 
 advocated the abolition of slavery and de- 
 nied their right to hold human chattels. He 
 predicted a great war over the question of 
 slavery, and frequently told our subject that 
 he would live to see it, even if he, the 
 father, should not. His death occurred 
 November 17, 1830. a decade before the 
 predicted war began. In politics he was a 
 strong Whig, while bitterly anti-slaverj-. 
 
 He married Nancy Masse), a native of 
 Orange county, Virginia, born August 20, 
 1792, and died September r 3, 1S64, at the 
 age of se\enty-two years. She was a 
 daughter of Edward Massey, who married 
 a Miss Timberlake, both of whom were na- 
 tives of Virginia. Edward Massey, with 
 four brothers, served in the Revolutionary 
 war. Joseph and Nancy Wayland were the 
 parents of twelve children, of whom our 
 subject is the youngest. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Henry Wajland, was a nati\e of German)', 
 who settled in Virginia early in the eight- 
 eenth century, and who became a large 
 land owner and also the owner of man)' 
 slaves. At his death he left each of his 
 seven sons and two daughters large planta- 
 tions and one hundred and fifty slaves each. 
 His wife was Miss Nancy Phinks. 
 
 Dr. Wayland was first married in Pen- 
 dleton county, Kentucky, in 1 861, to Miss 
 Belle Cook, a daughter of Thomas Cook, 
 who married a Miss Mains. By this union 
 were three children, all of whom are yet 
 living. Etta married Abraham Hannaker, 
 by whom she has four children: Chellis, 
 Morris, Clinton and Belle. They reside in 
 Spencer, South Dakota. Belle married 
 Clarence Mack, by whom she has two chil- 
 dren, Elsa and Earl. They reside at Mon- 
 roe, Illinois. Clara resides at home. The 
 Doctor's second marriage was when he re- 
 sided in Hebron, Indiana. He there mar- 
 ried Mar)' Jane Kithcart, a daughter of 
 Joseph Kithcart, who married Phebe Ann 
 Youngs. They came to Hebron from Ash- 
 land county, Ohio. They have two chil- 
 dren, Chellib and Alwilda, the latter now- 
 being the wife of G. A. Dayton, of Austin, 
 Illinois. They ha\c one son, Wilbur 
 Wayland. 
 
56 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In politics Ur. WaN'land is a Republican, 
 but pruhibition in sentiment. \^'hile re- 
 siding in Byron he was president of the 
 board iif trustees ui the town, and also 
 held the office of school director. For 
 several terms he served as cf)roner of Ogle 
 county. Fraternally he is a member of tiic 
 Masons, Indepenilent Order of Odd I'eljows, 
 Modern Woodmen of .America and Knights 
 of the (dobe. IK- is one of .Sycamore's 
 hdiKiM-d ;nul \alueil rili/ens, his upright 
 and honorable career having won lor him 
 the confidence and fiigh regard of all with 
 whom he has come in contact either in pro- 
 fessional or social life. 
 
 JACOB HAISH, the originator and in- 
 ventor of the barb wire and the auto- 
 matic machine used in its manufacture, in 
 the true sense of the term is a self-made 
 man. With limited opportunities for stud\', 
 or for the exercise of any special talent, he 
 has made a name that has brought him 
 national fame and honors that were little 
 dreamed of when as a boy and youth he 
 struggled with adverse fortune. For years 
 his manufactory at De Kalb, Illinois, has 
 been one of the noted institutions of the 
 city and state, where he has turned out 
 millions of pounds of barb wire of various 
 patterns, including the " Eli " barb, the " S" 
 barb and the "Glidden " fjarb. But he has 
 not confined himself alone to the manufact- 
 ure of barb wire, but has likewise made a 
 specialty of the manufacture of woven wire 
 fencing, plain wire, staples, nails, the Rus- 
 tler disk harrows, tubular steel and wood 
 beam hustler lever harrows, barrel carts, 
 bob sleds, etc. His manufactory has been 
 a veritable hive of industry, and he has 
 
 given employment to hundreds of men at 
 good, living wages. 
 
 Jacob Haish was born near Colsul, 
 f^aden, Germanv, March 9, i 837, and is the 
 son of Christian and Christina Haish, na- 
 tives of Germany, who emigrated with their 
 family to .\merica, in 1S36, when Jacob 
 was but nine years of age. The}- located 
 in the scjuth part fd Fenn.sylvania, where 
 they remained but a short time, during 
 which, however. tliL v\ iff and mother passed 
 away, leaving Jacob, hut ten years of age, 
 an age, indeed, when all boys should have 
 the protecting care of mother to shield them 
 from the dangers which beset their path. 
 The father with his motherless children soon 
 removed to Crawford county, Ohio, where 
 he purchased a farm of eighty acres in the 
 woods, with the Indians for his neighbors, 
 and entered upon the herculean task of sub- 
 duing it. 
 
 Christian Haish was by trade a carpen- 
 ter, and his son, our subject, soon acquired 
 a full knowledge of that trade. On the 
 farm, however, he lived and worked, alter- 
 nating his labors by attending school and 
 using the plane and saw till he attained his 
 twentieth year. In 1846, he left the pa- 
 ternal roof, turned his face towards the set- 
 ting sun, and finally located at Naperville, 
 Du Page county, Illinois, where he followed 
 agricultural pursuits for several seasons. 
 While living in Du Page count)', Mr. Haish 
 formed the first partnership of his life in the 
 person of Miss Sophie Ann Brown, with 
 whom he was united in marriage. May 24, 
 1847. This partnership has never been 
 dissolved, but has become stronger by the 
 flight of years. Mrs. Haish is a native of 
 Xew York, born March 10, 1829. She has 
 proved herself a helpmeet, and a true and 
 faithful wife, not only in the palmy days of 
 
JACOB HAISH. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 59 
 
 luxury, but in the stern and stirring days ot 
 opposition and competition, which try the 
 teinper and disposition of man. 
 
 One year after his marriage, Mr. Haish 
 removed to Pierce township, De Kalb coun- 
 ty, where he carried on farming for some 
 three years. In 1854, he moved into the 
 village of De Kalb, where he worked at his 
 trade. After his first one hundred dollars 
 were saved, he purchased a bill of lumber, 
 and from that time began to contract and 
 build, a business which he followed success- 
 fully for fifteen years. It was while in this 
 business that Mr. Haish was annoyed bj- 
 the farmers who were anxious to secure 
 sound boards for fencing, strong enough to 
 resist brute force. This brought to his 
 mind the first idea of a fence. He first 
 began by weaving osage on a fence so that 
 the thorns would prick the stock. This 
 was not practical, however, but opened up 
 the way to new fields of speculation and 
 invention. Mr. Haish next conceived the 
 idea of making " thorns" of wire, but using 
 only one wire, it slipped and proved unsat- 
 isfactory. This was in 1873. He next 
 thought of putting two wires together, form- 
 a twist, with the barb between them, when 
 "presto " we have the barb wire complete. 
 
 Mr. Haish first made the wire in sections, 
 thinking that to be used for fencing pur- 
 poses it must be so constructed. Each sec- 
 tion was sixteen feet long. He put one side 
 the first secti(jn that he constructed, think- 
 ing nothing more of it until a farmer came 
 in one day and offered him fifty cents for 
 it, but on this wire he secured a patent Jan- 
 uary 20, 1874. He next conceived the idea 
 of inventing an automatic machine to make 
 his fence wire. This machine must form 
 the twist, spool, put in the barb, and thus 
 complete the fence. Mr. Haish was urged 
 
 by his friends to abandon his project as 
 chimerical, but he could not be turned 
 aside, for, with a \ision of a prophet, he 
 looked down the vista of time and saw re- 
 vealed unto him the inidday glory and tri- 
 umph of the fair and shapely form of the 
 "S" barb, which was all this time taking 
 shape and comeliness in the evolutions of 
 his mind. He was advised by his counsel 
 to enter a ca\eat to secure his right, but 
 the time ran out before he applied for a 
 patent, thus throwing him out of his right 
 to the machine. He then had it manufac- 
 tured by a mechanic, who patented it, and 
 sold the right to Mr. Haish. In this way 
 he secured his original machine. 
 
 The summary of the matter is this: 
 Mr. Haish introduced one of the first suc- 
 cessful barb wires; he made the first 
 wooden spool upon which the wire is 
 coiled; he used the first paint or varnish; 
 he shipped the first spool by rail or water; 
 and introduced it into eight states, before 
 any other man had shipped any. He also 
 introduced the first automatic machine for 
 manufacturing the barb wire, but he was 
 not to have his rights without a severe con- 
 test, and no contest over a patent right was 
 ever so widely advertised, never so stub- 
 bornly contested, and never so courage- 
 ously defended. Mr. Haish believed with 
 all his heart that he was right, and on the 
 strength of that belief he advanced, he 
 fought, he conquered. During all this 
 time the "S" barb went rejoicing on its 
 way, gaining strength and friends in its 
 onward march. Now, in ripe manhood, 
 Mr. Haish can look back and see in his far 
 reaching sagacity, the vast importance of 
 his new and cherished industry, the Haish 
 Manufacturing Company of De Kalb. 
 
 Mr. Haish enjoys the finest and most 
 
6o 
 
 THli BIOCxRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 palatial residence in the city of De Kalb. 
 This grand and imposing edifice he con- 
 ceived ill his own fertile brain. Even the 
 beautiful and exquisite artistic designs which 
 adorn the walls and ceilings of his house 
 were first planned by himself and have a 
 history or point a moral. The painting on 
 the dome — the four seasons — is magnificent 
 and imposing. There is indeed harmony 
 all through the interior of this beautiful 
 and comfortable home. But the harmony 
 of the furnishings is not to be compared to 
 the harmony that exists between the happy 
 inmates who occupy the home. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. Haish organized the Barb 
 City Bank, of De Kalb, of which he is 
 president, while George Baldwin is cashier. 
 Besides ()\\ning the bank, he owns land in 
 Dakota, Denver, Colorado, Kansas, Ohio 
 and Chicago. In De Kalb city he owns about 
 one hundred ;ind thirty houses, and in the 
 township he h;is about twelve farms. With 
 all this wealth, lie is the same Jacob Haish 
 he was when he worked at the carpenter's 
 bench, willing to help his fellow-men, who 
 are in need, and who appreciate being 
 helped. He is deeply interested in the 
 education of the young, and the building 
 up of his adopted city. For the State 
 Normal School, he willingly and cheerfully 
 contributed ten thousand dollars. He is 
 ever ready to assist with his means any 
 laudable enterprise, and it can be safely 
 said of him that he has done as much as 
 any other one man to advance the material 
 interests of his adopted city and county. 
 
 TW. COOPER, a well-known farmer re- 
 siding on section 35, De Kalb town- 
 ship, is a native of Cayuga county. New 
 York, born March 11, 1834, and is the son 
 
 of George C. and Sarah iMcCally) Cooper, 
 both of whom were also natives of New 
 York state. The father was a colonel of 
 the Seventy-seventh New York Volunteers, 
 who, in the war of 1 8 1 2, took such an active 
 part in the defense of their country. Not 
 only was he a prominent leader in military 
 circles, but he was a leader in politics also, 
 although he would never be incumbered 
 with office, but was the means through his 
 party in placing others in official positions. 
 In politics he was a thorough and uncom- 
 promising Whig, a believer in the principle 
 of protection, and an admirer of the great 
 Whig statesmen, Daniel Webster and Henry 
 Clay. In 1842 he removed with his family 
 to Michigan, where he engaged in agricult- 
 ural pursuits, and there remained three 
 years. He then removed to Du Page 
 county, Illinois, where he remained for sev- 
 eral years. He was born in 1796 and died 
 in 1 87 1. His wife was born in 1787, and 
 died in 1868. 
 
 From Du Page county our subject re- 
 moved to La Salle county, where he re- 
 mained until 1883, then moved to Carlton, 
 where he purchased what is known as the 
 Robbins farm. In 1S94 he sold that farm 
 and removed to De Kalb county, and now 
 resides on a fertile farm of eighty acres in 
 De Kalb township. He was married Au- 
 gust 15, 1859, to Miss Josephine A. Bond, 
 a native of New York state, born in 1840, 
 and a daughter of William and Mar}' Bond. 
 She died in 1861, leaving one daughter, 
 Mary J., who was born October 5, i860. 
 For his second wife, in 1866, he married 
 Miss Malvina A. Covall. a daughter of Rich- 
 ard and Malinda Covall. This union re- 
 sulted in the birth of two sons, Frank E., 
 born in 1867, and Charles, born in 1869. 
 Mrs. Malvina Cooper, who was born in New 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 6i 
 
 York state in 1847, died in 1876. Mr. 
 Cooper married for his third wife, |iine 29, 
 1878, Miss Mary A. Ellwood, a native of 
 LaSalle county, born in 1859, and a daugh- 
 ter of Benjamin and Olive Ellwood. B3' 
 this union seven children ha\e been born, 
 live of whom arc now living: Mal)el B.. 
 born in 1879; Bertie, in 1880; Myrtle, in 
 r88S; Ray, in 1886, and Herbert, in 1888. 
 Mr. Cooper is a genial man, of marked 
 sociability, and in politics is a Republican. 
 He is a member of the Baptist church, with 
 which he has been connected for thirty-five 
 years, for thirty years of which time he was 
 a leading member of the church choir, being 
 a musician of more than ordinary ability. 
 
 CH. FOILES is a retired farmer resid- 
 ing in the city of De Kalb. He is a 
 native of Northampton, Schoharie county. 
 New York, and was born in 1822. His 
 parents, James and Ann Foiies, who, while 
 not rich in this world's goods, were in up- 
 rightness of character far beyond the aver- 
 age in the higher walks of moral life. They 
 confined themselves to agricultural pursuits, 
 and both died before our subject reached 
 the age of twelve years. 
 
 Mr. Foiies was only twelve years of age 
 when with others he came to the Fox River 
 N'alley, in 1834, just as the Indians had va- 
 cated that country. He there made his 
 home until he reached his majority, when 
 he removed to Shabbona Grove, and there 
 purchased a farm of one hundred acres, for 
 which he paid two dollars per acre, and 
 which cost the seller only eighty cents per 
 acre. Like all early settlers, he worked 
 liard, used rigid economy, until he was able 
 fo purchase more land, and now owns a 
 
 beautiful and fertile farm of two hundred 
 and forty acres. 
 
 Mr. Foiies has been twice married, his 
 first imion, which was celebrated August 3, 
 1850, being with Miss Marietta Burdick, 
 a native of Caledonia county, New ^'ork, 
 born May 13, 1831, and a daughter of Har- 
 ris and Sarah Burdick, who were numbered 
 among the early settlers of Ue I\alb county. 
 Mrs. Foiies died September 4, 1870, leav- 
 ing five children: Helen, born in 1851; 
 Charles H., in 1854; Edward, in 1857; 
 Harris, in 1861; and Fred, in 1863. For 
 his second wife Mr. Foiies married Mrs. 
 Minerva Davis, widow of D. C. Davis, and 
 a daughter of Narcis and Minerva La Port. 
 She was born November 10, 1856, and is a 
 native of Canada, of French extraction, 
 whose parents came to this country at a 
 very early day. By her marriage with D. 
 C. Davis, she had six children born to her, 
 two of whom are living, Justin L. , born 
 March 10, 1867, and Charles O., April 18, 
 1870. The union of Mr. Foiies and Mrs. 
 Davis was solemnized September 14, 1880, 
 and to them was born one son. Earl Leroy, 
 born August 30, 1883. 
 
 In politics Mr. Foiies is a Republican, 
 and has been honored by his fellow-citizens 
 with several township offices, which he filled 
 with credit to himself, and to those who 
 trusted him with power and authority. In 
 [893, he removed to the city of De Kalb, 
 where he is now living a retired life, enjoy- 
 ing the fruits of honest toil. 
 
 JO. OLESON, photographer, Postoffice 
 building, De Kalb. It is safe to say 
 that there is no branch of industry, art or 
 science, in which more marked advances 
 have been made during recent years than 
 
62 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in photography. From the date of Ua- 
 guerre's first discovery of retaining impres- 
 sions on material substances, by the aid of 
 h'ght and chemical appliances, its progress 
 has been nothing less than a continuou.s 
 march of success, and yet the end has not 
 been reached. Notwithstanding all that 
 has been attained, much yet depends upon 
 skill and judgment of the operator in ob- 
 taining favorable and desirable results. 
 Among the prosperous ard well-patronized 
 men of Da Kalb, our subject has always 
 maintained a most enviable reputation for 
 superior workmanship and liberal business 
 methods. 
 
 Mr. Oleson i.s a native of Norway, born 
 in 1845. In 1868 he emigrated tcj the 
 United States and located in Chicago, at 
 which time he began business as a photog- 
 rapher. In 1872, after serving under the 
 best photographers in Chicago, he opened 
 an establishment on his own account, and 
 was eminently successful. He continued 
 his residence in Chicago for ten years, com- 
 ing to De Kalb, in 1878, where he estab- 
 lished himself in his business, and for six- 
 teen years was the only permanent photog- 
 rapher in the city. His studio was on Main 
 street up to 1896, but he is now situated on 
 Third street, over the postoffice. The 
 premises he occupies for his business are 
 spacious and commodious, easy of access, 
 and the reception room and office are hand- 
 somel}' furnished. His gallery and finish- 
 ing room are fitted up with the latest appli- 
 ances known to the profession, including 
 the best light accessories. Indeed, the 
 whole establishment is fitted up in first-class 
 style. Sitters are posed by Mr. Oleson, 
 who is recognized as an artist of marked 
 ability, and the most careful attention is 
 given to every detail which is likely to en- 
 
 hance the beauty and faithfulness of the 
 picture. The beauty of design, fineness of 
 finish, and the artistic workmanship of 
 everything manipulated, are matters of just 
 pride to Mr. Oleson. His merits are in- 
 dorsed by hundreds of patrons in city and 
 country. 
 
 On the 8th of October, 1876, Mr. Ole- 
 son was united in marriage with Miss Bertha 
 Johnson, a native of Sweden, born in 1854, 
 and to them were born three children. 
 Derby U., born in 1877, died January 17, 
 1898. Ross M. was born in 1879, and 
 Chester G., in 1885. For twenty years 
 Mr. Oleson has been a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, in which he 
 has held several responsible offices. In 
 politics he is a Republican. 
 
 CAPTAIN ORVILLE B. MERRILL, 
 who is engaged in the mercantile 
 trade at Hinckley, Illinois, has been a resi- 
 dent of Illinois since 1855. He is a native 
 of New York, born in Plessis, February 18, 
 1833, and is the son of Ahira and Melinda 
 (Shurtleff) Merrill, both of whom were na- 
 tives of New York state, the latter born in 
 Washington count)', being the daughter of 
 fames Shurtleff, a major of dragoons in 
 the war of 1812, and who was in the battle 
 of Sackett's Harbor. The Merrill family 
 are of Scotch and English descent, the first 
 of the name to settle in America being 
 Major Joshua Merrill, who located in Mas- 
 sachusetts, at a very early day. 
 
 Ahira Merrill, the father of our subject, 
 grew to manhood in his native state, and in 
 his youth learned the carpenter's and join- 
 er's trade, and for some years engaged in 
 contracting and building before commg 
 west. In 'I854 he carrie to Illinois, and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 63 
 
 first located in Chicago, where he remained 
 one year, and then settled in Aurora, where 
 he engaged in the sash, door and lilinil 
 manufactory, as a member of the firm of 
 Reed & Merrill, their factory being located 
 on the Island. They built up a large and 
 profitable business, which was continued 
 for some years. During the war for the 
 Union, he joined the engineer corps of the 
 army, and was with Fremont about one 
 year. He then returned to Aurora, and 
 engaged in the lumber business, which he 
 continued until his death in 1871, at the age 
 of seventy-six years. Prior .to his removal 
 to Illinois, he went to California in 1849, 
 where he engaged in contracting and build- 
 ing in San Francisco, where he built the 
 first church and the first theatre in that 
 city. He remained there five years, and 
 was fairly successful. Religiously he was 
 a Congregationalist and an active worker 
 in the church. He was the father of two 
 sons and five daughters, the oldest of 
 whom, Helen, is the wife of K. A. Burnell, 
 o( Aurora, Illinois. The others are Mrs. 
 S. E. Bridgeman, of Northampton, Mas- 
 sachusetts; Mrs. Dr. O. Wilson, of .Aurora; 
 Orville B., of this review; Mrs. S. M. 
 Fitch, who died in Missouri; Julia, who 
 died single at the age of sixteen; and F. 
 E., who was the first settler of Hinckley, 
 but is now deceased. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in Aurora, was educated in its public 
 schools, and learned the printer's trade in 
 New York city. He enlisted May 24, 1861, 
 as a member of the Thirteenth Illinois Vol- 
 teer Infantry. He was later transferred to 
 the Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 in which he was commissioned captain of 
 Company I. Among the numerous engage- 
 ments in which he participated were the 
 
 battles of Wilson Creek and Pea Ridge, 
 serving in the latter on the staff of General 
 Oiisterhouse. He was again in the fight at 
 Perryville, Kentucky, and at Stone River. 
 During the latter engagement he was taken 
 prisoner with six other officers of the Thir- 
 ty-sixth Regiment, and of these seven. Cap- 
 tain Merrill is the only survivor. Colonel 
 Campbell, whose death occurred at Sioux 
 City, Iowa, recently, was the last of the 
 number to go. While Captain Merrill was 
 the oldest of the seven, he yet survi\es 
 them all, and is an enterprising business 
 man. Previous to his capture Captain Mer- 
 rill was shot in the ankle. When taken he 
 was at once sent to Libby Prison, where 
 he remained about four months, and was 
 then exchanged, and joined his regiment at 
 Chattanooga. He was next in the battle of 
 Chickamauga and then Mission Ridge, fol- 
 lowed by the Atlanta campaign. At the ex- 
 piration of his term of service he was dis- 
 charged and returned home, but later joined 
 the army in the commissary department at 
 Duvall's Bluff, serving until the close of the 
 war. 
 
 Returning home Captain Merrill engaged 
 in newspaper work and served as foreman 
 on both the Beacon and Herald at Aurora, 
 Illinois, remaining there for some years. 
 Later he was with the Milwaukee Sentinel 
 and Chicago Journal, after which he en- 
 gaged in newspaper work at Batavia, Illi- 
 nois. In 1S84 he came to Hinckley, and 
 went into the store of his brother, F. E. 
 Merrill, and in 1891 purchased the clothing 
 department of that store and engaged in the 
 clothing and gents' furnishing goods 
 business. 
 
 Captain Merrill was married at Delevan, 
 Wisconsin, August 26, 1887, to Miss Fan- 
 nie L. Smith, a native of Washington 
 
64 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL KHCOKD. 
 
 count)-. New York, and a daughter of Peter 
 .Smith, a pioneer of Delevan, and a sub- 
 stantial fanner, residing at that place. ISy 
 this uniciii tliere was one daughter, \'ivian. 
 who grew to the age of six years, dying 
 April 24, 1896. Religiously Mrs. Merrill is 
 a Baptist, and is an active worker in the 
 church at Hinckley. Politically the Captain 
 is a strong Republican, his first presidential 
 vote being cast for General John C. Fre- 
 mont. He has been elected and served as 
 mayor of the city, township clerk, village 
 clerk and is a member of the school board. 
 His friends are many throughout Kane and 
 De Kalb counties. 
 
 CHARLES BROWN, deceased, was for 
 nearly forty years one of the most 
 highly respected citizens of Sycamore, as 
 vvel! as one of its most enterprising men. 
 He was born in German Flats, Herkimer 
 count}'. New York, January 14, 1812. His 
 father, Henr\' Brown, was born in Connect- 
 icut and died in Herkimer county. New 
 York, at the age of sixty-three years. His 
 wife was Miss Wealthy Al)le, also a native 
 of Connecticut. 
 
 Charles Brown was reared in Herkimer 
 county, New York, and attended the dis- 
 trict school until about the age of eighteen 
 years. In his youth he was in ill health, 
 and when fifteen years old was sent to Con- 
 necticut, with the hope that the change of 
 climate would do him good. After a year 
 or two he returned to his father's house, 
 and remained under the parental roof until 
 his marriage at the age of twenty-three 
 years. He first married Caroline Dodge, 
 who bore him two children. Henry, the 
 first born, was for many years associated 
 with his father in business. He first mar- 
 
 ried Elizabeth Bennett, liy whom he had 
 four children, all deceased. He next mar- 
 ried Mrs. Sarah Hood, who now survives 
 him, making her home in Waukegan, Illi- 
 nois. He raised a company in Sycamore 
 and served through the Civil war, attaining 
 the rank of major. Addie B. married N. 
 C. Warren, who lives in Sycamore, she hav- 
 ing died several years ago. 
 
 Soon after marriage Mr. ISrown engaged 
 in running a fulling mill, which business he 
 continued for several seasons. He then sold 
 and for a few years lived on a farm, after 
 which he purchased a paper mill at Pulaski, 
 Oswego county, New York, which he oper- 
 ated until the death of his wife, when he 
 sold out and engaged in buying and shipping 
 cattle, sheep, dressed beef, etc., for about 
 five years. On the i ith of February, 1858, 
 at Richfield Springs, New York, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Narina Louise 
 Tunnicliffe, who was born at the foot of 
 .Schuyler's Lake, at Leroy, Otsego county. 
 New York, and a daughter of Richard W. 
 Tunnicliffe, a native of Warren, Herkimer 
 count}', New York, born May 2, 1805, and 
 who died March 17, 1892. He was the son 
 of William Tunnicliffe, a large landed pro- 
 prietor of Otsego county. New York, the 
 owner of many thousand acres of land, but 
 who was also engaged in the mercantile 
 business for many years. William Tunni- 
 cliffe was the son of John Tunnicliffe, who 
 with his three brothers left England because 
 of distasteful game laws, and settled at 
 Richfield Springs, where they became the 
 owners of much of the valuable land in that 
 region. William Tunnicliffe married Char- 
 lotte Rentzau, a daughter of Count Rentzau, 
 a German officer ser\ing under Burgoyne, 
 and who, after the surrender, was paroled, 
 remained in this country, inar:ied, and 
 
THIC BIOGRAPHICAL KIXORD. 
 
 C'S 
 
 shortly afterward was drowned upon the 
 ocean by the capsizing ot his boat. He was 
 of the same family as the Rentzaus who 
 intermarried with the son of Prince His- 
 mark. 
 
 Richard W. Tunnicliffe first married 
 Eliza Jane May, February lo, 1828. She 
 was born at the foot of Schuyler's Lake, 
 September 24, 18 10. and was the daughter 
 of Amasa May, who was born either in Con- 
 necticut or Exeter Centre, New York, and 
 who married Betsy Clark. To Richard W. 
 and Eliza Jane Tunnicliffe, two children 
 were born — Narina L. , widow of our sub- 
 ject, and Frances Elizabeth, widow of John 
 Harrington, now living in Richfield, New 
 York. After the death of his first wife, 
 Richard W. Tunnicliffe married Miss Har- 
 mony Clark, an own cousin. They were 
 married March 13, 1839. She was the 
 daughter of Merritt and Anna (Van Court) 
 Clark, the latter being a daughter of Ste- 
 phen Van Court. Amasa Clark was the 
 son of Ganiamile Clark. By the second 
 union were five children: Albert R. , de- 
 ceased; Harriet Ann, living with her half 
 sister, Mrs. Brown, widow of our subject; 
 Ambrose M., deceased; Merritt J., of 
 Sioux City, Dakota; and Fred, in Foxbon, 
 Canada. 
 
 To Charles and Narina L. Brown, four 
 children were born as follows: (i) Carrie 
 M. is now the wife of William Sanford, a 
 druggist of Sycamore. They have two 
 children, Louis R. and Narina Tunni- 
 cliffe. (2) Charles M. is deceased. (3) 
 Richard T. has never left the parental 
 roof. (4) Frank H., who is in partnership 
 with his brother-in-law, Mr. Sanford, mar- 
 ried Fannie Cunningham, of Polo, Illinois, 
 but they reside in Sycamore. They have 
 two children, William H. and an infant. 
 
 After his second marriage, Mr. Brown, 
 in 1858, made a permanent settlement in 
 Sycamore, and for two years again engaged 
 in buying and shipping stock, but in com- 
 pany with a partner. In 1861, his son 
 enlisting in the army, he purchased his 
 grocery store, which he continued to run 
 alone until the return of his son, when they 
 formed a partnership until the son died 
 August 27, 1887. The death of the father 
 occurred July 9, 1 895. In politics Mr. Brown 
 was a Republican, but ne\er a seeker after 
 political preferment, although from a sense 
 of duty he served for many years as a 
 member of the board of education. Mrs. 
 Brown is a member of the Episcopal church 
 while Mr. Brown was an attendant of the 
 same church, to the support of which he con- 
 tributed quite freely. To all public enter- 
 prises he gave substantial support, always 
 having an interest in that which would build 
 up his adopted city and county. As ex- 
 pressed by one who knew him, " Mr. 
 Brown was an exemplar}- man — one of our 
 best citizens." 
 
 M",r. 
 
 S. ANNA VAN HORN, widow of the 
 te Orlando Van Horn, whose death 
 occurred in 1897, now makes her home in 
 the city of De Kalb. She is a native of 
 Germany, born in 1825, and was eleven 
 years of age when she accompanied her 
 parents, Valentine and Dorothy Hoffman, 
 from Germany to this country in 1S36. 
 Shortly after their arrival her father was 
 taken sick, and died the same year. The 
 widow with her family then came west and 
 located in Rockford, Winnebago county, 
 Illinois, which continued to be her home 
 during the remainder of her life. She was 
 born in German}', in Ma}', 1800, and died 
 
66 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 at Rockford, in May, 1850. Her daughter 
 Anna, the subject of this sketch, removed 
 from Rockford to Chicago in 1844, where 
 she became acquainted with and married 
 her first husband, Carver Butterfield, in the 
 following year. To those young and happy 
 parents one child was born, Frank, who 
 now resides in Marysville, Marshall county, 
 Kansas. 
 
 Mr. Butlerrteld was a printer by trade, 
 and a native of I'ranklin, Massachusetts. 
 He came west to Chicago in 1 836 and worked 
 on the Prairie P^armer for a number of years, 
 at a time when John S. \N'right was editor. 
 He was afterwards identified with the Chi- 
 cago Democrat, edited and published by 
 John Wentworth, who was a familiar figure 
 in Chicago for many years. In 1846 he es- 
 tablished himself in a job printing office, 
 which he conducted for two years, then sold 
 out and returned to Massachusetts, but, be- 
 ing dissatisfied with his native state, when 
 compared with the then great western state 
 of Illinois, he returned to Chicago, where 
 he again entered upon the duties of a printer 
 in the oif.ce of the Democrat, fn 1848 he 
 entered a claim with the government for a 
 quarter section of land in De Kalb county, 
 which in he due time purchased, and where 
 he made a home for his family. In 1S50 
 his family moved to the claim, Mr. Hoffman, 
 a brother of Mrs. Butterfield, superintending 
 it, while Mr. Butterfield remained in Chicago 
 working at his trade, thus supplying funds 
 for the improvement of his land and the 
 support of his family. In this way he had 
 the advantage of many of his neighbors. In 
 1854 he died of cholera in Chicago. 
 
 In 1864 Mrs. Butterfield married for her 
 second husband, Orlando \'an Horn, a na- 
 tive of Otsego county. New York, whose 
 birth occurred in 1828. He was bv trade a 
 
 carpenter, but came to Illinois in the spring 
 of 1856, locating at South Grove, De Kalb 
 county, where he purchased eight}' acres of 
 land, besides a small homestead, and fol- 
 lowed the even and uneventful lifeof a farmer 
 during the remainder of his life. Like his 
 predecessor, Mr. Butterfield, he was a man 
 beloved by all who knew him. Mrs. Van 
 Horn is a woman of marked intelligence, 
 good business ability, sound common sense, 
 and has many friends throughout the county. 
 
 LEWIS MERRILL GROSS, the efiicient 
 county superintendent of public schools 
 of De Kalb county, Illinois, is an educator 
 of acknowledged ability. He was born in 
 Mayfield township, De Kalb county, June 
 II, 1863, and is the son of William and 
 Harriet ( Ault) Gross. William Gross was 
 born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, De- 
 cember 5, 1835, and is the son of George 
 and Mary (Keithline) Gross, the former a 
 native of Northampton county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, born in 1809. Phillip Gross, the great- 
 grandfather of our subject, was also born 
 in Northampton county, in 1775. He was 
 the son of Daniel Gross, who came from 
 Germany in 1750. Some of the ancestors 
 of the Keithlines were soldiers in the Re\o- 
 lutionary war. 
 
 William Gross came to De Kalb county 
 in 1857, settling in Mayfield township, where 
 he engaged in farming. His death occurred 
 at Kingston, May 2, 1886. In politics he 
 was a Republican and in religion a Method- 
 ist. He was a prosperous and substantial 
 citizen, holding the respect and confidence 
 of his fellow townsmen. His wife died 
 February 28, 1870. Her father, Samuel 
 Ault, was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
 came west in an e;irl\' tlav, locating in .\In\- 
 
LEWIS M. GROSS. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 69 
 
 field township, De Kalb county, where his 
 death occurred in 1868. By occupation he 
 was a farmer and also a miller. His wife 
 was Catherine (Page) Ault, and she died in 
 1865. They had a family of fourteen chil- 
 dren — Elizabeth, Nancy, John, Catherine, 
 Mary Ann, Margaret, Adam, Mathias, Chris- 
 tine, Joseph, Hannah, Julia, Ann, Harriet 
 and Sarah. Of these six are yet living. 
 To William and Harriet Gross eight chil- 
 dren were born as follows: Laura, now the 
 wife of C. N. Townsend, living in Bremer 
 county, Iowa; Millard P., married and liv- 
 ing on the old homestead in Mayfield town- 
 ship; Elnora, wife of E. Johnson, of Syca- 
 more; Lewis M., our subject; Amanda ]., 
 wife of Elvin Nichols, of Calhoun county, 
 Iowa; Alice, a teacher in the public schools 
 of Sycamore; George and Mary, deceased. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the home farm, receiving his primary edu- 
 cation in the district schools. Subsequently 
 he entered the Sycamore graded schools, 
 graduating from the high school in that city 
 in the class of '85. After teaching a district 
 school one year ho attended the Wells train- 
 ing school, at Oregon, Illinois. Leaving 
 that school he became principal of the Cort- 
 land school two years, and then served as 
 principal' of the Kirkland school for two 
 years. In November, 1890, he was elected 
 county superintendent on the Republican 
 ticket, and was re-elected in 1894. In the 
 summer of 1898 he received the nomination 
 for a third term, and will doubtless be re- 
 elected. 
 
 Mr. Gross was united in marriage No- 
 vember 12, 1896, at Huntley, Illinois, to 
 Elizabeth M. Parsons, a native of McHenry 
 county, and a daughter of Theophilus L. 
 and Ellen (Hubbard) Parsons, the former a 
 
 native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of 
 4 
 
 New York. Her father has been in the em- 
 ploy of the Chicago & Northwestern Rail- 
 way for forty-one years, and is now station 
 agent at Huntley and is the oldest station 
 agent on the line. Both parents are yet 
 living. They were the parents of three 
 children, one of whom died in infancy. 
 The others are Earl and Elizabeth. She 
 was a graduate of the high school at Hunt- 
 ley, subsequently attended the Cook County 
 Normal and the Illinois State Normal. 
 Later she was a teacher in the public 
 schools. 
 
 In politics Mr. Gross is a Republican 
 and in religion a Methodist. He is a Mason 
 of the thirty-second degree, and has been 
 prominently identified with Masonry in the 
 state since uniting with the order. He is a 
 member of the Mystic Shrine and of the 
 Medinah Temple, Chicago, and of Freeport 
 Consistory. He is also a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America. As a Re- 
 publican he has taken an active part in the 
 affairs of his party, although it is as an edu- 
 cator that he is best known. In e\er\- part 
 of the county he has stanch friends who re- 
 gard him highly, and who know his worth 
 as a citizen and his ability as superintendent 
 of the public-schools. 
 
 SOLISTON BEAUBIEN, who is living a 
 retired life in the city of De Kalb, is a 
 native of Detroit, Michigan, born March 4, 
 
 1 83 1, and is the son of Mark and Monicke 
 Beaubien, both of whom were natives of 
 Michigan, but of French parentage. Mark 
 Beaubien was a prominent figure, in the 
 early settlement of Illinois, and did much in 
 the infant days of Chicago, in building it up. 
 He removed from Detroit to Chicago, in 
 
 1832, where he later erected several build- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ings, one being the Illinois Exchange. He 
 engaged in the mercantile trade, operated 
 a ferry which crossed the Chicago river, 
 and opened and kept the first hotel in Chi- 
 cago. He accumulated some wealth, pre- 
 vious to his death, which occurred in April, 
 1881. Politically he was an active Repub- 
 lican. He was twice married, and obeyed 
 the divine injunction to multiply and re- 
 plenish the earth by being the father of 
 twenty-three children, Soliston being a son 
 by his first wife. 
 
 Soliston Beaubien grew to manhood in 
 Chicago, and there commenced his active 
 business career. He remained in Chicago 
 up to 1837, when he went to Du Page 
 county, Illinois, and there purchased a farm 
 of two hundred and sixty acres, where he 
 lived for fourteen years. In 185 1, he re- 
 moved to Aurora, where he engaged in the 
 livery business, being the first in that town. 
 After a few years, however, he found his 
 way back to Chicago, and there engaged in 
 the hotel business on the Oplain river. Tir- 
 ing of this he returned to his farm, and re- 
 mained there three years. He next went 
 to Mt. Morris, Ogle county, Illinois, where 
 he opened a harness shop, which he con- 
 ducted with marked success. He sold out, 
 however, and moved to La Salle, Illinois, 
 where he engaged in the same business, 
 but soon sold to one of his workman, and 
 again fell back on his farm, where he spent 
 three years of rural contentment. 
 
 The life of a farmer did not seem to 
 agree with him. so he removed to Sterling, 
 Illinois, and there engaged in the livery 
 business for seven years. Once more he 
 sold out and returned to his farm, and there 
 remained six years. I'^rom his farm he 
 went to Aurora and engaged in the restau- 
 rant and bakery business, where he remained 
 
 three years; he then went to Waterman 
 and operated a road grader. He next went 
 to Fox River, where he kept a restaurant 
 for two years. In 1881, he sold his farm 
 and removed to De Kalb. where his wander- 
 ing ceased. On moving to that place, he 
 purchased a boot and shoe store, including 
 the stock of Robert Ryles. To this his 
 daughter-in-law, Mrs. O. M. Beaubien. 
 added a stock of millinery goods, and had 
 charge of that department. This business 
 he carried on for four years, when he sold 
 out to his son, and retired from active busi- 
 ness life. He now owns considerable citj' 
 property, the oversight of which keeps him 
 busy. 
 
 On the 30th of September, 1850, Mr. 
 Baubien was united in marriage, in Du Page 
 county, Illinois, with Miss Rosa Normanda, 
 a native of Canada, born in September, 
 1833, and a daughter of Peter and Char- 
 lotte Normanda, early settlers of Du Page 
 county. By this union four children were 
 born, only one of whom is now living, 
 Oliver, a resident of De Kalb. who was 
 born in the city of La Salle, Illinois, in 
 1854, is now engaged in the real estate busi- 
 ness in De Kalb, Illinois. 
 
 FRANK O. VAN GALDER, of the firm 
 of Van Galder & Boies, publishers of 
 the True Republican, Sycamore, Illinois, 
 was born near Janesville, Wisconsin, Janu- 
 ary 6, 1855, and is the son of Truman W. 
 and Mary (Phelps) Van Galder, the former 
 a native of Niagara county. New York, and 
 the latter of Livingston county, of the same 
 state. The \'an Galders were originally 
 from Holland, but were early settlers in 
 Vermont, from which state they moved to 
 New York. The Phelps family were early 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 settlers of Pennsylvania, from which state 
 they also moved to New York. Later the 
 respective families moved to Ohio, and at 
 Montville, January 29, 1843, Truman \V. 
 Van Galder and Mary Phelps were united 
 in marriage. Soon after their marriage 
 they moved to Michigan, and in 1851 to 
 Rock county, Wisconsin, locating on a 
 farm near Janes\ilie, at which place our 
 subject was born. From that place they 
 came to Sycamore, Illinois, where he en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of brick, in which 
 occupation he continued until his death, 
 January 24, 1882. In politics he was a 
 Republican and took an active interest in 
 political affairs. His widow, who is yet 
 living in Sycamore, is a member of the 
 Universalist church. They were the parents 
 of nine children, of whom seven are yet 
 living. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 a farm and received his education in the 
 common schools. In his youth he learned 
 the trade of brick-making, acquiring a 
 practical knowledge of all the details of the 
 business. In 1874 he went into the office 
 of the Free Methodist, a religious paper 
 published in Sycamore, with a \ iew of 
 learning the printer's trade. In that office 
 he continued four years, after which he en- 
 tered the office of the News at De Kalb, 
 where he was employed for a few months. 
 Returning to Sycamore he went into the 
 office of the True Republican, where he re- 
 mained but a short time, and in January, 
 1878, in partnership with Cass Davis, 
 started the publication of the Free Press, 
 the business being conducted under the firm 
 name of \'an Galder & Davis. The latter 
 part of the year he sold his interest in the 
 Free Press to his partner, and purchased a 
 half interest in the Sycamore City Weekly, 
 
 then conducted by V. Hix, with which 
 paper he was connected until October, i 887, 
 when he sold to Mr. Hix, and purchased 
 the interest of the late H. L. Boies in the 
 True Republican. In 1895 he received the 
 appointment as editor of the official paper 
 of the Modern Woodmen of America, and 
 was re-appointed in 1897 and still holds 
 that position. 
 
 Mr. Van Galder was married March 17, 
 1881, to Miss Florence M. Talbot, who was 
 born in Cortland, Illinois, aud is a daughter 
 of Charles A. and Harriet (Newell) Talbot, 
 natives of England. By this union there 
 have been three children — Anna Claire, 
 Cora May and Charles T. The family now 
 reside on California street. Sycamore. The 
 parents are members of the Methodist 
 church, in which he is an especially active 
 worker. In politics he is a stalwart Re- 
 publican, and for five years held the office 
 of city clerk of Sycamore. Fraternally 
 he is a member of the Masonic Order, the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the 
 Modern Woodmen of America. In the lat- 
 ter order he wields a great influence and is 
 well-posted in its various lines af work. .As 
 a citizen he is progressive, and socially he 
 is held in high esteem. 
 
 GR. HOLMES, a well-known liveryman 
 of De Kalb, Illinois, has been engaged 
 in the business for thirteen years. He is 
 well and centrally located on Main street, 
 where he enjoyed the deser\ed patronage 
 of the public. He keeps a number of well- 
 conditioned horses, and a large variety of 
 buggies, phaetons and other vehicles, to 
 please the taste and satisfy the desire of his 
 numerous patrons. His stables are well 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 kept, thoroughly ventilated and sufficiently of whom died in infancy. The living are 
 
 lighted. Ella M., born in 1863; MaryC. in 1865; 
 
 Mr. I lohncs is a iiati\c of Oneida conn- Seth W., in 186S; Georj^'e H., in 1871; 
 
 ty. New \u\k, horn Juno 11, 1840. His Hert D., in 1881 ; ami Cl\(ie K., in 1884. 
 parents wi-rc Richard and Liicntia Holmes, 
 
 holii ol whom were natues of New York 
 
 slate. In carh' lile, Kiciiard Holmes was 
 
 enj^af,'ed in the mercantile trade, but in after /'>HARLES A. HUBBARD, who lives a 
 Hfe gave it up for the more quiet pursuit of V> retired life in the village of Hinckley, 
 farming. In 1847, he came west, and lo- hut who for years was one of the active and 
 Gated in Paw Paw township, De Kalb coun- enterprising farmers of De Kalb counts, 
 ty, Illinois, where he entered four hundred dates his residence since the fall of 1852. 
 and eighty acres of land. This he kept He is a native of Massachusetts, born in 
 until land was in greater demand, when he Pittstield, Berkshire county, June 2, 1827, 
 sold at a fair advance on the purchase price, and is the son of Enoch and Marietta (Tracy) 
 He came west in order that his sons might Hubbard, the former a native of Dalton, 
 be provided with farms sufficiently large to Massachusetts, and the latter of Pittsfield, 
 make them comfortable homes. In this Berkshire county, the same state. She was 
 new country he was a man of influence as a daughter of Appleton Tracy, who was 
 well as means, and was elected to several born' in the same county and state, the 
 offices by his numerous friends. He was family being among the early settlers of 
 born in 1802, and died in 1887, after a Massachusetts. The Hubbards are of Eng- 
 prosperous and useful life of eighty-five lish descent, the first of the name locating 
 years. in Connecticut. The paternal grandfather. 
 The subject of th's sketch is the young- Enoch Hubbard, Sr , was Ijorn in Berkshire 
 est of three sons born to Richard and Lu- county, Massachusetts, where his entire life 
 cretia Holmes. He began his business ca- was spent. Enoch Hubbard, )r., the fa- 
 rcer in the township of Paw Paw, where he ther of our subject, also spent his entire life 
 owned a farm of two hundred and forty in Berkshire county, Msssachnsetts, there 
 acres. He followed farming up to 1885, dying at the age of seventy-three years, 
 when he sold out and removed t(j De Kalb, His wife survived him a nund)er of years, 
 where he engaged in his present business. They were the parents of nine children, all 
 He married Frances M. Hinckley, a native of whom grew to mature years, and of the 
 of Maine, born July 24, 1844, and a daugh- number seven survive. The children were 
 ter of Dr. 1). Hinckley, of La Salle count}-. Mrs. Mary E. Robinson, who resides in 
 Her parents removed from New I^ngland l^erkshire county, Nfassachnsetts; Enoch, 
 in 1848, and located in La Salle county, a farmer resiiling in Lincoln, Nebraska; 
 Illinois, where Dr. Hinckley enjoyed a wide Charles A., of this review; Sarah A., wife 
 reputation as a skilled physician. The mar- of Daniel Foot, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts; 
 riage of Mr. Holmes and Miss Hinckley Washington, who died at the age of twenty 
 was solemnized December 24, 1866, and years; Mrs. Lydia E. Henry, residing at 
 by this union seven children were born, one Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Edward N., who 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 73 
 
 died at the age of tliirty-six jears, in Malta, 
 Illinois, being numbered among the early 
 settlers of De Kalb county; Martha, wife of 
 A. E. Elliott, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts; 
 and Elsie A , wife of Jean Harrington, of 
 New York city. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, 
 and had fair school advantages in early life. 
 After reaching the age of nineteen years, he 
 worked in woolen mills for six years. In 
 his native county. May i, 1851, he married 
 Miss Eunice Apthorp, a native of the town 
 of Hinsdale, Berkshire county, Massa- 
 chusetts, and a daughter of James and Betsy 
 (Stearns) Apthorp. By this union were si.x 
 children, one of whom is deceased. The 
 living are Albert E., who is married and 
 engaged in farming in De Kalb county; 
 James A , a carpenter and farmer, residing 
 near Lemars, Iowa. George W., married 
 and operating the old home place, Elmer 
 E., engaged in farming near Rochester, New 
 York; and Marietta, a well educated young 
 lady, a teacher in the high schools at Adrian, 
 Michigan. The deceased was Charles S., 
 who died at the age of fourteen years. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hubbard have now seventeen 
 grandchildren. 
 
 In 1S52 Mr. Hubbard came to De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, and located in Pierce town- 
 ship, arriving in time to assist in its organi- 
 sation. He bought a tract of one hundred 
 and sixty acres of raw land and at once 
 commenced its improvement. He later 
 bought forty acres additional, making him a 
 fine farm of two hundred acres, on which in 
 due time he erected a nice residence, with 
 good barns and other outbuildings, planted 
 an orchard and tiled the place, making of it 
 one of the best farms in Pierce township. 
 After living there a number of years he 
 
 rented the farm and mo^ed to Curilaiid ttj 
 give his boys a better chance for obtaining 
 an education. He resided there about two 
 years, and then returned to the farm, but in 
 i8cS5 moved to Aurora, that some of his 
 children might enter Jennings Seminary. 
 However, he only resided there one year, 
 and then went to Hinckley, where he pur- 
 chased a lot and built a residence in the 
 place, since which time he has been living 
 retired. 
 
 Mr. Hubbard commenced life in De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, with very limited means, and 
 b}' his own labor and enterprise he has ac- 
 cumulated a valuable property and is recog- 
 nized as one of the substantial men of the 
 county. Politically he was formerly a Re- 
 publican and supported the men and meas- 
 ures of that party for many years. Always 
 a strong temperance man, and also believ- 
 ing in the rights of tlie common people, 
 he has of late years supported the Prohi- 
 bition party. As a representative he was 
 twice a delegate to the state Prohibition 
 convention in 1884 and 1S98. For sij; years 
 he was a member of the board of super- 
 visors, an office which he was filling at the 
 time of his removal to Aurora. While on 
 the board he served on a number of impor- 
 tant committee^, being chairman of the 
 claims committee and also chairman of the 
 education committee. In 1858 he was 
 elected justice of the piace in Pierce town- 
 ship and served until 1869. Religiousl}', he 
 and his wife are active members of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church at Hinckle}', in which 
 he serves as a member of the official board. 
 For forty-six years he has been a resident 
 of De Kalb county, Illinois, and has not 
 only witnessed the wonderful transformation 
 in the state, but has been an important fac- 
 tor in producing the ciiange. He is a man 
 
74 
 
 THIC I5I0(;R.\PH1CAL RICCOKL). 
 
 1)1 exciiipliuy liabiLs. strict integrity and has 
 the ronliilencc of the conitminity in which 
 lie lias loiiL' made his home. 
 
 MH.WRAHAN, who is engaged in the 
 livery business and in conducting a 
 bus line, with office and stables corner t)f 
 Second and Grove streets, De Kalb, Illi- 
 nois, has one of the best ecjuipped estab- 
 lishments of its kind in the state. The ex- 
 perience of Mr. Hanrahaii in this line ex- 
 tends over a period of several years. In 
 1889 he began the livery business in De 
 Kalb, and has proved his eminent fitness for 
 it. His stables are furnished with all the 
 latest improved stable fixtures, with accom- 
 modations for fifteen head of horses and 
 twice as many vehicles. His turnouts are 
 not surpassed for style and elegance anj'- 
 where in De Kalb county. 
 
 Mr. Hanrahan is a native of Sheboygan 
 county, Wisconsin, born in August, 1858. 
 He is a son of Patrick and Alice (Carroll) 
 Hanrahan, who were both natives of Ire- 
 land, and who came to this country about 
 1842. They removed from. New York, 
 where they first located, to Wisconsin, in 
 1853. Patrick Hanrahaii was by occupa- 
 tion a farmer during his entire life. His 
 death occurred in Sheboygan county in 
 J 859. His wife is yet living and still makes 
 her home in Sheboygan count)', Wisconsin. 
 Mr. Hanrahan was reared and educated 
 in the county of his birth and followed farm- 
 ing for twenty-two years. In 1880 he came 
 to De Kalb, where for two years he con- 
 tinued farming operations, and then entered 
 the barb-wire factory, where he remained 
 for two years. In 1884 he was interested 
 in the sale of coal and lumber, under the 
 firm name of Brown & Youngs, where he 
 
 remained five years. In iSSt) \\r entered 
 upon his present business, in which his suc- 
 cess has surpassed his own expectations. 
 His bus attends the incoming of all trains, 
 conveying passengers to hotels and resi- 
 dences. He owns ten tine road horses, 
 whose silky coats show that the eye of the 
 master is looking after their welfare. 
 
 On the 3d of October, 1883, he took for 
 his wife Miss Mary Hannan, daughter of 
 Martin and Catherine Hannan, and to them 
 have been born four children; Alice, born 
 in 1884; Mary, in 1888; Hazel, in 1882; and 
 George, in 1896. Mrs. Hanrahan is a na- 
 tive of New Jersey ami was born in 1 S60. 
 
 THOMAS M. CLIFFE, senior member of 
 the firm of Clif?e Bros., attorneys at law, 
 is a well-known member of the Sycamore 
 bar, one who has the love for his profession 
 at heart, and has attained distinction as one 
 of its ablest members. He was born in 
 Sycamore, January 16, 1866, and was edu- 
 cated in its public schools, graduating from 
 the high school in 1883. He is a son of 
 Thomas Cliffe, a native of England, who 
 came to .America when a boy, and located 
 first in Boston where he was in the boot 
 and shoe trade, and in 1857 came to Syca- 
 more, Illinois, where he also engaged in the 
 boot and shoe trade, but is now living re- 
 tired. He married Mary A. Collins, a na- 
 tive of Ireland, "who came to America, in 
 company with a brother, when she was quite 
 young. They were the parents of eight 
 children, six of whom are living. 
 
 Thomas M. Cliffe was reared in Syca- 
 more, and after graduating from the public 
 school commenced reading law with Judge 
 Charles Kellum, and later with Harvey A. 
 Jones, after which he attended the Union 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 75 
 
 Colleg^e of Law, in Chicago, from which 
 he was graduated in 1887. He then 
 passed an examination before the Appel- 
 late Court of the state and, September 
 26th, was licensed to practice. Shortly 
 after his admission he commenced to prac- 
 tice, and little later formed a partnership 
 with C. D. Rogers, which continued for 
 a time, and in 1894 he formed a part- 
 nership with his brother, James W. Cliffe. 
 In October, 1897, the firm of Cliffe Broth- 
 ers was formed by the admission of Adam 
 C. Cliffe, as a member of the firm. The 
 firm has been quite successful in their busi- 
 ness, and has now quite a large clientage, 
 our subject being recognized as one of the 
 leading advocates of the bar of De Kalb 
 county. From 1889 to 1 891, he was city 
 attorney of Sycamore, and since March, 
 1898, has been master in chancery of the 
 Circuit Court of De Kalb county, receiving 
 his appointment from Judge C. A. Bishop. 
 During the past eleven years he has figured 
 in some of the most important cases on trial 
 in the circuit courts of De Kalb and ad- 
 joining counties. He was the defendant's 
 attorney in the Kerwin murder case, which 
 was on trial at Geneva. Kane county. He 
 was also employed in Pooler will case, and 
 in the Solomon will case, together with 
 many other noted trials in the county. He 
 has been a Mason since 1889, and holds 
 membership with the blue lodge, chapter 
 and commandery, at Sycamore; now serv- 
 ing as worshipful master, chief ranger of the 
 Kishwaukee Court of Foresters, and is a 
 prominent and enthusiastic Odd Fellow. 
 In politics he is a Republicnn, and is active 
 on the stump in every political campaign. 
 He is a member of the Republican county 
 central committee, from Sycamore, and is 
 chairman of its executive committee. 
 
 September 14, 189S, he was married 
 to Miss Esther Stroberg, and they reside on 
 Main street. 
 
 James W. Cliffe, of the firm of Cliffe 
 Brothers, was also born in Sycamore, and 
 educated in its public schools. He read law 
 with his brother, Thomas M., and after 
 passing an examination, was admitted to 
 the bar in May, 1S94. Immediately after- 
 wards, he formed a partnership with his 
 brother, in the practice of his profession, 
 which relation is still continued. He has 
 also been quite active in politics, as a mem- 
 ber of the Republican party, and is now 
 serving as alderman from the Third ward. 
 Fraternally, he is a member of the Inde- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows and of the 
 Foresters. In February, 1898, he married 
 Mae'E. Wharry. 
 
 Adam C. Cliffe, junior member of the 
 firm of Cliffe Brothers, was born in Syca- 
 more, June 25, 1869, and grew to manhood 
 in his native city, receiving his education in 
 the public schools, being a graduate of the 
 Sycamore high school, of the class of 1885. 
 After his graduation, he engaged in teach- 
 ing for several years, being principal of the 
 public school of Hinckley one ye.ar, of 
 Shabbona three years, and of Franklin 
 Grove, two years. He attended the North- 
 western University Law School, from which 
 he was graduated in the class of 1897, and 
 was admitted to the bar in May of that 
 year, and in October, following, became a 
 member of the firm of Cliffe Brothers. He 
 is also prominent in Masonry, and is a 
 member of the blue lodge and chapter at 
 Sycamore, and of the Aurora council and 
 Sycamore commandery. Has been promi- 
 nent in Knights of Pythias circles. He is 
 also a member of Sycamore Lodge, No. 105, 
 I. O. O. F., and of the Modern Woodmen 
 
76 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 cf Aineriia. In politics he is also a Re- 
 public;! n. Hf is U'jw serviiij; ;is a member 
 ai the biiard of education ol the city of Syca- 
 nioic. 
 
 JOHN OTT is a worthy representati\e of 
 the farming interests, and resides upon 
 section 5, Squaw Ciro\e township, where he 
 owns a valuabli; farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres, a portion of which has been in 
 his possession for thirty-two \ears. He 
 was born in Mecklenberg, Germany, in 
 April, 1833, and there grew to manhood and 
 received his education in the common 
 schools. In 1856 he emigrated to the 
 United States, taking ship at Hamburg and 
 was about six weeks on the broad Atlantic. 
 Landing at New York he came directly west 
 to Illinois, and located in Big Rock town- 
 . ship, Kane county, where he went to work 
 by the month on a farm and continued to 
 be thus employed for five years. In Au- 
 gust, 1 86 1, he enlisted in Company B, 
 Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and 
 went with his regiment to St. Louis, and 
 later participated in the battles of Pea 
 Ridge, Perryville and Missionary Ridge. 
 He then participated in the Atlanta cam- 
 paign, being in various engagements, in one 
 of which he was wounded, being shot 
 through the foot and captured by the 
 enemy in the engagement at Stone River. 
 He was taken to Libby Prison, where he 
 remained some five or six months, was then 
 exchanged, and later sent to St. Louis, but 
 joined his regiment in Tennessee, partici- 
 pated in several battles and skirmishes until 
 the close of the war. Among other en- 
 gagemenls in which he jjarticipated were 
 Chickam.ujga, Kenesaw Mountain, Franklin 
 and Nasinillc. He was finally discharged 
 
 at Springheld, after four years of hard 
 service. 
 
 Returning to I!ig Rock, Kane count\, 
 he there remained until the spring of 1S66, 
 when he came to De Kalh county, and pur- 
 chased forty acres of raw land, on which a 
 small house had been erected. Locating 
 here he began the improvement of his little 
 place, and from time to time added to his 
 possession until the home farm comprises 
 one hundred and sixty acres, in addition to 
 which he now owns a farm adjoining, com- 
 prising one hundred and twenty-four acres, 
 and another, one mile west of Hinckley, 
 having two hundred and twenty-one acres, 
 all of which are well-improved and very 
 valuable farms. 
 
 Mr. Ott was married in Aurora, Illinois, 
 January 1, 1866, to Miss Sophia Stoldt, a 
 native of Mecklenberg, Germany, who 
 there grew to womanhood, coming to 
 America with her parents, who located in 
 Kane county, Illinois. By this union there 
 are eleven children as follows: William, who 
 yet resides at home, and assists in operating 
 the home farm; Louie E., married and re- 
 siding on one of the Ott farms; Charles W.. 
 who is engaged in farming in Squaw Grove 
 township; Christian ]., married, and residing 
 on the farm near Hinckle}'; Fred A. and 
 Henry W., at home; Minnie, wife of Neal 
 Anderson, of Kane county; Matilda, wife of 
 Christian Skau, of De Kalb county; Lena, 
 wife of Thomas Gormley, of Pierce town- 
 ship; Lizzie, wife of Charles Cole, of Chi- 
 cago, and Marie, a young lady at home. 
 
 Politically Mr. Ott is a Republican, and 
 cast his first presidential ballot for Al)raham 
 l^incoln in 1864. While he has ever taken 
 an interest in political affairs, iu' has never 
 accepted public office. Religiously he and 
 his wife are members of the German Luth- 
 
JOHN OTT, 
 
MRS. JOHN OTT, 
 
THE BIOCxRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 8i 
 
 eran church. Comniencin;^ life a poor 
 man, by his <j\vn industry, assisted by his 
 good wife, lie has been very successful, and 
 is numbered among the most substantial 
 farmers of Squaw Grove township and De 
 Ivalb county. 
 
 AIv. IvELLOGG, deceased, who for some 
 years was managing accountant of the 
 Superior Barb Wire Company, was well 
 known throughout De Kalb county, as well 
 as to business men throughout the west. 
 He was a native of Franklin county, New 
 York, born August 19, 1846, and was the 
 son of Benjamin and Mary P. Kellogg, the 
 former a native of Vermont and the latter 
 of Rome, New York. Benjamin Kellogg 
 was an industrious, upright man, and in his 
 younger days he was engaged in the hard- 
 ware business, but in later years he followed 
 farming with some degree of success. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native state, and there married, 
 November 16, 1875, to Miss Emily J. Mar- 
 tin, the accomplished daughter of Allan H. 
 and Priscilla E. Martin. She was born in 
 Georgia, Franklin county, Vermont, May 10, 
 1845. By this union four children were 
 born: Bertha E., born in 1876; Clara L., 
 in 1878; Mary P., in 1880; and Agnes A. 
 (deceased), in 1884. 
 
 In 1880 Mr. Kellogg came to De Kalb, 
 Illinois, and was employed as bookkeeper 
 for I. L. Elwood for two years, but by his 
 close attention to business, his excellent 
 disposition and upright life he gained the 
 favor, not only of his employer, but the 
 public generally, and it opened up for him 
 a new and better field. For the deepinter- 
 (jst he took in his employer's business — 
 indeed he made it his own business — he 
 
 was promoted to the office of managing ac- 
 countant of the Superior Barb Wire Com- 
 pany and filled that position faithfully and 
 well for thirteen years. No duty was slighted 
 or left undone, and sterling integrity marks 
 his brief and uneventful life. For three 
 years he was an invalid, the strain on his 
 s\'stem being too much, and he at last suc- 
 cumbed to the inevitable, his death taking 
 place January 22, 1896. He was not a 
 politician and filled no political office, but for 
 several years served as notary public. In 
 his death the community lost an excellent 
 citizen and the company with which he was 
 associated a faithful employee. 
 
 DANIEL BLACK, foreman of the bridge 
 building department of the N. I. cV C. 
 branch of the Northwestern Railroad, with 
 headquarters at De Kalb, Illinois, was born 
 in St. Thomas, Ontario, July 11, 1838, and 
 is the son of Daniel and Jeannette (McDer- 
 mott) Black, natives of Scotland, and the 
 parents of sixteen children, of whom our 
 subject is the only surviving member. He 
 was left motherless and fatherless early in 
 his youth. 
 
 In his native town our subject grew to 
 manhood and received a fair education in 
 the schools of the place. In his youth he 
 learned the carpenter's trade, securing a 
 thorough knowledge of it in all its branches. 
 In 1856, at the age of twenty years, he left 
 his native town, the happy scenes of his 
 childhood and youth, for Buffalo, New- 
 York, where he secured work at his trade, 
 and there resided for one year, when he 
 came west, taking up his residence in Chi- 
 cago. On the 4th of October, 1859, he 
 married Miss Jennie McAdams, a native of 
 Glasgow, Scotland, born in 1842, and a 
 
82 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth iVic- 
 Adams, also natives of the same countr)-. 
 By this union seven children were born, four 
 of whom are li\ing: Walter S. , born in' 
 1861; W. H., in 1866; Isabel, in 1.S68; and 
 Jennie H., in 1870. 
 
 For more than thirty-live years Mr. 
 Black has been connected with the North- 
 western Railway Company, the last five 
 years being foreman on building bridges and 
 vvater supply on the N. I. & C. branch, and 
 is now serving under the fourth adminstra- 
 tion. He assisted in the building of the 
 first passenger depot of the road, on Kinzie 
 and Canal streets, Chicago, in 1862. In 
 1868 he built the round house of the com- 
 pany at Kanasco, Wisconsin, and in 1868 
 built the round house at Escanaba, Michi- 
 gan. In 1875 he supermtended the build- 
 ing of their shops in Chicago. He is a 
 thorough mechanic and understands all the 
 requirements of his ofiice, as i.« evidenced 
 by his long continued service. Fraternally 
 he is a member of the Knights of Pylhias, 
 and also of the Knights of Honor, in which 
 orders he has held high offices. 
 
 HON. ROBERT HAMPTON, who re- 
 sides on section 7, Paw Paw township, 
 is a well-known citizen of the county, hav- 
 ing resided here a period of fifty-two years. 
 He is a native of Canada, born in the prov- 
 ince of Ontario, March 27, 1821. His 
 father, James Hampton, was a native of 
 Pennsylvania, born in 1796, of which state, 
 his grandfather, Jonathan Hampton, was 
 also a native. The family is of English 
 descent, three brothers coming from that 
 country in 1745, one locating in New Jer- 
 sey, another in South Carolina, and the 
 
 third in Nova Scotia. Our subject is a de- 
 scendant of the one locating in New Jersey. 
 From Pennsylvania, in 1 Soo, Jonathan 
 Hanipton moved to Canada and located 
 about thirty miles north of Toronto, a sec- 
 tion which was then but a wilderness, and 
 where he secured a tract of government 
 land. He died there some twelve years 
 later. James Hampton, his son, was then 
 but a youth of si.xteen years. After arriv- 
 ing at man's estate, he there married Miss 
 Clarissa McCarty, born near Saratoga, and 
 a daughter of William McCarty, who was a 
 son of John McCarty, a pioneer of Saratoga 
 county, New York. John McCarty was a 
 soldier in the Revolutit^nary war, being at- 
 tached to the army under General Gates, 
 and was present when General Burgoyne 
 surrendered to his commander. He was a 
 native of county Tyrone, Ireland, and came 
 to the New World when a young man. He 
 married a Scotch lady. 
 
 James Hampton, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was a farmer in Ontario, Canada, un- 
 til 1838, when he came to the states and in 
 1839 located in Adams county, where he 
 engaged in farming until the breaking out of 
 the Me.xican war, when he joined the Mor- 
 mon battalion, under General Kearney-, and 
 died on the Rio Grande, while in the serv- 
 ice, November 9, 1846, at the age of fifty 
 years. His w^ife survived him a number of 
 years, dying October 8, 1889, at the age of 
 eighty-nine years. They were the parents 
 of three sons and five daughters, of whom 
 our subject is the eldest. William P. and 
 Jonathan are farmers residing in Lee county. 
 The latter was a member of the Fourth 
 Illinois Cavalry, during the Civil war. The 
 daughters all grew to mature j'ears and each 
 of them married and became well settled 
 in life. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 83 
 
 The subject of this sketch was se\ enteen 
 years old when he accompanied his parents 
 to Adams county, Illinois. In his native 
 country he received a conunon-schuol edu- 
 cation, which served as the foundation for 
 the knowledge acquired in after years by 
 reading and observation. He remained in 
 Adams county until 1846, engaged princi- 
 pally in farm work bj' the month. In 1845, 
 however, he rented a small farm and en- 
 gaged in farming for himself. In the spring 
 of 1846 he came to De Kalb county, having 
 but five dollars in money and a little stock. 
 For one year he worked at anything that he 
 could find to do, but in 1847 entered eighty 
 acres of land, built a small log house si.\- 
 teen by twenty feet, in which he lived while 
 improving his place. In 1851 he built a 
 frame house, which in 1869 gave place to 
 his present tine residence. In his agricult- 
 ural operations he has met with fair success, 
 and is now the owner of three hundred and 
 si.xty acres, mostly inclosed with a neat and 
 well-trimmed hedge fence. All that he has 
 was acquired by his own labor, with the as- 
 sistance of his wife and sons. 
 
 Mr. Hampton was married in Hancock 
 county, Illinois, January i, 1843, to Miss 
 Lydia Zemmer, a native of Ohio, reared in 
 Richland county, that state, and a daughter 
 of Frederick Zemmer, who there died. 
 Mrs. Hampton's grandfather, Caspar Wal- 
 ters served in the Revolutionary war. Her 
 grandparents were of German descent. Her 
 grandfather and grandmother Zemmerman 
 and an aunt were massacred by Indians in 
 Ohio in an early day. Her mother later 
 moved to Adams county. Illinois. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hampton have been the parents of 
 eight children. Hiram died at the age of 
 fourteen years. William S,, a minister of 
 the Congregational church, is now located 
 
 at Silver Creek, Nebraska. Joseph P. is a 
 farmer residing in Greene county, Iowa. 
 Marrietta resides at home. Robert F. is 
 engaged in operating the home farm. Riley 
 J. is engaged in business at Chico, California. 
 Lydia A. is the wife of T. P. Ualton, of 
 Paw Paw, Lee county. Harriet D. is the 
 wife of S. M. Henderson, of Waterman, 
 Illinois. 
 
 In early manhood Mr. Hampton was 
 identified with the Democratic party, cast- 
 ing his first presidential vote for James K. 
 Polk in 1844. From the organization of 
 the Republican party he has been an ear- 
 nest supporter of its principles. He was first 
 elected commissioner of highways in 1850, 
 and served three years. He was then 
 elected supervisor and served five years, 
 then one year as assessor, and again elected 
 supervisor, serving five years more. In the 
 fall of 1866, he was elected a member of the 
 legislature, and served one regular term and 
 two special sessions. During the time he 
 was on several important committees, and 
 made a valuable member of the house. In 
 the spring of 1873, he was elected super- 
 visor of his township, which office he re- 
 signed in the fall of the same year, being 
 elected county treasurer, in which office he 
 served one term. Since that time he has 
 served several years as supervisor, a portion 
 of which time being chairman of the board. 
 He has also served as justice of the peace 
 for some years, and in the various conven- 
 tions of his party he has usually been a 
 delegate. He is a member of the East Paw 
 Paw Methodist Episcopal church, in which 
 he is now serving as steward. He was 
 formerly a member of the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, at East Paw Paw, 
 and for years was a member of the Sons of 
 Temperance and Good Templars, taking a 
 
84 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 very active interest in both orders. F"evv 
 men are better known in De Kaib county, 
 and none more highly respected. 
 
 ALEXANDER RAY, deceased, was a 
 wealthy and influential farmer of De 
 Kalb township. He was born in Scotland, 
 in 1819, and immigrated to this country 
 just as he reached his majority. He spent 
 some years in the New England states pre- 
 vious to his removal west, and being of a 
 mechanical turn of mind, he became inter- 
 ested in the cotton mills of the east, where 
 he was engaged as a trusted and profitable 
 employee. While still residing in the east, 
 on the 31st of October, 1850, he was united 
 in marriage with Miss Eliza A. Anderson, a 
 native of county Tyrone, Ireland, born in 
 1826, and a daughter of James and Eliza 
 Anderson, both of whom were natives of 
 the same country. By this union four chil- 
 dren were born, of whom two are now liv- 
 ing: George, born June 9, 1853, and Frank, 
 January 5, 1864. The deceased were Isa- 
 bel M., born September 13, 1851, and who 
 died March 3, 1883, and Robert, February 
 7, 1859, and who died March 9, 1892. 
 
 The desire to better his fortunes induced 
 our subject to come west, and 1855 he lo- 
 cated in Maytield township, De Kalb county, 
 where he purchased one hundred and si.xtj' 
 acres of prairie land, which he highly im- 
 proved, and to it added one hundred and sixty 
 acres more. This, too, he reclaimed and 
 brought under the subject of the plow. On 
 account of failing health he later sold one of 
 his farms and removed to the city of De 
 Kalb, to rest and recruit his wasted energies. 
 .After a few years of restfulness he became 
 anxious to see the Creator's handiwork in 
 the growth and development of the animal 
 
 and vegetable kingdom, which only the true 
 agriculturist can appreciate. Therefore, 
 after mature thought, he purchased a farm 
 of one hundred and sixty acres in De Kalb 
 township, which is now owned by his widow, 
 and upon which his son Frank now resides. 
 Alexander Ray departed this life in 18S5. 
 He was an exemplary man, one in whom his 
 neighbors could trust, on whom they could 
 lean in time of need. He was a man of 
 marked social qualities, mild disposition 
 and an even temperament. While residing 
 in the city of De Kalb, he served as alder- 
 man for several years faithfully and well. 
 No duty was left undone, no trifle over- 
 looked. For years he was an honored and 
 consistent member of the Congregational 
 church, having a love for the Master and 
 glory of his cause. Mrs. Kay now resides 
 in the city of De Kalb, and like her husband 
 is a faithful follower of the Master and a 
 member of the Congregational church. 
 
 HARKER MULLEN, an engineer and 
 inventor, of Sycamore, Illinois, has 
 been a resident of De Kalb county for fifty- 
 nine years. He was born in the town of 
 Kingston, Sullivan county. New York, July 
 31, 1835, and is the son of John and Phebe 
 (Brown) Mullen. The former was a native 
 of Sullivan county. New York, and was the 
 son of Philip Mullen, who lived and died in 
 New York when past eighty years of age. 
 John Mullen by trade was a carpenter and 
 builder, which occupation he followed after 
 coming west, but later purchased a farm of 
 two hundred acres at Pleasant Hill, where 
 he lived until his death at the age of eighty- 
 five years. His wife, Phebe Brown, was 
 born at Rockland, Sullivan county, New 
 York, her father, Obediah Brown, who mar- 
 
THF. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ^5 
 
 ried a French wonmti, being a vessel owner 
 and sea captain, who sailed all over the 
 known world. 
 
 In the fall of 1S39. when but four 3ears 
 of age, our subject came with his parents to 
 Sycamore township, where he was reared, 
 and, as he e.xpresses it, "ran barefoot and 
 grew up among the rag weeds and stumps." 
 The school facilities in that early day were 
 very poor, and as his parents were in poor 
 circumstances he was enabled to attend 
 school but a short time in winter months, 
 but even then was kept out at least one day 
 in each week to assist in the farm work. 
 He remained at home until his marriage in 
 Ivingston township, with Miss Harriet A. 
 Collier, a daughter of Joseph and Mary 
 (Phillips) Collier, early settlers of De Kalb 
 county. By this union were born two chil- 
 dren: Mary E. married Theo. Shuey, by 
 whom he has three children — Emma, Eva 
 and Frederick. They reside in Story coun- 
 ty, Iowa. Frank L. married Millie Drake, 
 and they have two children, Hoyt and Ha- 
 zel. He is a competent engineer, and is in 
 the employ of the Patten Manufacturing 
 Company. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Mullen saw the 
 necessity of possessing more knowledge, 
 and studied by himself during his spare 
 moments. He soon acquired sufficient 
 knowledge to enable him to pass an exam- 
 ination, and for several terms engaged in 
 teaching in the public schools. At the age 
 of twenty-one he rented a farm and for 
 some years followed agricultural pursuits. 
 Later he went to Nevada, where he worked 
 in stamping mills and learned engineering. 
 Returning home, he entered the employ of 
 the Marsh Harvester Company, with which 
 he continued for nine years, as an engineer, 
 or as an expert in the field during harvesting 
 
 seasons. For one or two seasons he ran a 
 traction engine, and one winter ran a sta- 
 tionary engine in De Kalb, Illinois. He 
 also ran the engine for Ellwood Manufact- 
 uring Company six years, and about three 
 years for Patten Manufacturing Company, 
 and has been with Sycamore Electric Light 
 Company for four years. 
 
 In 1894 Mr. Mullen conceived the idea 
 of constructing an engine that could be 
 built without the expensive planing neces- 
 sary in other engines. During spare mo- 
 ments Mr. Mullen constructed patterns for 
 the different parts of his engine, the casting 
 from which as fast as finished being handed 
 to machinists for finishing. When all were 
 done the parts were put together, steam 
 turned on and the engine has been running 
 ever since without the slightest alteration, 
 something never heard of before in engine 
 building. In the construction of the engine, 
 which is known as Mullen's oscillating en- 
 gine, no machine work is necessary except 
 turnings and borings, thus making it much 
 cheaper than other engines of equal horse 
 power; in fact it can be made for about half 
 the price of other engines of like capacity. 
 While oscillating in principle, it differs from 
 other oscillating engines in that it has a 
 slide valve instead of an oscillating cutoff. 
 Being very firm and compact it requires no 
 foundation, but can be set on an empty pine 
 box and will then be firm enough for prac- 
 tical use. 
 
 In March, 1894, Mr. Mullen built a shop 
 for the construction of engines. The pat- 
 ent for the engines was granted May 5, 
 1896. There is certainly a great future for 
 the insention, as its compactness, simplic- 
 ity, economy of space and cost of construc- 
 tion, firmness without expensive foundation, 
 and great power for weight and cost corn- 
 
86 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 mend it to all users of steam power. The 
 first engine constructed, which was of small 
 size, has had four years of daily use, with- 
 out any expense for repairs or any apparent 
 wear or deterioration. In 1898 the in- 
 ventor is preparing for the extensive manu- 
 facture of his engine. One remarkable thing 
 in connection with the engine is that no al- 
 terations from the original model have ever 
 been made. 
 
 In politics Mr. Mullen is a Republican, 
 and while living in the country served as 
 school director. Fraternally he is a mem- 
 ber of Genoa Lodge, No. 288, A. F. & A. 
 M. As a citizen he commands the respect 
 of all. 
 
 WILLIAM FULLER, deceased, was a 
 resident of De Kalb county, a farmer 
 of wide reputation, who located here in 1853. 
 He was a native of New York, and there 
 grew to manhood, but on reaching his ma- 
 jority, came west, and first located at Wil- 
 mington, Will county, Illinois, where he 
 purchased one hundred and sixty acres of 
 land, which he later sold at an advanced 
 price, and on which he made a large profit. 
 He then went to Iowa, where he purchased 
 one thousand acres of government land, for 
 speculative purposes. This last purchase 
 was also sold at a high figure, and onl\ 
 recently was the last of it disposed of. Mr. 
 Fuller was a wise speculator, and rarely if 
 ever missed his calculation. He had ac- 
 cumulated a large fortune previous to his 
 death, which occurred in 1890. 
 
 In 1856, Mr. Fuller married Miss Elea- 
 nor Campbell, a native of Wyoming count}'. 
 New York, born in 1839, and the daughter 
 of Amos and Martha Campbell, both of 
 whom were natives of the same rouut\ ami 
 
 state. The former was born in iSio, and 
 died in 1871, while the latter was born in 
 I 812, and died in October, 1896. By this 
 union there were .seven children, six of whom 
 are yet living — Frank, born in 1857; Flor- 
 ence, in 1859; Edward, in 1861; Minnie, in 
 1869; Kittie, in 1871; and Elva, in 1873. 
 The parents of Mrs. Fuller moved from 
 Wyoming county. New York, to De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, in 1854, where he purcha.sed 
 three hundred acres of land, but sold it 
 three years later, and removed to North 
 Plato, Kane county, Illinois, where he pur- 
 chased eighty acres of land, upon which he 
 remained until his death. 
 
 William Fuller was one of the best 
 farmers of De Kalb county, a man of simple 
 habits, a loving husband, and an affectionate 
 and indulgent father, his interests being 
 centered in his family and property. His 
 death was sincerely mourned, not alone by 
 the family, but by a large circle of friends. 
 Mrs. Fuller has left the farm, and is now 
 living in ease and comfort in the city of De 
 Kalb, where she has much city property, 
 and where she is greatly esteemed and re- 
 spected by the entire community. 
 
 JOSEPH C. COSTER, of Hinckley, Illi- 
 nois, is one of the representative farmers 
 of De Kalb county, where he has been 
 actively engaged in agricultural pursuits for 
 about half a century. He is a native of 
 New York, born in Rensselaer county, near 
 Albany, August 18, 181 5, and is the son of 
 Richard and Rachel (Cook) Coster, the 
 former a native of Holland, who settled in 
 Rensselaer county at a very early day, and 
 the latter a native of New York, and a 
 daughter of Joseph Cook, a pioneer of Ren- 
 sselaer. Richari! Coster was a natin'al me- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 8; 
 
 chanic, and for years was engjaged in the 
 manufacture of shingles, and also in shoe- 
 making. His wife died in New York, earh' 
 in the '40s, while he survived her and spent 
 the last years of his life with his son in De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, dying here when about 
 seventy years of age. They had a family 
 of five sons and two daughters. Peter grew 
 to manhood and married in New York, came 
 west, settled near I\anevile, in Kane county, 
 Illinois, bought a farm and later died there. 
 Alexander H. came west, first located in 
 De Kalb county, and later moved to Ore- 
 gon, Ogle caunty, where he now resides. 
 Joseph C. , the subject of this sketch, was 
 next in order of birth. Rosetta married a 
 Mr. Deming, but is now deceased. Rich- 
 ard L. resides in Kent county, Michigan. 
 Stephen is a resident of New York. Mrs. 
 Rachel C. Weaver now resides in Hinckley, 
 Illinois. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in his native county, where 
 he received a very limited education. When 
 fourteen years he commenced working on a 
 farm, and at eighteen began life for himself. 
 He worked by the month until twenty- 
 three years of age, when he married Miss 
 Maria Wicks, a native of Rensselaer county. 
 By this union there were three children. 
 Melvin grew to manhood, and enlisted in 
 the war for the Union, in August, 1S62, 
 and died while in the service, December 12, 
 1862. Hattie P. died in March, 1848 at 
 the age of eight years. One died in infancy. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Coster rented 
 a farm which he worked on shares until 
 1841, when he moved to Chenango county, 
 where, in partnership with a cousin, he 
 bought a farm of ninety acres, and leased 
 si.xty acres additional. On that farm he 
 resided for si.\ years, when he sold out and 
 
 came west, locating in Sugar Grove town- 
 ship, Kane county, Illinois, where he com- 
 menced work on the old Judd farm, where 
 he remained one year, in the meantime 
 keeping house for the Judd's. In the spring 
 of 1849 he came to De Kalb county, and 
 purchased two hundred and ninety-five 
 acres, the farm on which he now resides, 
 giving for the same nine hundred dollars. 
 There was a log house on the place, and 
 about eight}' acres had been broken. He 
 at once began the further improvement of 
 the place, which is now one of the best 
 farms in Sfjuaw Grove township. When he 
 first located there were but few inhabitants 
 in the township, but others came in, and 
 the township was organized the following 
 winter. In the spring of 1850 he was 
 elected justice of the peace and served four 
 3'ears. He has always been an enterprising 
 man and gave the right of way to the rail- 
 road, which runs through his farm, and also 
 eight hundred d(jllars in cash and an acre 
 of ground as an inducement to locate the 
 depot at Hinckley. In addition to his 
 original farm, he added from time to time 
 until he was the owner of four hundred 
 and fifty-five acres. He has since sold a 
 portion of the same, and gave a daughter 
 eighty acres. He also bought another 
 farm in Squaw Grove township of one 
 hundred and sixty acres, and purchased 
 one hundred and sixty acres in Union coun- 
 ty, Iowa. This land he held about thirty 
 years, when he sold the same at a nice ad- 
 vance. He was one of the original men to 
 start and build the first creamery at Hinck- 
 ley. At one time he owned over four hun- 
 dred acres of land in Wisconsin, but has 
 since sold all but forty acres. His first wife 
 died August 25. 1850. April 21, 1853, for 
 his second wife Mr. Coster married Mrs. 
 
^8 
 
 THli BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Sophronia R. Bathrick, b}' whom he had 
 six children, four of whom are lixing: Hat- 
 tie M. is the wife of John H. Bauder, a 
 merchant of Hinckley. Susy R. is the wife 
 of John A. ^^■illiams, a prosperous farmer 
 of Squaw (irove township, who owns a 
 valuable farm of two hundred and ten acres. 
 Mary C. is the wife of John T. Evans, a 
 farmer of Squaw Grove township, .\lfred 
 J. is married and is engaged in farming in 
 Squaw Grove township, and .\rthur died 
 when four years of age. By her first hus- 
 band, Mrs. Coster had one son, Daniel D. 
 Bathrick, now a business man of Chicago. 
 In 1874 Mrs. Coster passed to her reward, 
 and later Mr. Coster married Mrs. Mary E. 
 Evans, a widow lady, who then resided at 
 Piano. About two and a half years later 
 she lost her life from injuries sustained in a 
 runaway. In 1880, at Kaneville, Kane 
 county, Illinois, Mr. Coster married Mrs. 
 Keziah Scott, a native of England and a 
 daughter of William Owens. She was 
 reared in New York, and there married 
 John Scott, who later came to Kane county, 
 Illinois, where he engaged in the mercantile 
 business at Kaneville for some years. By 
 this marriage she became the mother of 
 three sons and two daughters. George re- 
 sides in Denver, Colorado. L. K. is a 
 prominent business man of Aurora, Illinois. 
 Walter W. resides in Beatrice, Nebraska. 
 Lilly, the oldest daughter, married Charles 
 Stevens and located near Beatrice, Ne- 
 braska, but is now deceased. The other 
 daughter, Clara, is the wife of John Evans, 
 of Aurora, Illinois. Mrs. Keziah Coster 
 died September 5, 1898. 
 
 Originally Mr. Coster was a Whig, and 
 cast his first presidential vote in 1836 for 
 General Harrison, and his second ballot for 
 the same man in 1840. He continued to 
 
 \ ote the \N'hig ticket until the dissolution of 
 the party, since which time he has been an 
 earnest and steadfast Republican. He has 
 voted for sixteen presidential candidates. 
 A friend of education, he has served for 
 years as a member of the school board, and 
 assisted in the erection of four school 
 houses in his district. Religiously Mr. 
 Coster affiliates with the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church. A resident of De Kalb county 
 for a half century, has enabled him to form 
 many acquaintances throughout the entire 
 county, and wherever known is universally 
 esteemed. 
 
 MARCUS W. COLE, who is engaged 
 in the banking business at Kingston, 
 is one of De Kalb county's self-made men. 
 He was born in Lockport, Niagara county, 
 New York, February 8, 1836, and is the 
 son of Washington and Harriet (Stiles) Cole, 
 the former a native of Rhode Island, born 
 in 1810, and the latter of New York, born 
 Jul}' 16, 1812. They were married in New 
 York, from which state they moved to 
 Marshall, Clark count}', Illinois, in October, 
 1836, where they remained until October, 
 1 8 59, when they came to Kingston, De Kalb 
 county, where he engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits, in which he continued until his 
 death July 21, 1889. His wife survived 
 him some years, and died January 14, 1898. 
 Their family number six children, five of 
 whom grew to maturity, Marcus W. being 
 the eldest of the family. Washington Cole 
 was a sober, hard-working, honest man, 
 who attended strictly to his own affairs. 
 His wife was an extremely refined and cult- 
 ured lady, and was liberally educated. Her 
 superior mind governed the home and 
 trained the voung. 
 
MARCUS W. COLE, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHIC AI, RECORD. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 and educated in Marsliall, Clark county, 
 Illinois, tirst attending the coniinon schools, 
 and subsequently the Marshall Academy, 
 from which he was graduated. During his 
 school days, he assisted in one of the print- 
 ing offices as compositor, and became quite 
 proficient in that line. He ani\ed in 
 Kingston, De Kalb coiintw April 4, 1851'), 
 and in the summer following engaged in 
 farming in the employment of his uTicle. 
 Dr. J. W. .Stiles, wlm was a prominent lion- 
 tist, real estate owner ami munev Icmlcr. 
 During the iollnwing winters, he faitlifully 
 and satisfactorily- taught three different 
 terms in Boone county, and taught four 
 winters in De Kalb county, a vocation in 
 which he continued a portion of his time 
 imtil I,S6.S. 
 
 In iS5<S, Mr. Cole rented a farm, and 
 worked it on his own account. In Septem- 
 ber of the same year, he was joined in wed- 
 lock to Miss Anna L. Little, a daughter of 
 Henry and Amy Little, and to them i>ne 
 child was horn, Alice C, .April 21, I ,sr) 1 , 
 and now the wife of Judge W. L. Pond, of 
 De Kalb, a sketch of whom appears else- 
 where in this book. After their marriage 
 they fixed up a house on a forty-acre lot, 
 belonging to his wife, in which they lived 
 and worked in connection with one hundred 
 acres of rented land until 1868, when he 
 purchased a farm of one hundred and eighty 
 acres, upon which he put some improve- 
 ments, and there resided until 1882, when 
 he removed to Kingston, and formed a co- 
 partnership with PhiUip Heckman. under 
 the firm name of Heckman & Cole, and en- 
 gaged in the hardware business. This part- 
 nership continued a few years, when the 
 firm agreed to exchange their business for a 
 
 farm owned bv Dr. C. G. Cowell. During 
 5 
 
 this co-partnershi]T, the firm almost uncon- 
 sciously drifted into the banking business, 
 on a small scale at tirst, but which after- 
 wards became of enlarged proportions. Mr. 
 Heckman purchasing the interest of Mr. 
 Cole in the farm, the latter, m 1888, en- 
 tered the banking lousiness on a large scale, 
 in due and legal form, at tirst using his pri- 
 vate residence, but in 189^ erecting a suit- 
 able brick slriictmc, with vault attached, 
 and which building he now occupies. He 
 does a good banking business for a town 
 the size of Kingston, the business ax'eraging 
 o\er two thousand dcjllars per day. 
 
 Mr. Ci)le is one of the (nost popular 
 men in his town and township, for five 
 years he served as constable, and was 
 township collector for eight years. In 1876 
 he was appointed school treasurer, which 
 office he still holds. Between 1885 and 
 I S94 he held the office of town clerk, and 
 in 1895 was elected supervisor of his 
 township, and re-elected in 1897. He was 
 appointed postmaster of Kingston, during 
 Harrison's administration, and sjrved five 
 years. He is a stanch Republican, and has 
 been repeatedly appointed as delegate to 
 the county conventions of his party, and 
 also to the senatorial and congressional 
 convention and to state conventions. In 
 all the positions filled he has been true 
 to his convictions. He has never deserted 
 his party or its principles, and he has the 
 entire confidence of the people. 
 
 Mr. Cole is a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity, being initiated in the Genoa 
 Lodge, No. 288, and was raised to the sub- 
 lime degree of Master Mason, July 21, 
 1866. He passed through the Royal Arch, 
 in March, 1888, and was made a Sir Knight 
 in the same year. He acted as secretary 
 of the blue lodije from the time lie was 
 
92 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 raised until 1886. He was transferred to 
 and received in the Kishwaukee Lodge, No. 
 402, in the last named year. At three dif- 
 ferent times he was sent as a representative 
 to the grand lodge. He is a charter mem- 
 ber of the Modern Woodmen of America, 
 and originator of the Woodmen's annual 
 picnic, which includes the Northern Illi- 
 nois and Southern Wisconsin Picnic Asso- 
 ciation. He is a charter member of the 
 Knights of the Globe. 
 
 Mr. Cole is a lo3'al citizen and extremely 
 patriotic, and was only prevented from en- 
 tering as a soldier in the great civil struggle 
 by disability incurred while operating a 
 threshing machine in November, 1862, 
 while making preparations to enlist. The 
 Grand Army of the Republic of Kingston 
 made him an honorary member in 18S6, 
 and in the work of the post he takes great 
 pride, and liberally contributes to its work. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Cole are members of the 
 Free Will Baptist church, and active in 
 every holy and righteous enterprise that 
 may be in progress. He is a trustee of the 
 church in Kingston, and has filled the office 
 of Sunday school superintendent for more 
 than fifteen years, and is yet serving cred- 
 itably in the same position. For six years 
 he has served as clerk of the Fox river 
 quarterly meeting of the Free Will Baptist 
 church. 
 
 Mrs. Cole was born in Aurora, Erie 
 county. New York, July 24, 1840. Her 
 parents, Henry and Amy Little, removed to 
 Illinois, in 1845, locating in Kingston town- 
 ship, De Kalb county, where they reinained 
 during the remainder of their lives. Mr. 
 Little's death occurred August 18, 1858, 
 while that of his wife took place Septem- 
 ber 15, 1S91. Mrs. Cole is a refined and 
 modest lady, and like her husband is quite 
 
 popular. She is a member of the Woman's 
 Relief Corps, of Kingston, of which she 
 has the honor of being president. She 
 has also been highly honored by being ap- 
 pointed aid to Carrie Thomas Alexander, 
 department president. She is also a mem- 
 ber of the Eastern Star, and of the Emi- 
 nent Ladies Garrison. Mr. and Mrs. Cole 
 are very desirable companions, ever read\' 
 to greet a friend or entertain a visitor. 
 
 HERBERT W. FAY, one of the editors 
 and proprietors of the De Kalb Re- 
 view, is one of the best known men in De 
 Kalb county, with a national reputation. 
 He was born February 28, 1859, in Squaw 
 Grove township, De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 and is the son of Edwin H. and Ann Hay- 
 wood Fay, natives of New York and Maine, 
 and the grandson of Horace W. Fay, who 
 came to De Kalb county, from New York, 
 in 1838. For several years the grandfather 
 served as county surveyor of De Kalb coun- 
 ty, and as a patriot, he enlisted during the 
 war for the Union, and served his country 
 faithfully and well, giving up his life in its de- • 
 fense, at \'icksburg, Mississippi, in the spring 
 of 1863. Edwin Fay, the father, also set- 
 tled in De I-ialb county, in 1838, and after- 
 wards on a soldier's land warrant, obtained 
 for services in the Sixteenth Kentucky In- 
 fantry, with which he was connected for 
 sixteen months during the Mexican war, 
 obtained a tract of land. He is yet living 
 in the village of Hinckley, but his good wife 
 passed to her reward November 11, 1884. 
 
 Herbert W. Fay, our subject, grew to 
 manhood in his native township, and re- 
 ceived his primary education in the com- 
 mon schools. He later attended college at 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 9,^ 
 
 Monmouth, Illinois, for three years, taught 
 school one term, and then purchased a 
 third interest in the Hinckley Review, and 
 remained in company with Tomblin Broth- 
 ers, the former proprietors, from May, 
 1880, to 1882, when he became sole pro- 
 prietor. In March, 1887, he removed to De 
 Kalb where he purchased a half interest in 
 the De Kalb Review, in company with D. 
 W. Tyrrell. This is a flourishing weekly 
 paper, and a stanch advocate of Republican 
 principles, with a growing circulation of 
 fifteen hundred copies. 
 
 At Hinckley, Illinois, September 24, 
 1884, Mr. Fay was united in marriage with 
 Miss Nellie A. Sebree, also a native of 
 Squaw Grove township, born December 21, 
 1864, and the daughter of William M, and 
 Rosetta Sebree. To this happy union there 
 was born Earl Owen, October 24, 1SS5. 
 William M. Sebree, the father of Mrs. Fay, 
 is probably the oldest living settler in De 
 Kalb county. He is a native of Indiana, 
 born February 7, 1833, and is the son of 
 John Sebree, a native of \'irf;iiiia, born .Au- 
 gust 2, 1 80S. With his father, he came to 
 De Kalb county, in 1S34. when but little 
 more than a year old, and has here since 
 spent his entire life. 
 
 Horace W. Fay, the grandfather of our 
 subject, \\-as a very prominent man in polit- 
 ical affairs, and ser\ed as a tnember of the 
 Illinois legislature, from 1848 to 18150. As 
 a surveyor he laid out nearly all of De Kalb 
 county. His grandson has received his 
 mantle, for he, too, is a prominent young 
 man of more than ordinary ability, and is 
 the present county surveyor of De Kalb 
 county. He served for three 3'ears as a 
 member of the De Kalb board of educa- 
 tion. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 Sons of Veterans, Chicago Press Club, 
 
 Knights of Pythias, Royal Arcanum, Knights 
 of the Globe and Modern Woodmen of 
 America. While residing in Hinckley he 
 served as village clerk and was also town 
 clerk of Squaw Grove township. He is a 
 man of versatile talents and has a decided 
 predilection for a literary career. He pos- 
 sesses a tine discriminating taste for artistic 
 work and is an accomplished draughtsman, 
 while his pencil specimens are very fine. 
 
 Once in a while one meets a man who 
 is quietly pursuing a line of work in the 
 achievement of a great purpose, and whose 
 high aims and patient labors are ne\er sus- 
 pected until suddenly revealed and the great 
 service that is being rendered the world is 
 recognized. Such a man is Herbert W. 
 Faj', the subject of this sketch. Mr Fay 
 is a collector of historical portraits as well 
 as an able editor, and has now one of the 
 largest private collections of portraits of 
 notable people in the world. The collec- 
 tion was begun by Mr. Fay in 1869, first bv 
 collecting the faces of his friends in an or- 
 dinary album. After that was lilleif he began 
 another, and then one with the likenesses 
 of distinguished persons. Book after book 
 was filled until his albums were discarde* 
 and large showcases were substituted. His 
 collection now numbers fifty thousand pho- 
 tographs of people in all spheres of life. He 
 has photographs of nearly all the crowned 
 heads of the nations of the globe. The 
 collection includes ninety different sittings 
 of Lincoln and twenty-five of Longfellow. 
 He is the owner of the McNulta original 
 negative of I^incoln and has photographs of 
 kings, queens, presidents, ex-presidents, 
 judges of the supreme court. United States 
 senators, representatives, authors, scientists, 
 inventors, artists, etc. This collection is 
 the result of twenty- nine \ears of hard la- 
 
94 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 hor and is worth gjoinj,' hundreds of miles to 
 see. 
 
 A few years ago he conceived the idea 
 to establish a portrait loan agency for the 
 benefit of publishers of books, magazines 
 and newspapers and has worked up a good 
 business in this line, In this way he made 
 what was once a fad a source of revenue. 
 He was associate editor of the National 
 Cyclopedia of American Biography, pub- 
 lished in New York, and many of the por- 
 traits used to illustrate this great work are 
 from his collection. He furnished at one 
 time five hundred pictures of prominent 
 .people of this and other coimtries for the 
 Americanized edition of the Encyclopedia 
 Brittanica. His series of Lincoln portraits 
 were used in McClure's Life of Lincoln. 
 Notwithstanding his varied attainments Mr. 
 Fav is a very modest man. 
 
 MRS. SARAH CHAPMAN, widow of 
 Julius Chapman, was born in New 
 York state in 1823. She is the daughter of 
 Henry and Jane Durham, her father being 
 a native of New York, born in 1798. He 
 removed to De Kalb count}-, Illinois, in 
 1836, and the following year made a perma- 
 nent location in Genoa. He became the 
 owner of a vast amount of land on which he 
 built extensivel}'. A man of marked ability 
 and influence, he held many offices of im- 
 portance in the early days. He was a justice 
 of the peace for some years as well as super- 
 visor of the township. For several years 
 he engaged in mercantile business, keeping 
 a general store, but failing health caused 
 him to abandon it. He died in February, 
 1855, at the age of fifty-six years. His 
 wife, Jane Wager, died in November of the 
 same year. 
 
 Julius ChajMnan, the husband of Mrs. 
 Sarah Chapman, was a native of Ohio, born 
 in 1812, and who removed to Genon, De 
 Kalb c )unty, in 1837. By trade he was a 
 carpenter, at which he worked for several 
 years after he came to De Ivalb county. 
 He was an extensive dealer in real estate 
 and at one time owned eleven hundred acres 
 in De Kalb county. He was a live business 
 man, knowing when to buy and when to 
 sell. As he advanced in years he abandoned 
 his trade, except to work on his own prop- 
 erty, and turneil his attention to agricultural 
 pursuits. He held the office of justice of the 
 peace, supervisor and other official positions, 
 and was looked to as a man of influence in 
 his neighborhood. He married Miss Sarah 
 Durham, in September, 1842, at Genoa. 
 After nearly fifty years of a happy married 
 life he was called to his reward in October, 
 1 89 1. About 1867 Mrs. Chapman took to 
 live with her a niece, Edna Harris, a daugh- 
 ter of fier deceased sister Caroline, wife of 
 L. C. Harris. This niece grew to be an 
 accomplished young lady, knowing only the 
 love of her foster mother, who loved her as 
 her own. In September, 1 88 1 , she was united 
 in marriage to Charles R. Burton, a young 
 farmer, and to this happy union three chil- 
 dren were born: Jessie F., Edgar C. and 
 Sidney F. Mrs. Burton was born in Genoa 
 December 31, 1861. Charles R. Burton 
 was born in Elgin, Ivane county, Illinois, in 
 March, 1855, and is the son of Francis and 
 Mary (Pool) Burton, the former a native of 
 Canada and the latter of England. In 
 1840 they came from Canada to Illinois, 
 locating in Kane county, on the farm where 
 they now reside. Charles Burton was reared 
 and educated in Kane county and came to 
 De Kalb count}- in 1878, where, w-ith the 
 exception of a few years, he has since con- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tinned to reside. His principal work is 
 farming, but at times he has been engaged 
 in butter and cheese making. He is a prac- 
 tical and up-to-date farmer, and has lived 
 on the home farm of Mrs. Chapman for the 
 past seven years. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of Mrs, Chap- 
 man, Michael Durham, was a soldier in the 
 Revolutionary war, and was as brave a 
 soldier as ever put a gun to his shoulder. 
 Mrs. Chapman is now the owner of three 
 large farms, embracing five hundred acres 
 of choice land. She is a woman of good 
 business ability, and is well known and 
 highly esteemed in the community which 
 has so long been her home. 
 
 JOHN D. JOHNSON, foreman of the 
 shipping department of the EUwood 
 Manufacturing Company, Pleasant street, 
 De Kalb, Illinois, and who makes his home 
 in Sycamore, is a native of Sweden, born in 
 1856. He is the son of John and Christina 
 Johnson, also natives of Sweden, and who 
 still reside in their native land. Under the 
 parental roof, our subject grew to manhood, 
 received a fair education in the parochial 
 schools, and at the age of sixteen years 
 was confirmed as a member of the Lutheran 
 church. With that laudable desire to better 
 himself in life, and believing the New World 
 afforded better opportunities than the Old, 
 he determined to come to the United States. 
 Accordingly, in 1S82, he left his native 
 land, and after landing at New York, im- 
 mediately came west, locating in Sycamore, 
 where he has since continued to reside. 
 
 In June, 1884, two years after his arri- 
 val in Sycamore, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Anna Peterson, and they now 
 have a family of five children as follows; 
 
 Ella, Arthur, Herman, Ebbe and Pearl. 
 One year after his arrival, he applied for 
 naturalization papers, which he in due time 
 secured, and has since been recognized as 
 one true to his adopted country. He now 
 resides with his family in a pleasant and 
 comfortable home on Harvester street. 
 Sycamore, the result of industry, honesty 
 and economy. 
 
 On his arrival at Sycamore, Mr. John- 
 son at once entered the employ of the Ell- 
 wood Manufacturing Company, and has 
 now filled a period of sixteen years in its. 
 service. His present position of foreman 
 he has held for ten years. This goes to 
 show his faithfulness and the high esteem 
 in which he is held by his employers. While 
 never serving an apprenticeship to any 
 trade, he is a natural mechanic, and can 
 turn his hand to almost any kind of busi- 
 ness. He has entire charge of all the ship- 
 ping of the large factory in which he is em- 
 ployed, and which ships farm machinery all 
 over the United States. Previous to his 
 coming to this countr)', he served as a sol- 
 dier for two years in his native land, and is 
 even now ready to serve his adopted coun- 
 try, if such services should ever be needed. 
 He is a good Christian man, and a member 
 in good standing in the Swedish Lutheran 
 church in Sycamore, his wife being also a 
 member of the same body. 
 
 JOHN H. WOODBURY, a farmer re- 
 siding on section 34, Shabbona town- 
 ship, is well known throughout De Kalb 
 and adjoining counties, not only as a good 
 farmer, but as a first-class auctioneer, hav- 
 ing cried many sales throughout northern 
 Illinois. He is a native of Tompkins coun- 
 ty, New \'oik, bum in the luwn of Ithaca,' 
 
(X, 
 
 THi: BIOC.KAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 September 25, 1834, and is the son of 
 Thomas Woodbury, a native of N'ennont, 
 and a grandson of William Woodbury, also 
 a native of Vermont, and a soldier in the 
 war tif iSiJ. The latter remox'ed from 
 \'erinont to Xew York with his family 
 and became one of the piooneer settlers 
 of Tompkins county, where he purchased 
 a large tract of land, and there resided 
 during the remainder of his lite. Thcjmas 
 Wooithurv, his son and the father of our 
 subject, there grew to manhood and mar- 
 ried Mary Williams, a native of New- 
 York, and a daughter of Charles Williams, 
 also an earh" settler of Tompkins county. 
 Forsome }ears after his marriage Thomas 
 W(j(jdbury owned and operated a farm in 
 Tompkins county, but in 1843 moved 
 west, arriving in Chicago, June 10. and 
 locating near the village, as it then was, 
 he there remained about one year, then 
 went to Wisconsin and made a permanent 
 location in Rock county, near Milton Junc- 
 tion, where he purchased a tract of land 
 and engaged in farming, and there spent 
 the remainder of his life, dying in March, 
 1850. His wife survived him but a few 
 months, dying in August the following year. 
 They were the parents of five children, all 
 of whom are yet living. 
 
 Our subject was but nine years of age 
 when the family came to Illinois. For 
 some time he was engaged in driving the 
 stage from Middletown to Janesville and 
 Whitewater, Wisconsin, and later went to 
 St. Charles, Illinois, and for two years drove 
 the stage. Leaving the stage company at 
 Ottawa, Illinois, he went to New Orleans 
 and ran on the river a part of two years. 
 Later he went to Havana, Cuba, from which 
 place he returned and located m southern 
 Illinois, an,d was engaged with the Strawns 
 
 in handling cattle. In 1852 he came to De 
 Kalb county and went to work on a farm by 
 the month near Sandwich, and the follow- 
 ing Near rented land, which he continued to 
 do some three or four years. He later pur- 
 chased one hundred and si.xty acres in Shab- 
 bona township, the place being fairly well 
 improved. F^rom time lu lime he purchased 
 more land, some of which he sold off, but 
 still owns a valual)le farm of three hundred 
 and fort)' acres, and has been extensively 
 engaged in general farming, stt)ck-raising 
 and dairying. In 1858 he commenced auc- 
 tioneering in LaSalle county, and followed 
 that occupati(jn for a year or two, and then 
 abandoned it for several years, but later re- 
 sumed and has now for many years had the 
 reputation of being (jue of the best auction- 
 eers in northern Illinois. 
 
 On the 29th of February, 1856, Mr. 
 Woodbury was united in La Salle county, 
 to Miss Laura A. Smith, a native of Herki- 
 mer county. New York, and a daughter of 
 Rensselaer Smith, who located in La Salle 
 county, in 1845. This wife died November 
 8, 1890, leaving four children. Prof. Will- 
 iam W., married, is principal of the schools 
 at Sandwich, Illinois. Elias married, and 
 is a business man residing in Sutherland, 
 Iowa. Alvin J. is married, and is now 
 operating the home farm. Minnie M. is 
 the wife of Professor Laild, a teacher of 
 Warren, Illinois. 
 
 Politically Mr. Woodbury has been a 
 Republican since the organization of the 
 party. He has served two or more terms 
 as supervisor of his township, and for some 
 years was a member of the school board. 
 His extensive travels have brought him in 
 contact with all classes of people, and while 
 the time spent in the school room was com- 
 paratively short, he is yet a well-informed 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 97 
 
 man. The difference existing between the 
 present time and that in which he was a 
 stage driver, can hardly be conceived, but 
 in the development of the country he has 
 borne no inconsiderable part. 
 
 LE\MS P. HIX, editor and proprietor of 
 the Sycamore City Weekly, is a native 
 of De Kalb county, born near the city of 
 Sycamore, June 29, 1868. His father, 
 Volaski Hix, was born April 25, 1837, in 
 Clarendon, Orleans county, New York, and 
 was the son of Ephraim and Laura W. (Will- 
 iams) Hix. When eleven years of age he came 
 with his parents to De Kalb county, his fa- 
 ther purchasing one hundred and thirty 
 acres of land in Kingston township, to which 
 he subsequently added until his farm con- 
 sisted of three hundred and thirty-seven 
 acres. On that farm Volaski Hix grew to 
 manhood and received a fair common- 
 school education, supplemented by a few 
 terms at Mt. Morris Seminary and Wheaton 
 College. 
 
 Volaski Hix assisted his father in the 
 work of the farm until after he attained his 
 majority. He was united in marriage No- 
 vember 17, 1864, with Miss Louisa Parker, 
 a native of Hammond, Spencer county, In- 
 diana, born May 9, 1843, and is the daugh- 
 ter of Henry X. and Mary A. (Stillwell) 
 Parker, the former a native of Ontario 
 county, New York, and the latter of Camp- 
 bell county, Kentucky. They became the 
 parents of five children — May, Lewis P. , 
 Eva L., Floyd, Arthur and Nellie, the lat- 
 ter dying in infancy. 
 
 Previous to and after his marriage Vo- 
 laski Hix engaged in agricultural pursuits in 
 connection with teaching. For some years, 
 however, he had cherished the desire to en- 
 
 gage in newspaper work. In 1871 the de- 
 sire was consummated and he established 
 the De Kalb County Farmer, which he pub- 
 lished monthly. In 1 872 the paper was suc- 
 ceeded by the Sycamore City Weekly, which 
 rapidly grew in public favor. At first it was 
 independent in politics, but in 1876 it sup- 
 ported the Republican national and state 
 ticket, since which time the paper has been 
 a strong supporter of the Republican prin- 
 ciples. As a local paper it took front rank, 
 giving special attention to the collection 
 and publication of local news gathered 
 throughout the county. Progressive in his 
 ideas he gave support and encouragement to 
 every enterprise calculated to build up his 
 adopted county. He was especially inter- 
 ested in agriculture and was for some years 
 and until his death secretary of the De 
 Kalb County Farmers' Picnic Association. 
 He was unambitious politically and unpre- 
 tending, giving his time to the building up 
 of his paper and the advancement of the 
 county. He died April 20, 1893. His 
 widow is yet living in Sycamore. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Ephraim Hix, was born December 9, 1803, 
 while his great-grandfather, Ephraim Hix, 
 Sr., was born November 6, 1768. The fam- 
 ily were originally from England. Ephraim 
 Hix, Jr., was a very successful farmer and 
 succeeded in accumulating a large property. 
 He died on the old farm in Kingston town- 
 ship January 13, 1863. His wife survived 
 him some years and died at her residence in 
 Sycamore, June 14, 1875. 
 
 Lewis P. Hix, the subject of this sketch, 
 grew to manhood in Sycamore, and was 
 educated in its public schools. At an early 
 age he entered the office of his father's pa- 
 per to learn the trade and also the business 
 of newspaper piihlicalioii. llf made lapid 
 
9S 
 
 THi: lUOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 progress iii ihf \arious branches connected 
 with the printing and publishing of a news- 
 paper, and in 1887 he became a partner 
 with his father, under the firm name of Hi.K 
 & Son, That iirm name has been retained 
 since the death of the father. 
 
 On the 30th of January 1896, Mr. Hi.\ 
 was united in marriage with Miss Dora 
 Hopkins, daughter of Edward and Vesta M. 
 (Johnson) Hopkins. She was born in De 
 Kalb county, of which her parents were 
 early settlers. Her father was a brother of 
 Hon. A. J. Hopkins, the present member 
 of congress from the district of which De 
 Kalb county is a part. 
 
 Under the management of its present 
 proprietor the Sycamore City Weekly main- 
 tains the excellent reputation established b\- 
 its luunder. It is a si.\-column quarto, neatl\- 
 |)rinted and ably conducted. It is a strong 
 Republican paper and a stanch advocate of 
 the principles of that party. A job office is 
 connected with the establishment. Fra- 
 ternally, Mr. Hix is a member of the Knights 
 of Pythias. 
 
 DUANE J. CARNES, senior member 
 of the law firm of Carnes & Dunton, 
 Sycamore, Illinois, is numbered among the 
 leading attorneys of northern Illinois. It 
 is saitl that the poet is born, not made. 
 The successful lawyer has to be both born 
 and made — made l)y close application, 
 earnest effort, perseverance and resolute 
 purpose. The abilities with which nature 
 has endowed him have to be strengthened 
 and developed by use, and onl)- bj- merit- 
 can the lawyer gain a pre-eminent position. 
 Mr. C arnes was born at Pomlret. Wind- 
 sor county, Vermont, May 27, 1848, and is 
 the son of John and Mary Warren (Paine) 
 
 Carnes, the loriner a native of Claremont, 
 New Hampshire, born May 30. 1823. His 
 father, ;d.-o named |ohn, was from the 
 northern part of Ireland, and came to the 
 United States about 1815, locating in Clare- 
 mont, New Hampshire. He was a man of 
 means and a weaver by trade, and started a 
 woolen mill at that place of considerable 
 magnitude for those days. He later located 
 at Lowell, Massachusetts, where he was 
 engaged in the same business. His wife 
 was Persis Whitmore. They had two 
 children, Charlotte and John. The former 
 Hiarried James Parker, who subsecjuentl}' 
 located in Mayfield township, De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, where he engaged in farm- 
 ing until 1875, when his death occurred. 
 His widow survived him a few years. 
 
 John Carnes, the father of our subject, 
 was reared to farm life, and came to Syca- 
 more in 1875, where he carried on farming 
 in a small way near the city, and where he 
 still resides. He brought with him to this 
 country a considerable sum of money, which 
 he invested in various ways, principally in 
 loans. His wife was a native of Pom fret, 
 Vermont, born July 4, 1825. Her father 
 was Moses Paine, also a native of Pomfret, 
 born in 1780, and the son of Asa Paine, 
 who was likewise a native of Pomfret, Con- 
 necticut. His wife was Keziah Chikls, a 
 Pomfret, Connecticut, woman. Mar\ War- 
 ren Carnes was a niece of Hooper Warren, 
 who came west at an early day, and was a 
 noted anti-slavery editor and temperance 
 agitator. To John and Mary W. Carnes 
 two children were l)orn, Duane J. and 
 George D. The latter is a physician in 
 South Haven, Michigan. 
 
 The primar)' education uf our subject 
 was in the district schools of l\jmfret. He 
 then 'entered the State Normal School at 
 
DUANE J. CARNES. 
 
 L BfC 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 lOl 
 
 Randolph, Vennoiit, from which he was 
 graduated when twenty years old. He then 
 came west and settled at Lincoln, Logan 
 count}-, Illinois, where he engaged in teach- 
 ing. He taught there from the fall of 1868 
 until the spring of 1869, during which time 
 he pursued his law studies, a part of the 
 time in the law office of William Jones, of 
 Lincoln. Returning to \'ermont, he fin- 
 ished his second course in the Normal 
 school at Randolph, and in the fall of 1873 
 came to De Kalb county, Illinois, where he 
 taught school for a time and continued his 
 law studies in the office of Hon. Charles 
 Rellum. 
 
 In 1875, Mr. Carnes passed an exami- 
 nation and was admitted to the bar, begin- 
 ning his practice in partnership with judge 
 Kellum, which partnership continued two 
 years. Later he formed a partnership with 
 Judge Lowell, which lasted about six years. 
 When Mr. Lowell went on the bench, Mr. 
 Carnes formed a partnership with Gilbert 
 H. Denton, which continued till the fall of 
 1889, when it was dissolved, and a partner- 
 ship with George W. Dunton was formed, 
 since which time the firm of Carnes & Dun- 
 ton has been in existence. 
 
 Mr. Carnes was married June i, 1880, 
 to Helen A. McMollan, daughter of Archi- 
 bald and Ellen (Black) McMollan, both 
 natives of Scotland, and after marriage 
 came to the United States and located in 
 New York, later moving to Ogle county, 
 Illinois. He died in 1876, and his wife in 
 1885, at Oregon, Illinois. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Carnes one child was born, Hope, who 
 yet resides with her parents. Religiously 
 Mrs. Carnes is a member of the Presbyte- 
 rian church. Fraternally he is a Mason, 
 liavingtaken the Royal Arch degree. Politic- 
 ally he is a Republican. His law practice 
 
 has been such as to preclude his giving 
 much time to politics or to aspire to any 
 office. For several years he has been local 
 attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad, 
 and in special cases has been attorney for 
 other roads. 
 
 Mr. Carnes is a ripe jurist and an able 
 advocate. After his admission to the bar 
 he rose rapidly to the front in his profes- 
 sion, and with his partners, has been asso- 
 ciafed in nearly all the important cases 
 since he began his practice that ha\e come 
 before the De Kalb county bar. He is 
 found in the trial of most of the criminal 
 cases in the county, either in prosecution or 
 defense. He makes such cases a study, and 
 finds in them problems in human nature, 
 where his analytical mind has full play and 
 serves him well. His special forte as a law- 
 yer is as an advocate, and he rarely fails to 
 bring the minds of the jury to his cause. 
 When before the court or jury, he always 
 commands the closest attention. He pos- 
 sesses a fund of humor withal, and his 
 quaint sayings, apt illustrations and similies 
 are not the least attractive feature of his 
 legal oratory. In his profession he has 
 been a success, and holds the esteem, not 
 only of the bench and bar, but of the peo- 
 ple. He is possessed of fine instincts, char- 
 itable and kind to the deserving, of pleasant 
 manners, and an attractive conversation- 
 alist. 
 
 EDWIN JESSEN, foreman of the paint- 
 ing and dipping department in the 
 Ellwood Manufacturing Company, Pleasant 
 Street, De Kalb county, Illinois, resides ui 
 a pleasant and commodious home which he 
 erected for himself in the city of Sycamore, 
 where he also owns other valuable lots. He 
 
I ()-' 
 
 Tin: l^.lOGRAPHICAL KECOKD. 
 
 is a native of De Kalb, born June 3, 
 1864, and is the son of Jess and Helen 
 Jessen, who immigrated from Denmark to 
 this coimtry in 1865, locatini; in De Kalb, 
 [liinois, where they resided a few \ears, 
 then moved to Michigan, where the father 
 died. His wife survived him a few years, 
 dying in Sycamore, June 13, 1S93. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 and educated principally in De Ivalb, Illinois. 
 At the age of fifteen, he began to work for 
 the Ellwoods, in the paint shop at Syca- 
 more, and has since continued the work for 
 the same firm for eighteen years, several 
 years of which time he has been foreman of 
 the paint shop. On the 25th of January, 
 1893, lie married Miss Emma Ross, who 
 was born in 1870, in Mayfield township, and 
 wh(j is a daughter of Peter Ross, an early 
 settler of De Kalb county. By this union 
 there is one child, Archie Wihiier. 
 
 Faithfulness has been one of the charac- 
 teristics of our subj'ict, and by doing well 
 whatever work was intrusted to him, he won 
 not only the esteem of his employers, but 
 secured the cuntidence of his fellow citizens, 
 who elected hiiri lu the office of alderman of 
 Sycamore, in which position he served two 
 years. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America, and in social 
 life he is greatly esteemed, ha\ ing the man- 
 ners of a true gentleman. 
 
 ISRAEL R. WHITEMAN, deceased, was 
 1 for some years one of the leading farmers 
 in DeKalb township. He was born in Del- 
 aware county, Ohio, in 1832, and was the 
 son of John and Sarah Whiteman, also na- 
 tives of Ohio, who remu\ed to this county 
 in 1846. .\lter their arrival, John White- 
 man, the father, purchased one hundred and 
 
 sixty acres of land, which after a time he 
 sold to good advantage, buying another 
 tract west of the city, near where stands 
 the present new normal school building. 
 This, too, was put on ths market in due 
 time, and realized to its owner a large prof- 
 it. In 1872 he purchased another farm on 
 which he remained during the rest of his life, 
 dying in December, 1876, at the age of 
 seventy-four years. His wife survives him, 
 and has now reached the advanced age of 
 ninety-nine years. 
 
 Israel R. \\'hiteman was only si.x years 
 of age when he accompanied his parents to 
 De Kalb county. Here he spent the remain- 
 der of his life, with the exception of ten 
 years in Chicago, as foreman for Mr. Beers. 
 Even at that time, and notwithstanding his 
 father's removal to Michigan, he yet claimed 
 De Kalb as his home. On the 17th of June, 
 1858, he married Miss Ellen A. Price, born 
 near Cooperstown, New York, July 28, 1 830, 
 and the daughter of David and Polly Price, 
 who removed from New York to St. Charles, 
 Illinois, in 1844. David Price was a man 
 of good repute among his fellows, and for 
 fifty years was a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, during which time he 
 held the office of class leader and other of- 
 ficial positions. For four years he was 
 keeper of the countj-house at De Kalb. dis- 
 charging the duties of the position in a most 
 faithful manner. In early lite he was known 
 as Captain Price, having been captain of 
 militia in his native state. His interesting 
 family consisted of Lorenzo, Marie, Miner- 
 va, Juliette and Ellen. By the union of 
 Mr. Whiteman and Ellen Price, two children 
 were born, Frances M., born October 26, 
 1856, died April 30, 1864, and Minnie Grace, 
 born September 16, 1866, who married 
 ('harles Graham and is a resident of Chicago, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 lo; 
 
 While Mr. Whiteman was by occupation 
 a fanner, he was also a natural mechanic, 
 and at one time invented a machine for 
 making barb-wire fence. He was a leading 
 spirit in the organization of the Whiteman 
 Manufacturing Company, of Marsailles, La- 
 Salle county, Illinois, with a capital of thirty 
 thousand dollars, which organization was 
 later dissolved, on account of the death of 
 Mr. \\'hiteman. His death was immedi- 
 ately caused by being run over by a vehicle 
 in Chicago, resulting in complications which 
 finally caused his death, August 27, 1888, 
 at the age of fifty-five years. Fraternally 
 he was a member of the Masons, and was 
 always considered a trustworthy man, in the 
 various relations of life, one held in the 
 highest esteem by all who knew him. 
 
 SAMUEL M. SANDERSON, who resides 
 on section 39, Milan township, is the 
 owner of one hundred and sixty acres of well 
 improved land, which is kept under the high- 
 est state of cultivation. He was born in 
 La Salle county, Illinois, July 31, 1853, 
 and is the son of Sander H. Sanderson, a 
 native of Norway, who came to the United 
 States with his father, Henry Sanderson, 
 who located in La Salle county, Illinois, be- 
 ing among the first of the Norwegian nation- 
 ality to locate in that county. 
 
 Samuel H. Sanderson was the oldest of a 
 family of six children, all of whom had to 
 walk the greater part of the way from Chi- 
 cago to La Salle county. In that county 
 he married Ann Moland, a native of Nor- 
 way, who came to this country in childhood. 
 The occupation which Mr. Sanderson en- 
 gaged in La Salle county was that of a farm- 
 er, and on his removal to De Kalb county, 
 in 1863, he continued that vocation, pur- 
 
 chasing eighty acres of unimproved land, to 
 which he later added another eighty acres, 
 giving him a fine farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres of excellent prairie land. He 
 became quite a prominent man in Milan 
 township, and served some ten years as jus- 
 tice of the peace, and also held other official 
 positions. He was very helpful to the Nor- 
 wegians settling in his neighborhood and 
 did them many a good turn. He died in 
 Milan township in 1883, while his wife pre- 
 ceded him only about one week. 
 
 Samuel M. Sanderson was second in order 
 of birth in the family f)f five sons and four 
 daughters, who grew to mature years, all of 
 whom are yet living and are married; one, 
 Ole, died in infancy. He was reared in 
 De Ivalb county, and educated in the com- 
 mon schools, attending during the winter 
 months, and assisting in the farm work at 
 other seasons of the years. He remained 
 with his father until after he reached his 
 majority, and later forined a partnership 
 with him and engaged in the general mer- 
 cantile business at Lee for five years, during 
 which time he received a good business 
 training. 
 
 In La Salle county, Illinois, September 
 10, 1874, Dr. Sanderson was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Betsey K. Halverson, a na- 
 tive of La Salle county, and a daughter of 
 Knute Halverson, a native of Norway and 
 likewise one of the early Norwegians locat- 
 ing in La Salle county. Immediately after 
 his marriage, Mr. Sanderson rented a farm 
 and later purchased eighty acres where he 
 now resides, and on which he added eighty 
 acres adjoining, making him a fine farm of 
 one hundred and sixty acres. The place 
 was partially improved when he purchased, 
 but he has remodeled the house and erecttil 
 various outbuildings, and is now one of the 
 
I04 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 most successful farmers in the township. 
 He is also a stockholder, secretary and man- 
 ager of the Lee Creamery Association, an 
 enterprise which has been (|iiite successful. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson twelve chil- 
 <!ren have been born, si.\ of whom died 
 in infancy and early childhood. The living 
 are Harvey C. , Sander E., Eva A., Kinnie 
 O., Lester E. and Vira M. Politically Mr. 
 Sanderson is a Republican, and has given 
 his support to that party since 1876. He 
 has taken quite an active part in local poli- 
 tics, and was elected and served one term 
 as township collector, and in 1893 v\ as 
 elected supervisor of his township, and re- 
 elected in 1898, and is now serving his 
 second term. He has made a very faithful 
 and efficient oflicer, rendering complete sat- 
 isfaction to his constituents. His influence 
 has always been in favor of good schools, 
 and to that end he has given much of his 
 time as a member of the school board, and 
 clerk of his school district. He and his 
 wife are earnest and consistent members of 
 the Lutheran church. His life has been an 
 active one, and his friends are many, not 
 only in Milan township, but throughout De- 
 Kalb and Lee counties. 
 
 PETER VAN ALLEN QLTLHOT, of 
 Shabbona, Illinois, is a highly esteemed 
 citizen of the county, who dates his resi- 
 flence here since June 11, 1845. He is a 
 native of Cayuga county. New York, born 
 in the town of Victory, January 21, 1822. 
 On his father's side he is of French ancestry, 
 his great-grandfather, Dr. Quilhot, being a 
 native of France and a surgeon in the 
 French Navy. He was taken prisoner by 
 the British, during the French and English 
 war of 1765, and was later paroled in New 
 
 York, and settled in Columbia county. He 
 married, in New York, a Miss Vanderpool, a 
 native of Holland, a member of one of the 
 pioneer families of New York, from that 
 county. His son, James Ouilhot, was born 
 in Columbia county. Henry Ouilhot, the 
 son of James Quilhot, was the father of our 
 subject. He was born in the town of 
 Kinderhook, Columbia county. New York, 
 in 1789. He grew to manhood in his native 
 county and served in the war of 181 2. In 
 1817 he moved to Cayuga, being one of its 
 first settlers. Before moving to that county, 
 he was married, in Kinderhook, to Miss 
 Hannah Van .Allen, also a native of that 
 place, but of Holland parentage, the \'an 
 Aliens beingamong the pioneers of Columbia 
 county. On his removal to Cayuga county 
 he opened up a farm and there spent the 
 last years of his life, dying September 11, 
 182S, when about forty years of age. He 
 was a very vigorous and active man, and took 
 pride in doing more work than any other 
 one man could do. In one day he cradled 
 seven acres of rye, which brought on a con- 
 gestive chill, the cause of his death. His 
 wife survived him and passed away in Shab- 
 bona township, De Kalb county, May 20, 
 1867. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the seventh 
 in the family of ten children born to his 
 parents, all of whom grew to mature years. 
 James, born in Kinderhook, in 1S09, married 
 in Columbus, Ohio, where he located and 
 where his wife died. He was a soldier in 
 the United States Army, was taken sick, 
 and died in the hospital at Governor's isl- 
 and, about 1848. Myndert V., also born in 
 Kinderhook, in 181 i, married in New York, 
 came to Kalb county, in 1853, and here 
 died. Catherine, born in 1813, married 
 Daniel Husk, who has since died. She now 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RI^.COKD. 
 
 105 
 
 resides in Buffalo, New Yorl\. Elizabeth, 
 born in 181 5, married Peter Miller, and 
 they now reside in the town of Shabbona. 
 Maria married Nicholas I. Kipple, of Ren- 
 ssellaer county. New York. They came 
 west in 1849, settled in De Kalb county, 
 where her death occurred. Margaret 
 married Henry Kirkpatrick, and settled in 
 Kansas; she died May 12, 1897, in Shabbona. 
 Peter V. is the subject of this review. Jane 
 married Hiram P Allen, who was murdered 
 in Sandwich, Illinois, February 15, 18S0. 
 Mrs. Allen now resides in Chicago. Cornel- 
 ius v., who came to De Kalb county in 
 1849, now resides in Shabbona, living a 
 retired life. Caroline married William 
 Marks. Jr., and settled in De Kalb county in 
 1845, ^nd both are now deceased. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in Cayuga county. New York, and re- 
 ceived his education in the common schools, 
 supplemented by an attendance at Red 
 Creek Academy. He remained on the farm 
 for some years, after attaining his majority, 
 then commenced to learn the painter's 
 trade. After the first year he received 
 journeyman's wages, having become an ex- 
 pert painter. That trade he followed until 
 he came west in 1845. Leaving home he 
 came by way of Erie canal to Buffalo, and 
 thence by the lakes to Chicago, being ac- 
 companied by his sister and brother-in-law. 
 They came direct to De Kalb county and 
 located in Shabbona township, and the fol- 
 lowing year our subject entered a tract of 
 government land, comprising one hundred 
 and twenty acres. When he went to get 
 his first deed recorded, in 1846, he rode an 
 Indian pony across the prairie to Sycamore, 
 and as the old frame court house had not 
 been inclosed by a fence he rode right up 
 to the door of the Siinie. In that year he 
 
 sowed twelve acres of wheat on the farm of 
 a Mr. Miller. In 1847 he returned to Cay- 
 uga county. New York, and worked at his 
 trade for several months. In October, 1848, 
 he again came to De Kalb county, and in 
 the spring of 1849 built a small frame 
 house, for which he obtained the siding and 
 finished lumber in Chicago. He at once 
 commenced to improve the place, and in 
 1854 [Mirchased eighty acres adjoining, on 
 which he later moved. In 1863 he built a 
 large and substantial residence, erected a 
 barn and other outbuildings, thus putting 
 the place in a homelike condition. He con- 
 tinued to cultivate the farm until 1884, 
 when he rented the place, and four years 
 later removed to the village of Shabbona, 
 where he has since lived a retired life. In ad- 
 dition to his De Kalb county farm, he owns 
 two hundred acres in Morris county, Kan- 
 sas. Mr. Ouilhot was married in Soinonauk, 
 De Kalb county, .\ugust 8, 1850, to Miss 
 Frances M. Bacon, a native of Onondago 
 county, New "^'ork, where she was reared 
 and educated, and a daughter of Lyman 
 Bacon, one of the early settlers of De Kalb 
 county and one of the first members of the 
 county board of supervisors. He waff a 
 native of New York, and there married, 
 coming from Onondago county to De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, in 1846. By this union 
 there are si.x children. John J. married, in 
 1879, Fannie Burchard, and they now re- 
 side on the old home farm. Henry Bacon 
 is a farmer residing in Morris county, Kan- 
 sas; he married Alice Prescott, of Kansas, 
 in February, 1876. Helen E. is now the 
 wife of Richard K. Anderson, and they now 
 reside in Fort Scott, Kansas. Josephine 
 married John A. Swett, and they reside in 
 Harvey, Illinois, where he is emploj-ed as 
 station agent. Franklin \'. married Miss 
 
io6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Ida Pattfin, and they reside in Chicago, 
 where he is engaged in the grocer}' bnsi- 
 ness. Lila Sarah married Henry Loucks, 
 and thev reside in Victor township, De 
 Kalb county, where he is engaged in agri- 
 c-.ultnral pursuits. 
 
 PoliticalK Mr. (hiiihot is a stanch Re- 
 publican, having voted for every presiden- 
 tial nominee of the party from Fremont to 
 McKinley. His first presidential ballot, 
 however, was cast for fames K. Polk. He 
 has been honored by his fellow citizens 
 with various local offices, being elected 
 highway commissioner on the organization 
 of his townshi]). and later served as assessor 
 at different times. In 1862, he was first 
 elected as a member of the board of cocmty 
 supervisors, and at different times has 
 served seven terms. In 1883, he was chair- 
 man of important committees and has 
 served on almost all the important commit- 
 tees of the board. While he did not enter 
 the ser\ice during the Civil war, he showed 
 his patriotism and interest in the cause by 
 contributing to the support of the families 
 of volunteers and in raising the bounties 
 required to fill the quota of his township. 
 He gave fully twenty per cent, of the 
 amount contributed by the entire township 
 of the first cash subscription and also con- 
 tributed liberally for other purposes. For 
 two years and a half of the war he gave 
 much of his time in affording relief to sol- 
 diers' families of the volunteers. He per- 
 formed \arious duties pertaining to the en- 
 listment of recruits without remimeration. 
 
 Mrs. Ouilhot is a member of the Con- 
 gregational church, and while not a mem- 
 ber himself, Mr. Ouilhot attends the church 
 with his wife and gives of his means to 
 its support. Fraternally he is a member of 
 Shabbona Lodge, No. 374, A. F. & A. M., 
 
 having united \vith the order in 1863. For 
 twenty-five consecutive years he has served 
 as treasurer of the lodge. Mr. Ouilhot 
 has been a resident of Illinois for more than 
 half a century. When he came there were 
 but fifteen families in Shabbona township, 
 and old Shabbona was his neighbor. The 
 Indians resided in the neighborhood until 
 the fall of 1849, when they went to a reser- 
 vation in Kansas. Mr. Ouilhot is well 
 known thrt)Ughout De Kalb county, and is 
 held in the highest esteem by all. 
 
 T-'HOMAS J. WINDERS, editor and pro- 
 i prietor of the Malta Record and Cres- 
 ton Observer, makes his home in the for- 
 mer place, and is recognized as one who 
 has the best interests of his adopted county 
 at heart, always ready to advocate any 
 measure that will advance the best interests 
 of the community. He was born in Neva- 
 daville, Colorado, January 20, 1863, and is 
 the son of John X. and Susan (Powell) 
 Winders, both nati\es of Washington coun- 
 ty, Maryland, born about 1831. The fa- 
 ther was a civil engineer by profession, and 
 removed from his southern home to Polo, 
 Illinois, in 1S55, where he engaged in the 
 grain business for several years. He sub- 
 sequently removed to St. Joseph, Missouri, 
 with his family, and there remained about 
 two years, going from thence to Nevada- 
 ville, Colorado, where he engaged in min- 
 ing. 
 
 The subject nf this sketch remained 
 under the parental roof until in his sev- 
 enth year, when he came to Ogle county, 
 and after atten ling the common schools for 
 a time, entered the normal school at \'al- 
 paraiso, Indiana. He also took a course in 
 Aument's Business College at Sterling. Illi- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 107 
 
 nois, concluding his studies at Ncjrthern 
 Illinois College, Fulton, Illinois. 
 
 On leaving school, Mr. Winders removed 
 to Iowa where he engaged in the printing 
 business, remaining there until 1887, when 
 he removed to Chica{;o, in which citv he 
 engaged in like business until 1894. In 
 the spring of 1894 he returned to Polo, 
 Ogle county, Illinois, and in the fall of the 
 same year purchased a half interest in the 
 Malta Record and Creston Observer, be- 
 coming associated with L. L. O'Kane. In 
 February, 1895, he purchased the interest 
 of Mr. O'Kane and became sole proprietor 
 of the papers. At that time the plant was 
 at Creston, but in the fall of 1895 he re- 
 moved it to Malta. In March, 1897, he 
 formed a partnership with F. E. Campbell, 
 which continued one year, when he re-pur- 
 chased and again became sole proprietor. 
 
 On the 1 5th of July, 1896, Mr. Winders 
 was united in marriage with Mrs, Alice A. 
 Chapell, widow of the late Clarence E. 
 Chapell. He and his wife are members of 
 the Congregational church, uniting in 1896 
 under the pastorate of Rev. S. S. Unger. 
 They are both active workers in the church 
 and in the Young People's Society of Chris- 
 tian Endeavor. Mr. Winders is now serv- 
 ing as trustee and usher in the church. Po- 
 litically he is a Republican and has been an 
 active worker in the interest of the party, 
 advocating its principles with voice and pen, 
 and often serving as delegate t(j the various 
 conventions including congressional and 
 state. 
 
 Mr. Winders is a popular man and his 
 companionship is sought by various socie- 
 ties. He is a member of the Modern W'ood- 
 men of America, at Malta, of which he was 
 clerk in 1897. He is a charter member of 
 the M\stic Workers of the World, and has 
 
 been secretary of the order since its organi- 
 zation, January 13, 1S96. He is a charter 
 member of the Knights of Pythias at Malta, 
 of which he has been keeper of the records 
 and seals since March 25, 1896. He is also 
 a charter member of the Knights of the 
 Globe at Malta, and at the date of its or- 
 ganisation he was elected judge and one of 
 the board of managers, and is now past su- 
 preme judge. He is a member of the En- 
 dowment Rank of the Insurance order of 
 the Knights of Pythias. In each of these 
 organizations he has taken an active inter- 
 est and is an inlluential member. 
 
 WILLIAM A. PUEHL, a well-known 
 business man of Sycamore, Illinois, 
 was born in Buffalo, New York, June 5, 
 1857, and is the son of Louis A. and Sophia 
 (I^udwig) Buehl, both of whom are natives 
 of Germany. The father was born near 
 Heidelberg, January 13, 1827. At the age 
 of seventeen he came to America, leaving 
 in time to escape forced ser\ice in the 
 army. For a time he made his home in 
 New York City, where he married and 
 where several of his children were born. 
 He was for some years captain of one of 
 the crews of engines connected with the 
 fire department, under the old /v^'/wc, 
 where jealousies were rife and fights fre- 
 quent between rival crews at fires. On one 
 of the occasions, he was struck on the back 
 of his head with a speaking trumpet, and 
 was unable to discharge his duties while 
 that fire continued. Frequently the rival 
 crews would turn the stream upon each 
 other instead of upon the flames. About 
 1854, he removed to Buffalo, and some 
 time later he became interested in the man- 
 ufacture of shoes, at one time ha\ing the 
 
io8 
 
 THI-: BIOCKAPHICAL KIXOKI). 
 
 largest shoe store in Buffalo. He was a 
 a great traveler and traversed the greater 
 part of Europe and America. During the 
 Civil war, he enlisted in the United States 
 service, but the war closed before he reached 
 the front. .^bout 1872 he retired from 
 active business, and took life easy until his 
 death, April i, 1887. His wife was born 
 May 10, 1827, in Hohenberg, Kcenigfalz, 
 Bavaria, Germany, and came to America 
 with her parents, the voyage lasting forty- 
 seven days. To Lewis A. and Sophia 
 Buehl six sons and one daughter were 
 born, the latter dying at the age of fifteen 
 years. The five brothers of our subject yet 
 reside in I'>uffalo, where they are engaged 
 in business. 
 
 The early life of '-.nv subject was spent 
 in liis n.itive cit\-, where he attended school 
 No. 13, Oak street, Buffalo, until the age 
 of fourteen. Like many others, he regrets 
 quitting so soon, but he was ambitious to 
 get to earning his cjwn living, He was ap- 
 prenticed to a company of manufacturing jew- 
 elers, with whom he worked four years, then 
 learned watch-making, at which he worked 
 until coming west in 1878. He located first 
 at .Applet'in. Wisconsin, where he engaged in 
 manufacturing jewelry and doing repair 
 work. After remaining there some five or 
 si.\ years, he moved to Rockford, Illinois, 
 where he engaged in the same business for 
 about fifteen months. He then sold out 
 and for eight months traveled in California 
 for the benefit of his son's health. 
 
 .Mr. Buehl was married in Loomis, Mich- 
 igan, July 27, 1879, to Miss Annie Ostran- 
 der, born in Howard township, province of 
 Ontario, Canada, and a daughter of James 
 and Sarah (Gosnell) Ostrander. By this 
 union four children have been born — Buelah, 
 Russell, Willie and Farris. Of these Willie 
 
 is now deceased. The family are attend- 
 ants of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 Fraternally Mr. Buehl is a Mason, and a 
 member of the Knights of Pythias, Modern 
 Woodmen of America and National Union. 
 On returning to Illinois, Mr. Buehl came 
 to Sycamore, purchased a jewelry store, and 
 continued in business until the spring of 
 1898, when he sold his store in order to 
 give his entire time and attention to the 
 manufacture and introduction of the insu- 
 lating apparatus, invented bj- his friend, G. 
 G. Lewis, with whom he is in partnership 
 in the patent. Of these patents there are 
 four in number. The first was constructed 
 on the plan to pump the insulating liquid up 
 to the wires. This worked well on low 
 wires, but was not satisfactory on wires forty 
 or fifty feet from the ground. Another ar- 
 rangement on the same principle was pat- 
 ented, but that likewise was found defec- 
 tive. A third was constructed, with a bo.\ 
 to slide along the wires, which principle was 
 found to be the correct one, and a fourth 
 machine was constructed and patented, 
 which has o\ercome all objections and 
 meets all contingencies and conditions. 
 After coating the wires of a plant in a neigh- 
 boring town, the electric company noticed a 
 saving of fuel on the first day. The appli- 
 ance not onh' saves leakage of electricity 
 from the wires, but preserves the insulation 
 for manyyears. One commendable feature 
 of the process is its cheapness. Having 
 perfected the idea, Buehl & Lewis aregiving 
 their attention to introducing it to the pub- 
 lic. 
 
 CAPTAIN ALMON FORD PARKE re- 
 sides upon a fine farm in sections 7, 8 
 and 9, Sycamore township. He was bom 
 
CAPT. A. F. PARKE. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL R!:C()RI). 
 
 in the town of Evans, Erie county, New 
 York, January 25, 1838, and is the son of 
 Larinon Z. and Martha \\'. (Fenton) Parke, 
 the former born in 1800, and the latter in 
 1799. The paternal grandfather, Reuben 
 Parke, was born June 10, 1772, and died in 
 Indiana, when about ninety years old. He 
 married Elizabeth R. Ford, a daughter of 
 Almond I'ord, a captain in the war of 1812, 
 for whom our subject was named. She 
 was born in Connecticut and buried in I)e 
 Kalb, and was buried on her ninety-tifth 
 birthday. Larmon Z. Parke was a car- 
 penter and joiner and followed that trade 
 until compelled to give it up, when he 
 learned the trade of a mason; was a tine 
 mason and followed that until he received a 
 stroke of paralysis, during the war. He 
 resided on a small farm near De Kalb for 
 many years. His death occurred Septem- 
 ber 14, 1885, in DeKalb where he was then 
 residing. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 district schools in his native county and 
 state, until the age of eighteen years, in 
 the meantime assisting in the farm work 
 during the summer months. The famih" 
 resided about eighteen miles from Buffalo, 
 to which city he hauled the farm produce. 
 In 1856 he accompanied his parents west, 
 the fannl\- locating in De Kalb township. 
 He attended the De Kail) High School, and 
 also one term at Mt. Morris Seminarv, 
 which completed his school life. He then 
 taught school for one term. His father fol- 
 lowing the trade of a mason, all the sons 
 were required to learn the same trade, and 
 were good rnasons, before attaining their 
 majority. Our subject learned not only the 
 brick and stone mason trade, but also plas- 
 tering. \\'hen twenty years old, he hired 
 his time from his father, and followed ma- 
 
 sonry on his own account until the second 
 year of the Civil war, doing his last work 
 in the fall of 1862, t)n a school-house in De 
 Kalb. 
 
 Believing that it was his dutj to assist 
 his country, Mr. Parke assisted in raising a 
 company, and was mustered into the service 
 at Dixon, Illinois, September J, 1862, as 
 second lieutenant of Compaii} K, One 
 Hundred and b'iftli Illinois X'okmleer In- 
 fantry. \\'ith his regiment he was sent to 
 Camp Douglass, Chicago, from which place 
 it was sent to Louissille, Frankfort and 
 Bowling Green, Kentucky, thence to Nash- 
 ville, and wintered at South Tunnel, near 
 the latter city. W^hile in camp at South 
 Tunnel, Lieutenant Parke was taken sick 
 with typhoid fever, from which he suf- 
 fered two months. When con\alescent, 
 he was assigned to duty with the pioneer 
 corps and sent to Murphysborough. \\'ithin 
 three months after being mustered into 
 the service, our subject was promoted first 
 lieutenant, arid while on duty with the 
 pioneer corps, the captain of his company 
 resigned, when he was commissioned cap- 
 tain, and ordered back to take command of 
 his company. 
 
 Soon after receiving his commission as 
 captain, our subject joined his company at 
 Nashville, and reported for dut\-. From 
 Nashville, with his regiinent, he went to 
 the Wauhatchie X'alley, and in the spring 
 of 1864 entered on the Atlanta Campaign. 
 He was in every battle during that cam- 
 paign, but never was wounded, although 
 shot through the coat, and his sca!)bard 
 once struck with a minie ball. .After the 
 .Atlanta campaign, the Twentieth .Army 
 Corps, of which the One Hundred and Fifth 
 Illinois Regiment formed a part, was given 
 rist at Atlanta. The father of Captani 
 
I 12 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Parke having received a stroke of paralysis, 
 the Captain secured a leave of absence and 
 returned home for seven days. On return- 
 ing; to his regiment, he found that it had 
 gone on the march to the sea. He got as 
 far as Nashville, then went to Chattanooga, 
 but could not get through. He was then 
 assigned to the command of a company at 
 Nashville, and for a time was under 
 General Thomas, and later under General 
 Harrison. After Sherman reached the sea. 
 Captain Farke was relieved from dutv in 
 Tennessee, where he had been serving on 
 the military commission, trying criminal 
 cases. When the commission was dissolved, 
 he received an order to report to his com- 
 mand at Raleigh, North Carolina. While 
 en route upon the ocean, he learned of 
 Lincoln's assassination at Morehead City, 
 passing boats having their flags at half mast. 
 From Raleigh his regiment marched through 
 Virginia on its way to Washington, and our 
 subject had a glimpse of Libby Prison, and 
 saw many of the battlefields of the Eastern 
 Army. After the Grand Review, in which 
 it participated, his regiment was ordered to 
 Chicago where it was mustered out of serv- 
 ice June 7, 1865. 
 
 On being mustered out. Captain Parke 
 returned home and resumed his trade in 
 De Kalb, and later in partnership with a 
 brother, who owned one hundred and sixty 
 acres, he purchased eighty acres of land 
 on Section n, Afton township, nine miles 
 south of De Kalb. He continued at his 
 trade, however, until about 1869, when, 
 with his brother, he bought another farm 
 in Afton township, on sections i and 12, 
 and in connection with his trade followed 
 farming until 1870, when the partnership 
 with his brother was dissolved, and he con- 
 tinued in possession of the farm. In 1871 
 
 he mo\ed to the farm in Afton township, 
 where he resided until February, 1873, 
 when he came to his present farm, at that 
 time consisting of two hundred and forty 
 acres. In 1884 he built a residence forty 
 by forty-four feet, and twenty-six feet in 
 height. The building is a brick with hard- 
 wood finish, and a large tank in the garret 
 supplied water for the entire house. On 
 the place is a model barn, thirty-four by 
 one hundred and two feet. Since taking 
 possession of the farm. Captain Parke has 
 put down about three miles of tilings, set 
 out orchard trees which gives the place a 
 beautiful appearance. 
 
 Captain Parke was married September 
 r, 1870, to Miss Ruth Hall, who was born 
 in a log house which is still standing, on a 
 farm just north of our subject, in which the 
 county court was once held. At the time 
 it was built it was the largest and finest 
 house in the county. She is a daughter of 
 Ephraim Hall, born in Wallingsford, Con- 
 necticut, March 15, 1S08, and who came to 
 De Kalb county in the fall of 1836. In his 
 native state, he engaged in the manufacture 
 of Britania ware. His death occurred in 
 De Kalb county, within one week of the age 
 of eighty-eight years. To our subject and 
 wife seven children have been born, six of 
 whom are yet living. Martha W. died at 
 an early age. Nelson R. is proprietor of a 
 feed stable in Helvidere, Illinois. Henry 
 H. is assistant curator of the Museum at 
 the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He 
 attended a school of embriology, at Wood's 
 Hall, Massachusetts, in the summer of 
 1898. Mary and Mila are graduates of the 
 Sycamore High School, the latter being a 
 teacher in the home district. Ruth and 
 Eleanor G. are attending the high school in 
 Sycamore. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAI. RECORD. 
 
 1 1 
 
 In politics Captain Parke is a Democrat. 
 Fraternally he was formerly a Mason, hold- 
 ing membership with the blue lodge and 
 chapter. For about twenty years he has 
 served as a school director, and since living 
 in his present district has been clerk of the 
 school board. He is one of the best farm- 
 ers in De Kalb county, his farm showing 
 evidence of thrift at every hand. 
 
 DR. C. SCHUYLER, dentist, with oi¥ice 
 on the corner of Third and Main 
 streets, De Kalb, Illinois, is one of the lead- 
 ing dental practitioners of the county, none 
 sustaining a higher reputation for skill and 
 reliability. While he is a young man in 
 years and practice, he is in the front of his 
 profession, being a thoroughly expert den- 
 tist, both in the mechanical and surgical 
 branches of the art. He is a graduate of 
 the Chicago College of Dental Surgery, and 
 has been established in De Kalb, Illinois, 
 since his graduation from that institution in 
 1891. From the time that he tirst opened 
 his office he ha.s been steadily increasing his 
 hold on popular favor and patronage. His 
 rooms are neat, well appointed, and fur- 
 nished with approN'ed dental appliances, 
 enabling him to do work in the very best 
 form of art. All operations comprehended 
 in modern dentistrj' are performed in a 
 superior manner, and satisfaction is guar- 
 anteed in every instance. 
 
 Dr. Schuyler was born in Nunica, Mich- 
 igan, February 23, 1868, and is the son of 
 James H. and Mary (Sixbury) Schuyler, 
 who were residents of Michigan at the time 
 of the Doctor's birth. There his mother's 
 death occurred, but the father subsequently 
 removed to Sycamore, Illinois, where the 
 Doctor received his early training and fitted 
 
 himself for college. On the second of Sep- 
 tember, 1896, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Harriet D. Goodrich, the accom- 
 plished daughter of Erastus and Phebe 
 Goodrich. She is a native of New York, 
 born in 1871, and came with her parents to 
 DeKalb county in 1879. Here she grew 
 to womanhood, and received her educa- 
 tion. 
 
 James H. Schuyler, the father of our 
 subject, was united in marriage, at Syca- 
 more, Illinois, May 9, 1S66, with Miss Mary 
 E. Sixbury, and they shortly afterwards 
 removed to Nunica, Michigan, where two 
 sons were born to them, Colfax, our sub- 
 ject, and James C. Mrs. Mary E. Schuj- 
 ler was born at Sycamore, DeKalb county. 
 May 30, 1838, and died at Nunica, Michi- 
 gan, February 7, 1876. Mr. Schuj'ler 
 afterwards married a second wife, by whom 
 he had one son. Joseph Sixbury, the father 
 of Mrs. Mary E. Schuyler, was one of the pio- 
 neers of Sycamore, locating in that place 
 in 1837. He was one of the men who as- 
 sisted in locating the county seat at Syca- 
 more. Both he and his wife were de\'oted 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 in which he held the office of class leader 
 and steward for several years. He was born 
 in Amsterdam, Montgomery county, New 
 York, November 7, 1810, and died at Syca- 
 more, December 28, 1879. His wife was 
 born at the same place, March 2, 1815, and 
 died in 1880. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM M. B\EKS, one of the 
 old and prominent citizens of Y)e Kalb 
 county, now residing in Sycamore, dates his 
 residence from pioneer times, having come 
 to the county in 1841, in company with his 
 parents, and has here since cunliiuud lo 
 
"4 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 reside. He was born in Andes, Delaware 
 county, New York, March 20, 1821, and is 
 the son cf James and Jane (Scott) Byers, 
 both of whom were native of Dumfrie.-^siiire, 
 Scotland, where they were married prior to 
 their emigration to this country. In his 
 native land, James Byers was a herder, an 
 occupation which was not a very profitable 
 one. Learning of the opportunities afforded 
 the poor man in the United States, he 
 determined to make that land his home. 
 Whh his family, in 1818, he set sail and in 
 due time landed in New York, from which 
 place he went to Delaware county, that 
 state, where he purchased a farm of the 
 Hardenburg patent, on which he resided for 
 twenty-lhree \ ears. 
 
 The great west was now being opened 
 up for settlement, and the fame of the 
 prairie state had penetrated the old state of 
 New York, so he determined to sell out and 
 move west, where the opportunities were 
 still greater for advancement. In 1S41, he 
 sold his place in New York, and came direct 
 to De Kalb county', Illinois, and took up a 
 claim in what is now South Grove township, 
 a tract of land which he afterwards pur- 
 chased when it came into market. On this 
 tract he built a residence and commenced 
 its improvement, and there he continued to 
 reside during the remainder of his life. He 
 continued to give personal attention to the 
 management of his farm, as long as age and 
 health would permit, when he sold, but 
 reserved a home interest during his life. 
 He died December 10, 1874. 
 
 During the existence of that party, 
 James Byers was an old-line Whig. A be- 
 liever in the freedom of all mankind, he 
 espoused the principles of the Republican 
 party on its organization and continued to 
 act with that party until the end. He was 
 
 a leader among the people, and held various 
 official positions, being a justice of the peace 
 for many years. During the administration 
 of the elder Harrison he was appointed 
 postmaster of South Grove, being the second 
 incumbent of the office at that place. Phys- 
 ical h' he was a man of good size, strongi}' 
 built and was usually in the. enjoyment of 
 the best of health. His wife died in 1872. 
 They were the parents of six children — 
 John; William M., our subject; Christine, 
 who married John Nichols; James; Asel B. ; 
 and Jane, who died in childhood. Of this 
 number, James and the subject of this 
 sketch are all that are living. 
 
 William M. B^ers was reared on the 
 farm in Delaware county, New York, where 
 he attended the common schools. He was 
 not yet twenty-one when his parents came 
 west. \\'hen of age he worked with his 
 father in partnership, until he was twent}'- 
 eight years old, when he mo\ed to the farm, 
 which had been purchased for lum. in South 
 Grove township, consisting of a quarter- 
 section of land. At first he engaged in 
 grain farming, and later went into stock and 
 general farming. Soon after locating on his 
 original farm, he purchased forty acres of 
 raw prairie, after which he purchased one 
 hundred acres adjoining his old farm. Later 
 he added another hundred acres ad joining, 
 and then purchased a quarter section in 
 Malta township, which he fenced and culti- 
 '\ated in connection with his other purchases. 
 Soon after he purchased the first ipiarter- 
 section of land, he then bought eight}' acres. 
 Later he bought an eighty and a forty-acre 
 tract, that squared his first purchase. His 
 next purchase was a quarter section in South 
 Grove township, which he cultivated, after 
 which he bought the old homestead of three 
 hundred and ninety-seven acres. He then 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 I I 
 
 p.irchased thirty-five acres of tiinb-r land 
 adjoining his first purchase. He now owns 
 upwards of one thousand acres, having oc- 
 casionally sold small tracts from his posses- 
 sions. His farms are now worked on the 
 shares. When he was actively engaged in 
 farming he made a specialty of raising hogs, 
 cattle, sheep and horses. All in all, the 
 raising of hogs was the most profitable, 
 though during the war sheep paid well. 
 
 On the organization of the township, 
 Mr. Byers was elected trustee, which posi- 
 tion he held for some years, and was then 
 elected township treasurer, holding that 
 office for twenty-one years. For some 
 years he served as road commissioner and 
 was elected and served several terms as 
 justice of the peace. In 1852, he was 
 elected supervisor, and was then re-elected. 
 After a lapse of a few years, he was again 
 elected and re-elected three times. During 
 the last three years of his term of service, 
 he was chairman of the board, a position 
 he filled to the entire satisfaction of its mem- 
 bers and the public generally. 
 
 In 1876, Mr. Byers was elected to the 
 legislature from De Kalb county, and 
 was re-elected in 1878, serving two 
 terms. While a member he was chairman 
 of the committee on miscellaneous subjects, 
 and was on the committee of education, 
 highways and other important committees. 
 He was an active member, and represented 
 his constituents with signal ability. 
 
 Mr. Byers was united in marriage at 
 South Grove, January 10, 1833, to Miss 
 Mary Ann Adee, daughter of Jonathan and 
 Jane (Thompson) Adee. She was a native 
 of Delaware county, New York, while her 
 father was a native of New York state, and 
 her mother of Ireland. By this union were 
 two children, John T. and .Augustus, the 
 
 latter dying in iiifanc}'. John married 
 Elizabeth Gibson, and they have si.\ chil- 
 dren, three boys and three girls, Arthur, 
 Myrtie, Charles, Mabel, Margaret and James. 
 They reside on the old home farm. Mrs. 
 Mary A. Byers died November 12, t856. For 
 his second wife Mr. B3ers married, Septem- 
 ber I, 1859, Miss Jane Adee, a sister of his 
 first wife. They have had three children — 
 Delia, Anna and Jenny. The first named 
 died in 1887. Anna married Gilbert H. 
 Denton, a manufacturer of mining machin- 
 ery and building material, and they now 
 reside in Denver, Colorado. By profession 
 he is a lawyer. They have two children, 
 \\"illiam B. and Karen Irene. Jenny is 
 living at home. 
 
 In 1876, Mr. Byers mo\ed with his fam- 
 ily to Sycamore, where he purchased an 
 elegant home on Somonauk street, where he 
 is now living somewhat retired from active 
 life. Since corning to the city, and during 
 Mayor Elwood's term of office, he was call- 
 ed upon and served as alderman two terms. 
 He is one of the substantial men of the 
 county, his farms being among the finest 
 and best, and no man in it is held in higher 
 esteem. A strong Republican, his influence 
 in the party has ever been great, and he 
 has done much to promote its interest. 
 Religiousl}', Mrs. Byers is a member of the 
 Congregational church at Sycamore'. For 
 more than fifty years he has gone in and 
 out among the people of De Kalb county, 
 and it can be salely said that few men have 
 done more to advance the material welfare 
 of the county. 
 
 o 
 
 RLANDO CARTER, deceased, was 
 one of De Kalb county's worthy pio- 
 neers. Hi: Was burn m Chenango c(juiiI\', 
 
I i6 
 
 TH1-: BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 New ^'o^k, |Hiiuary 29, 1830, and was 
 eleven \ears of age when his parents, Jared 
 and Lydia (Ames) Carter, removed to (Jhio, 
 where the\- cimtiniied t(5 reside two years, 
 and at the end of tliat time made another 
 transfer to losva. In 1.S4S they came to 
 Illinois and settled in l)e Kalb county, 
 where the father became extensively engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits. He died in July, 
 1855, while his wife survived him a number 
 of years, d\ing in No\ember. 1872. Their 
 children were Eveline, Orlando, Clark, 
 Da\id, Lydia, Jared and Joseph. 
 
 Erom the time Orlando Carter accom- 
 panied his parents to De Kalb county. Illi- 
 nois, he made it the field of active opera- 
 tions uj) to the time of his death, which oc- 
 curred in 1895. He was twice married, 
 his first wife being Miss Elizabeth Camp- 
 bell, to whom he was wedded July 4, 1852. 
 She was a native of New York, and the 
 daughter of William and Sallie Campbell, 
 who were formerly residents of Afton town- 
 ship, De Kalb county, but who remo\ed in 
 1879 to Nebraska. The Campbells came 
 to De Kalb county about the same time the 
 Carters did. Mrs. Carter died April 6, 1853, 
 and Mr. Carter was again married in De 
 Kalb, December 25, 1855, to Miss Huldah 
 White, a native of New York, born Febru- 
 ary 5, 1836. Her parents removed from 
 New York to Kaneville, Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, about 1840. In I 854 they remo\ed to 
 De Kalb, Illinois, where her father died the 
 following year of smallpox. His wife survived 
 him many years, dying in i 892. Their family 
 consisted of six children, Mrs. Carter being 
 the only member of the family remaining 
 in De Kalb county, the others residing in 
 other parts. The children born to Oi lando 
 and Elizabeth Carter were William O., born 
 October 14, 1856; Charles D., November 
 
 19. 1858; Jesse M., July 5, i8ui; Ernest, 
 September 24, 1864; Eva, March 12, 1868; 
 Mabel, October 23, 1871; and Cleo, July 
 13, i87(). They are all living and residing 
 in the cit}' of De Kalb, when- they were 
 born . 
 
 Mr. Carter led a life of activitj' and fru- 
 gality, and was respected and esteemed b\- 
 all who knew him. He was one of the sub- 
 stantial men of the township, owning a fine 
 farm of three hundred and twenty acres, all 
 under excellent improvement. Besides this 
 he owned valuable property in the city of 
 De Kalb, where he resided for several years 
 previous to his death. In 1881 he pur- 
 chased a li\ery stable, and successfully con- 
 ducted the business up to the time of his 
 sickness, which resulted in his death. Po- 
 litically he cast his lot with the Demo- 
 cratic party. Fraternally he was a member 
 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
 being a charter member of the lodge in De 
 Kalb. His remains were laid to rest in the 
 beautiful cemetery of De Kalb. 
 
 PELEG S. WINSLOW, of Hinckley, 
 Illinois, after a long and useful life, is 
 now li\'ing retired. His residence in Illi- 
 nois dates froin 1842, when he located in 
 Kane county. He is a native of Massachu- 
 setts, born in the town of Chalmont, Frank- 
 lin county, March 3, 1823, and is the son 
 of Dr. George Winslow, who was born in 
 Vermont in 1783. The family are of En- 
 glish descent, being descended from one of 
 two brothers who came to America in the 
 Mayflower and originally settled in Massa- 
 chusetts. 
 
 Dr George Winslow grew to manhutid 
 in Vermont, there studied medicine, and 
 later moved to Colerain, Massachusetts, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 1: 
 
 where he began to practice his profession. 
 He was married three times, his last wife 
 being the mother of our subject. Her name 
 was Harriet Severance, and she was a na- 
 tive of Massachusetts. The Doctor prac- 
 ticed in Massachusetts for some years and 
 later came west, locating at Big Rock, Kane 
 county, Illinois, where he resumed practice 
 in which he continued some years, his pro- 
 fessional services being required in both 
 Kane and De Kalb counties. He died at 
 Big Rock November 2, 1848, his wife sur- 
 viving him for some years, dying in De Kalb 
 county. 
 
 Peeig S. Winslow spent his boyhood and 
 youth in Massachusetts where he received 
 a fair education in the common school and 
 in Chalmont Seminary. From his boyhood 
 he worked on a farm in summers, and at- 
 tended school during the winter months. 
 He remained at home until he attained his 
 majority, when he came west to Kane coun- 
 ty, Illinois, with Thomas Judd, who located 
 there some years previous. On arriving in 
 Kane county he went to work for Mr. Judd 
 at Sugar Grove. On coming west, there 
 being no railroad west of Ann Arbor, Mich- 
 igan, he walked across that state to St. 
 Joseph where he took a boat across the lake 
 to Chicago, walking from there to Sugar 
 Grove. After working for Mr. Judd during 
 the summer of his arrival, in the fall of the 
 same year, in partnership with his brother. 
 Ebon Winslow, he purchased two hundred 
 acres of raw land on credit, on the west line 
 of Kane county. The following year he 
 bioke and fenced forty acres, and in the 
 second year put in a crop. After building 
 a small shanty, twelve by fourteen feet, he- 
 moved in and there lived while further de- 
 veloping the place. He later built a large, 
 peat and substantial residence with good barn 
 
 and other outbuildings, and there successful- 
 ly engaged in farming until 1874, when he 
 came to Hinckley, but continued to give 
 personal attention to his farm for four 
 years, after which he rented the place. He 
 then built a business house in Hinckley and 
 engaged in agricultural implement business 
 for fourteen years, then sold out and has 
 since lived retired. 
 
 At Sugar Grove, Kane county, Illinois, 
 May 6, 1847, Mr. Winslow was united in 
 marriage with Miss Mary Alice Randall, a 
 native of Connecticut, born in North Ston- 
 ington, June 26, 1828, and a daughter of 
 Jedediah Randall, who located in Sugar 
 Grove township, Ivane county, in 1842. 
 Previous to this, however, he resided for a 
 time in New York state, moving from there 
 to Kane county, Illinois. By this union 
 were three children, the first born dying 
 when but five months old. Frank L. , the 
 second born, is well educated, a telegraph 
 operator, who served also as agent of the 
 Chicago & Iowa Railroad at Hinckley for 
 twenty-two years. He then went to Men- 
 dota, and for three years was in the freight 
 department of the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Qnincy Railroad. He is now agent at Riv- 
 erside, Illinois. He was married in Aurora 
 to Ida E. Palmer, and they had one son, 
 Ralph Palmer, who died when about seven- 
 teen years of age. The third child of our 
 subject is Belle, who remains at home and 
 is housekeeper for her father. 
 
 Mr. Winslow has been a Republican 
 since the organization of the party, having 
 voted for John C. Fremont in 1856, and 
 for every presidential nominee of that party 
 from that time to the present. He never 
 desired nor would he accept office, save 
 that of school director. His good wife died 
 April 3, 1891. For man\' je^rs she was a 
 
1 iS 
 
 Tin; r.IOGRAPHICAL KKCOKD. 
 
 uieiiibtr ui the Baptist church, and was a 
 firm believer in the (Christian religion, en 
 deavorinfi lo walk faithfully in the steps of 
 lier Master. Mi\ \\'insl(i\v is also a mem- 
 ber of the Baptist church, and has for 
 years taken a somewhat active part. For 
 lifty-si.\ years he has been a resident of Illi- 
 ncjis, ai.d is therefore classed among the 
 (■arly settlers, one who has li\'ed to see the 
 man\- wonderful changes that have so rap- 
 idly followed each other in the last iialf 
 century. His life has been an e.xemplary 
 one, ;ii)d all who know him liave for him 
 the utmost respect. 
 
 HAK\ EV A. jOXES has been one of the 
 leading members of the De Kalb coun- 
 ty bar for o\era generation. He was born 
 on the banks of the historical Burnett 
 Creek, that winds its way through the old 
 Tippecanoe battle ground, not many miles 
 from Lafayette, Indiana, October 17, 1837. 
 His paternal ancestors came from Cardigan- 
 shire, South Wales, and settled on the 
 Delaware Welsh tract, in 1710. where yet 
 stands the old Welsh tract Baptist church, 
 with British bullets imbedded in its walls, 
 and where five of Mr. Jones' ancestors 
 preached the gospel in the days before the 
 Revolution. • 
 
 David Jones, the father of our subject, 
 was born near Richmond, \irginia, Febru- 
 ary 18, 1798, and went with his parents to 
 Monongahela county, Virginia, now West 
 Virginia, when he was three years old. At 
 the age of sixteen he was a pioneer of Clark 
 county, Ohio, and in early manhood moved 
 to Indiana, where he died November 11, 
 1849. He married Mary Owens, daughter 
 of Asa and Deborah (McMunn) Osvens, 
 
 Southern Ouakers. whose anci,slors were of 
 Savannah, Georgia. Jonathan Owens, the 
 father of Asa, had his right hand cut off by 
 the British durinij the l^evolution, becruise 
 he would not tight, being a Quaker. 
 
 Daniel |oiies, the grandfather of our 
 subject, was born near Wilmington, Dela- 
 ware, .Vpril 10, 1754. He died in Clark 
 county, Ohio, May 12, iS^2. He was a 
 pioneer in West X'irginia. but lived three 
 sears in Greene county, PeiinsvKania, then 
 settled in Clark county, Ohio. Kew David 
 Jones — chaplain of " Mad Anthony " Wayne 
 and of General Gates' regiments — was a 
 cousin of Daniel Jones. He was the grand- 
 father of Horatio Gates Jones, the historian 
 of Philadelphia. (See Appleton's Biograph- 
 ical Dictionary.) His father, the great- 
 grandfather of our subject, was James Jones, 
 a native of Wales, born in 1707, and who 
 on coming to this country, located in New- 
 Castle county, Delaware, where his death 
 occurred May 26, 1786 He was a Baptist 
 clergyman, and was a surgeon in the Ameri- 
 can army, under General Gates. He mar- 
 ried Susanna Williams of the Welsh tract. 
 New Castle county, Delaware. His father 
 I^ev. David Jones, who was a great-great- 
 grandfather of our subject, was born in 
 I'orrest ap I^lanwenog, Cardiganshire, 
 Wales, in 1668, and came to .America in 
 1710, settling in New Castle county, Dela- 
 ware, where he died .August 20, 1748. He 
 was a Calvinist Methodist clergyman, and 
 married Esther Morgan, daughter of ^forgan 
 ap Rhydrith, a chieftain in Cardiganshire, 
 under Crotnwell. Asa Owen's people were 
 from Wales, and as already stated were 
 Quakers in religious belief. The ancestors 
 of Deborah McMunn were also Quakers, and 
 came from the north of Ireland. They 
 came to the United States and located in 
 
HARVEY A. JONES. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL. RECORl 
 
 12 I 
 
 Georgia, with the Oglethorpe settlers. Biith 
 tatiiilies were early settlers in Clark count}, 
 Ohio, locating near Dayton, in 1812, where 
 the parents of our subject were married. 
 During their early married life, they emi- 
 grated to Tippecanoe count}', Indiana. Of 
 their children, Amanda married Benjamin 
 Morehouse, and is now deceased. John M. 
 C. was among the early seekers for gold in 
 California, where he settled and later be- 
 came sheriff of Siskiyou count}-. He died 
 in 1882. Abel went to Oregon. |ames O. 
 was graduated at the law department of the 
 University of Michigan, but later became a 
 farmer in Indiana. Deborah, who married 
 Owen Hill, is deceased. Lewis is a farmer 
 in Missouri. Levi M. was a real estate 
 agent at Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is now- 
 deceased. Harve}- A., our subject, was 
 next in order of birth. David C. was a 
 graduate of the law department of the Uni- 
 x'ersity of Michigan, figured quite promi- 
 nently in politics in Tippecanoe, but is now- 
 deceased. Asa F., was a physician and re- 
 sided on the old homestead at Grand 
 Prairie, Indiana, until his death. 
 
 The early years of Harvey A. Jones were 
 spent at home, like most farmer boys. Until 
 the age of seventeen he attended the com- 
 mon schools of his neighborhood, and then 
 became a student in the Wabash Indiana 
 College, of Crawfordsville, Indiana, finish- 
 ing his literary course, however, at Lom- 
 bard University, Galesburg. After leaving 
 college in 1861, he went to Missouri, where 
 he engaged in teaching. After a few months 
 spent in that profession, on account of the 
 Civil war, he was compelled to change his 
 plans. Returning to Illinois, he became a 
 studenffti the law office oi Hon. A. M. Har- 
 rington, of Geneva, Kane count}-. He read 
 law there until 1863, when he entered the 
 
 Universit}' of Michigan, and was graduated 
 from the law department in 1865. 
 
 After leaving the university, Mr. Jones 
 settled in Sycamore, Illinois, to commence 
 the practice of his profession. He formed 
 a partnership with Daniel B. James, later 
 county judge, which partnership terminated 
 in 1869. His next law partner was Charles 
 A. Bishop, now judge of the sixteenth judi- 
 cial circuit, who became associated with 
 him in 1880, and who had been a student 
 in his office. This partnership continued 
 until 1887, when it was dissolved. The}- 
 made a strong law firm, and there were few 
 cases of importance in De Kalb county in 
 which they were not on one side or the 
 other. Later he formed a partnership with 
 C. D. Rogers, which still continues. 
 
 Mr. Jones practices in both state and 
 federal courts, and during his long legal 
 career has been associated with some of the 
 most important litigations before the courts 
 of this circuit. Among the noted cases in 
 which he has been associated as counsel are 
 Pritckard vs. Walker, in which he was 
 counsel for the plaintiff; Walker vs. Pritck- 
 ard, when he was counsel for the defendant; 
 foius vs. Lloyd, when he was counsel fdr 
 plaintiff; Pooler vs. Cliristman, when he 
 was counsel for the plaintiff; Barroics vs. 
 City of Sycamore. This last was a damage 
 suit brought by the plaintiff against the city 
 for the erection of a standpipe. This case 
 was prosecuted by Mr. Jones, assisted by 
 his partner. All of these cases mentioned 
 were noted ones, and attracted wide atten- 
 tion by their importance, and the legal 
 ability with which they were conducted on 
 both sides, and on account of the nice legal 
 points involved. In the case of Halle vs. 
 Ball — in which Mr. Jones took the position 
 that a married woman had the right to sue 
 
I 32 
 
 THE BIOGKAl'HICAL RECORD. 
 
 in her own name. This was the first case 
 of tlie kind to be brought in Illinois, the 
 ie^ai ruling having heretofore been con- 
 trary to his position. There has since been 
 a law placed on the statute books permit- 
 ting a woman to bring action in her own 
 name. 
 
 Mr. [ones is careful and methodical in 
 the preparation of causes, and when he 
 goes to trial either as a prosecutor or a de- 
 fender, the client vvill not suffer the want 
 for a vigorous, able and skillful handling of 
 his cauje. Before a jury he is strong and 
 convincing, always presenting the points in 
 his case in a clear, logical and con\'incing 
 niaTiner. He is a good advocate and good 
 pleader, strong in his own case, and a for- 
 midable opponent. 
 
 Mr. Jones is a member of the Masonic 
 Order, and has attained the Knight Tem- 
 plar degree. He is also a member of the 
 Independent Order of Odd F"ellows and the 
 Knights of the Globe. Politically he has 
 been a consistent Republican, and has given 
 as much time to the advocacy of its prin- 
 ciples as his arduous professional duties 
 would allow. In 1888, he was presidential 
 elector for the tilth Illinois district. He 
 has always been an ardent temperance man, 
 and with voice and pen has labored for the 
 cause, believing however that its interests 
 could the better be served through the Re- 
 publican party. 
 
 Neither in his reading or his studies has 
 Mr. Jones confined himself to the law. His 
 mind has taken a wide range in other fields 
 of thought and literature, keeping himself 
 well posted in the topics that interest the 
 people in the closing days of the nineteenth 
 century. He did not lea\e off study when 
 he lell the college hall, but his books have 
 still been his companions, often to shake 
 
 off the dust of courts and law books, to re- 
 fresh and soothe the spirit for a night's re- 
 pose. 
 
 During his long residence in Sycamore, 
 his life both private and public has been 
 such as to win the confidence and esteem of 
 all. In seeking recreation and relief from 
 professional labors, he has been greatly 
 blessed in the companionship of an edu- 
 cated and intellectual wife, who can find 
 time from domestic duties to keep up her 
 literary studies and reading. 
 
 Mrs. Jones, /ur Sarah Dudley Perkins, 
 has seven printed genealogies of Puritan 
 families, five of them historical, who num- 
 ber her among their descendants. She is 
 in the eighth generation in direct descent 
 from Governor Thomas Dudley, the second 
 colonial governor, through the Rev. Samuel 
 Dudley, of the first settlement of Exeter, 
 New Hampshire, whose first wife was a 
 daughter of Governor Winthrop. Thomas 
 Dudley was the governor whose signature 
 is affixed to the charter of Harvard College, 
 and for whom the office of major-general 
 was created, he being the first to ever bear 
 the title. Her paternal ancestor, Quarter- 
 master John Perkins, so called because he 
 was sent across the ocean for supplies for 
 the Puritans, was one of three brothers 
 who came in the ship Lyon, 1628, with 
 Roger Williams and the ancestor of Ralph 
 Waldo Emerson for passengers. She is 
 collaterally related (descended from the 
 same Puritan ancestor) to Major-General 
 Artemus Ward (who was the temporary 
 commander-in-chief before Washington) and 
 with Major-General Dearborn and Lorenzo 
 Dow, the eccentric preacher. None of 
 Mrs. Jones' ancestors came later than 1680, 
 with the exception of Darby Kelley, who 
 canie over in 1710, The late General B, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 21, 
 
 F. Kelley, of West N'irginia, who raised the 
 liist negro regiment south of Mason and 
 Dixon's hne, was also a descendant of 
 Darby Kelley. 
 
 Sarah Dudley Perkins was born October 
 14, 1838, at St. Charles, then known as 
 Charleston, Kane county, Illinois. Her 
 father, Otho Williams Perkins, came from 
 Boston, Massachusetts, to Kane county, in 
 June, 1834, where his only brother, Eph- 
 riam, had already settled. The}' were born 
 in Hebron, Grafton county, New Hamp- 
 shire. Otho was two years the elder and 
 was born |une 16, 1806. Mrs. Jones was 
 the eldest of three children, her two broth- 
 ers dyin^f before she was eighteen. The 
 N'oungest, Otho \\'., Jr., died .April 15, 1855, 
 at the age of fourteen, and Jonathan Dud- 
 ley, the other brother, July 8, 1856, at the 
 age of sixteen years. 
 
 Otho W. Perkins was married to Nancy 
 Kelley at St. Charles, Illinois, January 6, 
 I 838, at the home of his cousin and Miss 
 Kelley's brother-in-law, the husband of her 
 youngest sister, Sarah Dudley Kelly. Mr. 
 N. H. Dearborn was the pioneer justice of 
 the peace in St. Charles. Sarah Dudley' 
 (Kelley) Dearborn was born at New Hamp- 
 ton, New Hampshire, and died at St. 
 Charles, Illinois, October 12, 1838. The 
 following poem written by Mrs. Jones, in 
 October, 1886, was dedicated to her mem- 
 ory: 
 
 Oh! sky and meadow, wood and glen. 
 
 Oh! murmuring river, fair as when 
 
 I saw thee first in childhood's years. 
 
 To-day, the pictured scene appears. 
 
 Tranced by its glow, I watch the sky, 
 
 (As^n the hillside turf I lie, 1 
 
 And question what beyond — if true 
 
 That thou sweet Aunt, thy namesake knew: 
 
 While thy green grave, beside me spread, 
 
 Was ray earliest les>on of the dead, 
 
 .\nd one and fifty years have sped 
 
 -Since thou wert numbered with the dead: 
 
 I5ut tw'o bleak days shadowed thy tomb. 
 
 Ere ope'd my eyes on a world of gloom: 
 
 .Sad tears of vain regret must fall 
 
 Upon my cradle, as a pall. 
 
 For wintry blast's untimely sway, 
 
 October's glory swept away: 
 
 Mocking the promise the land had held, 
 
 ( )f fruitage fair, and garnered field. 
 
 .\nd scarce ten years have ]iassed away, 
 
 Since 1 wandered where thy girlhood lay: 
 
 Where stern New England's hills arise. 
 
 Whose white peaks pierce New Hampshire skies; 
 
 And there I found thy memory green, 
 
 Kept two score years, what thou hadst been. 
 
 -And gray haired men, they spoke of thee, 
 
 -\s the fairest flower of their memory, 
 
 Trans|ilanted to tlie western wild. 
 
 By untimely frosts and death despoiled. 
 
 Otho W. Perkins was one of the pioneer 
 Universalists of the west, and one of the 
 thirteen who founded and built the first 
 Universalist church west of the Great Lakes, 
 at St. Charles, three years before even a 
 Universalist society had been organized in 
 Chicago. He also contributed liberally 
 toward purchasing the printing press and 
 establishing the first Universalist denomi- 
 national paper in Chicago, "The Better 
 Covenant", the predecessor of the present 
 "Universalist", the Rev. William Rounse- 
 ville, pastor from St. Charles, going to 
 Chicago to be editor of the paper. 
 
 The father of Otho W. Perkins, born in 
 Ipswich, Mass., wis a descendant of " Ouar- 
 termaster ' John Perkins, who came from 
 Gloucestershire, England, with his father's 
 family, to Salem, thence to Ipswich, in the 
 ship Lyon, in 1628. The wife of Jacob 
 Perkins, the maternal grandmother of O. 
 W. Perkins, was Hannah Andrews, a 
 descendant of Captain John Andrews (some- 
 times spelled Andrus;, who came to Ipswich 
 in 1630. Captain John Andrews was also 
 
124 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the ancestor of John A. Andrews, the war 
 governor of Massachnselts during the Civil 
 war. 
 
 The mother of Otho W. Peri<ins was 
 Thirza Dearborn, who died when her son 
 was but five years old. She was a descend- 
 ant of Godfrey Dearborn of the first settle- 
 ment of Exeter, New Hampshire, then part 
 of the Massachusetts Colony, who came 
 from Devonshire, England, in 1628. He 
 \>as also the American ancestor of Major- 
 General Htnry Dearborn, the commander- 
 in-chief in the war of 1812, and the one for 
 whom Eort Dearborn was named. The 
 mother of Thirza Dearborn, the maternal 
 grandmother of Otho W. Perkins, was Abi- 
 gail Ward, ihe daughter of the Rev. Nathan 
 Ward, who was the first Congregational 
 clergjnian in Plymouth, New Hampshire. 
 The youngest sister of Thirza Dearborn, 
 Eliza (Dearborn) Scott, is yet living in 
 Exeter. New Hampshire, and on her eighty- 
 sixth birtliday the Boston newspapers 
 chronicled the fact that she was the oldest 
 living v\idow of a Methodist clergyman in 
 New England. She is a widow and was the 
 second wife of the Rev. Orange Scott, who 
 separated from the Methodist Episcopal 
 church ou tluf slavery question, and founded 
 the W'esleyau organisation. (See Apple- 
 ton's Biographical Dictionary, for Orange 
 Scott. ) Abigail Ward was a descendant of 
 William Ward, of Siidltiiry, who was also 
 the ancestor of Artenius Ward, who was the 
 provisional Major-General in the Revolu- 
 tion, before Washington. 
 
 The mother of Mrs. Jones, Nancy Kelly, 
 was born in New Hampton, Belknap (then 
 Stafford) county, New Hampshire, July 30, 
 1807, She was the daughter of Dudley and 
 Ruth (Dow I Kelly. Her education was 
 obtained in the New Hampton Female Sem- 
 
 inary, once the leading preparatory for col- 
 lege in New England. Her father, who 
 was one of the trustees of the school for 
 many vears, was a finished scholar and for 
 many years was a teacher. He was born in 
 Exeter, the suburb of Brentwood, in 1761. 
 He enlisted at the age of sixteen in the Rev- 
 olutionary army. His father was Darby 
 Kelly, son of Daniel, who was born in 
 Waterford, Ireland, in 1700, and who at 
 the age of ten years ran away to sea as a 
 cabin boy, on a ship of which his cousin 
 was captain, coming to Portsmouth, New 
 Hampshire. When he refused to recross 
 the ocean, he was left by his kinsman, and 
 never saw or heard of any of his people 
 afterward. He was adopted into the family 
 of Phillip Huntoon, of Exeter, whose 
 daughter Sarah he married, at the age of 
 twenty-eight. (See Huntoon Genealogy.) 
 His second wife was Sarah Dudley (1 760), 
 who was a granddaughter of the Rev. Sam- 
 uel Dudley, of the first Exeter settlement. 
 He was the eldest son of Governor Thomas 
 Dudley, the second colonial governor. 
 Rev. Samuel Dudley's first wife, was a 
 daughter of Governor Winthrop. (See 
 Dudley Genealogy.) 
 
 The ancestor of Governor Thomas Dud- 
 ley was Edmund de Sutton, who was one of 
 the knights who came over with William 
 the Norman. Edmund de Sutton was the 
 first baron of Dudley. He married the Sax- 
 on heiress of Dudley castle, which was 
 then five hundred years old. The numer- 
 ous descendants of Governor Thomas Dud- 
 lej' include son^e of the most illustrious 
 names in our country, among them the 
 Channings, the Danas, the famous Field 
 family, of whom Cyrus W. . David Dudley 
 and Chief Justice Field are members, Wen- 
 dall Phillips. Oliver Wendall Holmes, and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHIC.VL Kn(~()KI). 
 
 I2S 
 
 a score of others almost as well known to 
 fame. Thomas Dudley was the governor 
 who signed the charter of Harvard College, 
 and almost alwaj-s since some descendant 
 has been a member of the faculty. Charles 
 Eliot Norton, at the present time, is one of 
 Governor Dudley's descendants. Both of 
 the wives (cousins Dana and Channing) ol 
 Washington .\lston, the painter, also the 
 second wife of Sir Ed vin Arnold, an Ameri- 
 can lady who was a Channing, and the wife 
 of Edward Everett Hale (who is a grand- 
 daughter of Re\'. Lyman Beecher), is a 
 descendant both of Governor Dudley and 
 John Perkins. (See Dudley Genealogy, i 
 Ann Dudlej' Bradstreet was a daughter of 
 Governor Thomas Dudley and the sister of 
 Rev. Samuel Dudley and Governor Joseph 
 Dudley. She married Simon Bradstreet 
 and published the first book of poems in 
 America. The following sonnet acrosticx 
 on the three Dudleys was written b}' Mrs. 
 Jones in 18S4 and published in the Inter- 
 Ocean: 
 
 1. 
 (.Ann Dudley Bradstreet.) 
 .Vdown two centuries and a half thy fame 
 Vow wakes faint echo as we speak tliy name, 
 Nor holds on modern thought but feeble claim. 
 But thou, the first verse-writer of our land, 
 Reign'st as the first and hold'st that place the same 
 As thou wert laureate of that Pilgrim band, 
 Down to our time thy chait of rank will stand. 
 .Sober and serious, earnest — never vain — 
 The Puritans held their life and speech and deed. 
 Robbed of all flowers, they sought but ripened seed. 
 Earth-life they shaped to fit their somber creed; 
 Each act in view of their immortal gain. 
 Thou only sang'st with repressed and formal strain. 
 U. 
 (Sir Philip Sidney.! 
 The brightest star that, undimnied by mist or cloud. 
 Out of the darkness shines of that dark age. 
 Pouring a luster o'er the tarnished page — 
 History unrolls of the cruel base and proud 
 In every grace of manly chivalrv, 
 l.i\ing the truest, highest, noblest. b<-si: 
 
 In courage, art, thy life pales all the rest. 
 Pales as the rushlight in the light of day, 
 So to the end, on Zutphen's field of blond. 
 In glory's panoply thy life went down; 
 Death found thee but to give a shining crown 
 Never to fade, her model of every good 
 England still holds thee, still thy fame has stood 
 Yet deemed her flower of chivalrv and manhood. 
 111. 
 (Sii Robert I )iidliv.i 
 Si) e\er, 11 abuM-lhc r.ibble raised, 
 In fortune's favor or .1 prince's sinilc. 
 Roused in all hatred, malice, envv's guile, 
 Revenge with it's sharp spite their names assail. 
 I )n you it fell not, Leicester, the while - 
 Beyond their ieelile shafts, while they dispraised. 
 ICven though ambition, the evil of thv day. 
 Ruled in thy heart and life, still were you strong 
 To hew thy path regardless of the throng. 
 Darker the fate that swept thy sire away; 
 I'nder its ban his sire, too, met his fate- 
 Doomed by that innate power that marked them 
 
 great — 
 Lies, slanders, vile surmise, of all the prey 
 Envy, that could not reach their high estate, 
 ^'elped at their heels to tlieir last fated day. 
 
 The mother of Nancy Kelly Perkins (Mrs. ' 
 [ones' inaternal grandmotherj was Ruth 
 Dow, born in Old Hainpton, New Hamp- 
 shire. Her father, Jonathan Dow, was the 
 first cousin of Lorenzo Dow, the eccentric 
 preacher, who visited at the home of Dud- 
 ley Kelly in 1810, when Nancy Kelly was 
 three years old. This was during Lorenzo 
 Dow's last tour through the New England 
 states. Their American Dow ancestor was 
 also the ancestor of General Neal Dow, the 
 famous Maine Law champion. 
 
 Mrs. Jones was educated in a select 
 school at St. Charles, with one year at St. 
 Agatha's Academy, Sisters of Mercy, Chi- 
 cago, where she was awarded the gold medal 
 for composition in 1855. The old acadetny 
 building before the Chicago fire was where 
 Mercy Hospital now stands. In xAugust, 
 1857. she entered Lombard LT|-,jygpgj(-y 
 Galeslmrg, Illinois, fur the four \ears clas- 
 
I 26 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECOKD. 
 
 sical course. She was a fellow student for 
 the four \ears with Harvey A. Jones. They 
 were niarriet! at Galesburf,', at the home of 
 Rev. J. P. Fuller, February 22, 1861. Rev. 
 Fuller was the first Universalist preacher in 
 the state of Missouri, and the second in Illi- 
 nois, f'^or one year succeeding their mar- 
 riage Mr. |ones taught school in Callaway 
 county, Missouri, and studied law at the 
 same time. On account of the increasing 
 danger to Northern residents, they left the 
 state the second year of the war, and on ac- 
 count of the serious illness of Mrs. Jones' 
 mother, they went to St. Charles, Illinois, 
 where after a lingering illness the mother 
 died June 28, 1863. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents of 
 seven children as follows; ( 1 j Dudley Keli}\ 
 born and ditd May 5, 1862, at St. Charles, 
 Illinois. (2) Mary Fuller, born at St. Charles, 
 May 10, 1863. She was married at Sjca- 
 "more, Illinois, Noxember 27, 1884, to Elmer 
 Jerome Baker, the publisher and one of the 
 proprietors of the Chicago Farm Implement 
 News. The\ were married bj- the Rev. I). 
 P. Baker, the father of the groom. Mr. 
 Baker was educated at the High School in 
 Sycamore, supplemented by an attendance 
 of one jear at Wheaton College, and at the 
 State University, Cliamiiaign, Illinois. Mr. 
 anti Mrs. Baker have two children, Ruth 
 Mary, born September 29, 1885, and Elmer 
 Jerome, Jr., born in Chicago, January 3, 
 1889. At the present time. Miss Ruth Mar}', 
 accompanied by her mother, who is super- 
 intending her studies, is now traveling and 
 attending school abroad. During the fall 
 and winter of 1897 she was at school at 
 Nice, Italy, and at present is in Rome, Italy. 
 Mrs. Baker was educated at the Sycamore 
 High School, from which she graduated. 
 She attended the Musical Conservator}' at 
 
 Fort Wa)-ne, Indiana, and at Vassar, Pough- 
 keepsie. New York. ( 3) Owen Dudley was 
 born at Sycamore, November 21, 1865, and 
 died January 21, 1867. (4) Anna Kelly, 
 born at Sycamore, February 10, 1869, was 
 married July 10, 1889, at Sycamore, to 
 George Manford Clayberg, principal of the 
 Chicago West Division High School. They 
 were married l)y the Rev. ]. E. June, pas- 
 tor of the Universalist church at Sycamore. 
 Mr. Clayberg was educated at Michigan 
 Unix'ersity, where he took the mathematical 
 prize and won the Houghton Scholarship 
 
 in 186: 
 
 He also attended a course of lect- 
 
 ures at the German universities. Mrs. 
 Clayberg received her primary education in 
 the Sycamore schools, and took the four- 
 years course and graduated from the Chi- 
 cago West Division High School in the class 
 of 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Clayberg have had 
 three children — Harold Dudley and Harvey 
 Alston (twinsV born January 24, 1892, in 
 Chicago, and Dorothea Marion, born at Oak 
 Park, July 27, 1893. Harvey Alston died at 
 Oak Park, July 3, 1892.(5) Harvey Alston, 
 Jr., was born at Sycamore, October 28, 
 1 87 1, and died April 12, 1880. (6) Sarah 
 Dudley, born at Sycamore, June 24, 1873, 
 died July 15, 1S73. (7) David Ducley, born 
 July 21, 1874, at Sycamore, died April 5, 
 1880. 
 
 On the first birthda}' of her second child, 
 Mary Fuller, Mrs. Jones penned the follow- 
 ing poem, which was printed in the Chicago 
 journal: 
 
 One year okl to-day' 
 
 Our little baby girl. 
 The cloud-flecked skies, with clearest ray 
 
 Blend azure tint with pearl. 
 And all around the glorious May 
 
 Its banners gay unfurl — 
 Just as it welcomed you, our pet — 
 I'o life and love that guards vou vet. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Vour footsteps falter iun\ 
 
 Upon a threshold new, 
 While on your pure young baby-brow 
 
 Missteps have left no rue; 
 Thus may your future footstejis go 
 
 In pathways straight and true; 
 Xo bitterness of sin and tears 
 To blight the joy of coming years. 
 
 Within your eyes 1 look, 
 Sweet babe, so dark and deep. 
 
 And your broad, fair brow is a sealed book 
 Of latent powers that sleep; 
 
 Lithe, restless limbs that will not brook 
 A long restraint to keep. 
 
 While in your pouting lips we know. 
 
 Are affection's power and fervent glow. 
 
 Within your tiny veins 
 
 The life-blood mingling flows, 
 From Georgia's bright Savannah plains. 
 
 And bleak New England's snows; 
 If beauty's spell around thee reigns, 
 
 May life high aims disclose, 
 .Vnd the wild .South-tire, may its glow- 
 Be pure and clear as Xew England's snow . 
 
 Sweet birdling of the May, 
 
 That fills our own home-nest 
 With music, gladsome as the lay 
 
 rhat thrills the wood-bird's breast. 
 May ev^r flowers spring round thy way. 
 
 No thorns bring thee unre.st, 
 Till the flowers immortal bloom for thee, 
 .Still farther on o'er death's dark sea. 
 
 THEODORE O. BERG resides on sec- 
 tion 19, Milan township, where he owns 
 a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, 
 which he keeps under the liighest state of 
 cultivation. He is a native of Norwa}', 
 born near Christina, November 23, 1833, 
 and in his native coimtry grew to manhood 
 and received a limited education. In 1853, 
 he came to the United States, tai<ing ship 
 at Christina, for Quebec, from which place 
 he came directly west to Chicago, arriving 
 in that city. He made the trip with his 
 brother Ole Berg, and they went direct to 
 l^a Salle coimt\', where oiu' subject com- 
 
 menced work on a farm by the month, and 
 continued to be thus employed for one year, 
 when he was taken sick, and remained in ill 
 health for two years. He then resumed 
 work on a farm, and later ptirchased a 
 threshing machine and engaged in threshing 
 and also in teaming. 
 
 .Mr.Berg was -narried in Henderson coun- 
 ty, Illinois, in 1858, to Maria Donaldson, a 
 nati\e of Norway, who came to the United 
 States in the spring of 1853, and located 
 first in Chicago, after which she went to 
 Henderson county. .After marriage, Mr. 
 Berg rented a farm for three years in Hen- 
 derson cotmt}', which he opetated, and in 
 1864 moved to De Kalb county and pur- 
 chased eighty acres of unimpro\'ed land in 
 Milan township, on which he located, and 
 as time passed, made other purchases of 
 land until he was the owner of si.x hundred 
 acres, all of which was well improved. His 
 home place may be considered a model farin, 
 having all the impro\ements used on a farm at 
 the present time, including a gasoline engine 
 for pumping water for stock and grinding 
 feed for the same. Coming to this coimtry 
 without a dollar, his success in life has been 
 remarkable, and all has been acquired by 
 his own labor, assisted by his good wife. 
 They are the parents of two children, Oscar 
 T. , who is married and residing on the old 
 farm, and Amelia, wife of A. Sanderson, a 
 farmer of Milan township. They have lost 
 three children. Caroline grew to woman- 
 hood, married Charles Sanderson, and died 
 leaving six children. Oscar died at the age 
 of four years, and Caroline died in infancy. 
 To each of his children he has given good 
 farms, while yet retaining the home farm of 
 three hundred and twenty acres. 
 
 In addition to his general farming, Mr. 
 Berg h;is for years owned and operated a 
 
12S 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 steam thresher, and has now one of the 
 most com|)lete threshing machines manu- 
 factnred. He began the business before 
 coming to De Ralb county, and has con- 
 tinued in the same to the present time, 
 making it a source of some revenue. He 
 has always been in favor of good roads, and 
 Inr six years served as commissioner of high- 
 ways, giving n)uch of iiis time to the im- 
 provement i)( the roads. Politically he is a 
 Kcpiihlican, hut is not what is now termed 
 a politician. He believes in the principles 
 of the party and annually votes his party 
 ticket. He and his wife have been life long 
 members of the I^iitheran church. The}' 
 are good people and are held in the highest 
 esteem wherever known. 
 
 M' 
 
 OKKIS WILLEV IS one of the lead- 
 uii; larmers of DeKalb township. His 
 beautifnl and [nodiictivc fanvi is situated on 
 sections 28, 21 and 33, and consists of 
 three hundred and thirty acres. This farm 
 he did not inherit, but it is the result of in- 
 cessant toil, rigid economy and practical 
 honesty. He is in ever)' sense of the word 
 a self-made man. Everything about his 
 farm has the appearance of thrift, his build- 
 ings being models of neatness, while his 
 stock shows excellent care. 
 
 Mr. Willey was born in Jefferson coun- 
 ty. New York, July 5, 1S27, and is the son 
 of l-'.leazer and Wealthy (Marsh) Willey, 
 both of whom were natives of the same 
 state. Eleazer Willey was a man of integ- 
 rity and influence in his native town. He 
 was a strict member of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, and for years held the posi- 
 tion i)f class leader iii the same. His death 
 occurred in 1832, his wife surviving him a 
 few yeais, dying in 1838. There were se\ en 
 
 children born to them, our subject being 
 sixth in order of birth. He was reared and 
 educated in his native town, where he re- 
 mained until he was sixteen years of age, 
 when he came to Illinois in company with 
 S. Richardson, with whom he had lived 
 after the death of his parents. They lo- 
 cated at Aurora, Illinois, where our subject 
 remained until after he reached his major- 
 it\', when he left his foster father and worked 
 out 1))- the nionth. 
 
 In 1S50, in company with others, Mr. 
 Willey took the o\erland route for Cali- 
 fornia, where he arrived after a very tedious 
 journey of some months. While in that 
 new Eldorado, he worked in the mines, and 
 in the course of two years accumulated 
 about fifteen hundred dollars. Satisfied 
 with his experience in California, he re- 
 turned to Illinois, and in Del'Calb count}- 
 rented land for a short time, and became 
 quite a successful farmer, so much so that in 
 1855, he purchased one hundred and sixt_\' 
 acres, a portion of his present farm, to 
 which he added from time to time, until it 
 has reached three hundred and thirty acres. 
 
 On the 14th of July, 1855, Mr. Willey 
 married Miss Mary Bo\ee, a native of Boone 
 county, Indiana, born October 9, 1838, and 
 a daughter of Richard and Orpha Z. Bovee. 
 The latter was born in 181 1, and three of 
 her uncles were soldiers in the Rexolutionar}' 
 war, and witnessed the hanging of Major 
 Andre, of the British army. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Willey nine children have been born: 
 W'arren B., born March 14, 1857; Harry, 
 January 17, 1859, and who died March 20, 
 1884; Sarah I., April 4, 1 861, and who died 
 September 29, 1867; Caroline, .August 
 15, 1863, and who died February 11. 1894; 
 Eliiia C, October 30, 18^13 ; Etnily, Septem- 
 ber 21, 1869; Wealthy .M., .April 3, 1S72; 
 
MORRIS WILLEY. 
 
MRS. MORRIS WILLEY. 
 
THE r.IOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Richard M., FebruRrvi3. iR75;and Lelah 
 L., July 6, 1878. 
 
 Mr. Willey and his family are members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, a 
 church with which he has been connected 
 since January, 1858, and of which he has 
 been a faithful member, many times holding 
 responsible offices in it, and now servins^ as 
 trustee. .As a citizen he is progressive and 
 enterprising, being at all tnnes willing to do 
 his full share in the upbuilding of his adopted 
 county, which has now been his home for 
 nearlj- lialf n centur\'. Their home is one 
 of hospitality, and their friends are many. 
 
 J 13. AURNER is a retired farmer resid- 
 ing in De Kalb, Illinois, and is a pioneer 
 of 1834. He was born [anury 6, 181 8, 
 near I^erwick, and is the son of Henry and 
 Betsy (Beiick) Aurner. By occupation 
 Henry Aurner was a weaver, and removed 
 from Berwick in the spring of 1829, to 
 Geneseo, New York, to better his financial 
 condition. He reniMined in Geneseo for a 
 niunber of years, but finally removed to 
 Western Illinois, and eventually found his 
 waj' to De Kalb county, in 1846, twelve 
 years after his son, j. B., had made it liis 
 home He died in 1852, at the age of ninety 
 years, while his wife survived him, dying in 
 1858, at the age of eighty-eight years. 
 Their lives were long, eventful and useful. 
 Tradition tells us that the grandfather of 
 Henry Aurner was secretary to William 
 Penn. His family consisted of eight chil- 
 dren, two of whom are yet living, Henry 
 F. and J. B. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boj'- 
 hood in Pennsylvania, and in New York, 
 where he remained until his fourteenth 
 
 year. In 1832, he went to Michigan and 
 there spent one year. This, as well as sub- 
 sequent years, was one of varied exper- 
 iences He was now beginning to hew out 
 his own destiny in a new country, with few 
 advantages and little if any encouragement. 
 In 1833, he traveled through Illinois, but did 
 not locate. He was then in company with, 
 and in the employ of an Indian trader, 
 whose custom was to spend the milder part 
 of the year in traveling through Illinois, but 
 wintering in Michigan, where facilities for 
 comfort were greater. Mr. .Anrner was in 
 this count}' when the first election was 
 held, previous to its becoming Kane county, 
 but did not then make it his permanent 
 home. He saw it pass from La Salle to 
 Kane, and from Kane to De Kalb county, 
 during his early years. It was not, however, 
 until 1847 that he came to stay perrna- 
 nenth- and winter in the count\-. 
 
 From 1837 to 1 84S he made his home 
 with William A. Miller, for whom he worked 
 and from whom he learned the carpenter's 
 trade. Three of these eleven years were 
 spent on the upper Mississippi, carrying the 
 mail for .Mr. Miller, who had the contract from 
 Fort Crawford to Fort Snelling. He subse- 
 quently worked on the lower Mississippi one 
 and a half years as a boathand, but sickness 
 caused him to abandon this vocation. All 
 this time he was looking after and improv- 
 ing his land in De Kalb cf)unty. 
 
 On the 1st of February, 1849, Mr. 
 .\urner married Miss Adelaine Jarrod, a 
 native of Tioga county. New York, March 
 17, 1828, and the daughter of Jeremiah and 
 Orpha Jarrod, who removed from New 
 York to Ohio, in 1830, thence to Illinois. 
 in 1837, and to Wisconsin, in 1840, where 
 they remained some years, but finally re- 
 moved to Blackhawk comitw Iowa, where 
 
'34 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mrs. Jarrod died May 15, 1873, at the age 
 of seventy- one 3ears. She was born in 
 Watertown, New York, in 1802. Mr. Jar- 
 rod was born in Long Island, in 1798, and 
 died in March, 1885, at the age of eighty- 
 seven years. 
 
 To J. B. and Adelaine Aurner two chil- 
 dren were born, George H., January 3, 
 1850, and Annette A., May 31, 1852. 
 George H. Aurner became a physician of 
 wide reputation and practice. He received 
 his primary education in De Kalb, and first 
 began reading medicine under Dr. Hopkins, 
 a well-known physician of De Kalb, and 
 completed his course at Rush Medical Col- 
 lege, Chicago, from which lie graduated in 
 1 87 I, at the age of twenty-one years. He 
 began his practice in Ogle coLinty, where he 
 met with good success, and where he re- 
 mained eigiit years. He then removed to 
 Hanover, Kansas, where he met witii the 
 same success, and where in addition to his 
 practice, he engaged in the drug trade. No 
 man was more beloved, none could be more 
 successful. His carefulness of patients and 
 strict personal attention to every detail, cost 
 him his life. He contracted the disease and 
 also bloodpoisoning. while attending a pa- 
 tient suffering from diphtheria. He departed 
 this life April 11, 1891. He married Miss 
 Hattie Smith, January i, 1871, and who 
 died April 6, 1888, leaving four children: 
 George A., born June 15, 1872; Grace H., 
 January 7, 1874; Myrtle B., August 26, 
 1876; and Edna May, December 9, 1878. 
 The Doctor subsequently married and by 
 the second marriage had one child, Ida A., 
 born January 16, 1891. Annette .burner 
 married Noyes Belknap, November 8, 1879, 
 and for a second husband she married W. 
 C. Keeler, yardmaster of the Chicago & 
 Northwestern Railway, at De Kalb, Illinois. 
 
 This latter marriage was solemnized Octo- 
 ber 15, 1 890. 
 
 The first purchase of land made bj- our 
 subject consisted of two hundred and eighty 
 acres, which cost him one dollar and twen- 
 ty five cents per acre. To this he added 
 two hundred and eighty acres more, these 
 purchases being made under the administra- 
 tions of Presidents Van Buren and Polk, 
 whose names are attached to his deeds. 
 Half of this land he disposed of, and now 
 owns two hundred and thirty acres of highly 
 improved land. Mr. .\urner is much re- 
 spected by his fellow citizens for his sterh'ng 
 worth. 
 
 WILLIAM M. ATHERTON is a vet- 
 eran of the war for the Union, and 
 an enterprising farmer residing on section 
 19, Paw Paw township. He was born in 
 Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, March 21, 
 1 84 1, and is the son of Ralph Atherton, a 
 native of Massachusetts, born April i, 1804. 
 The paternal grandfather, Jonathan Ather- 
 ton, was also a native of Massachusetts, 
 and there spent his entire life, his old home- 
 stead being still owned and occupied by one 
 of his sons, Zora Atherton. In his native 
 state Ralph Atherton grew to manhood, 
 being one of four sons, all of whom are over 
 six feet in height. He went to Pennsyl- 
 vaniaa young man in 1828, locating in Lu- 
 zerne county, where he married Maria Sine, 
 a native of New Jerse}', who went to Lu- 
 zerne county a miss of twehe years, with 
 her father, Phillip Sine, who was a miller 
 by occupation, and there engaged in the 
 milling business. Ralph .\therton was a 
 shoemaker by trade, and served an appren- 
 ticeship of seven years. He opened up a 
 store and engaged in the boot and shoe 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAI. RECORI:. 
 
 1.1^ 
 
 business for several years in Scranton, 
 Pennsyhania. In 1843 he came tn DeKalb 
 county, Illinois, and entered a tract of two 
 hundred acres, a portion of which now com- 
 prises the farm of our subject. Locating on 
 his claim he built a log house, in which he 
 lived for eight years, while improving the 
 farm. During the winter he worked at his 
 trade, and carried on quite an extensive 
 business, making boots and shoes for the 
 people in the surrounding couiitrv. The old 
 log house gave place to a more modern 
 frame building after eight years, and he 
 there reared hisfamil)'. .\fter the death of 
 bis wife, he went to Kansas and resided 
 with a son two or three years, then returned 
 to Illinoisand spent his last years, dying at 
 the residence of a daughter in Lee county, 
 September 6, 1890, at the age of eighty-six 
 years. In his family were seven sons and 
 four daughters, of whom four sons and three 
 daughters yet survive. 
 
 \\'illiam M. Atherton came to DeKalb 
 county, when a child, and grew to manhood 
 on the farm where he now resides. .\ftcr 
 attending the common schools, he spent 
 several terms in I'nion Acadeni}', at Paw 
 Paw. He w.is married in Sycamore, Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1861, to Miss Hllen Hurrii, a native 
 of Ohio, but who whs reared in DeKalb 
 county. In tlie spring of 1862, he engaged 
 in farming, but his ser\ ices were in demand 
 by the government, and August I J, 1862, 
 he enlisted in Company K, Seventy-fifth 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, a company raised 
 at West Paw Paw. and in which his two 
 brothers. Benjamin F. and Zora, also en- 
 listed. The regiment was assigned to the 
 Army of the Cumberland, and participated 
 in many engagements during its term of 
 service. In the battle of Perryville, Ken- 
 tucky, October 8, 1862, it lost two hundred 
 
 and forty-five men, and among the killed 
 was Zora Atherton, and among the wounded 
 was Benjamin F. Atherton. Among the 
 other engagements in which the regiment 
 participated, were Stone River, Liberty Gap, 
 Tullahoma, Chickamauga, Lookout Moun- 
 tain and Mission Ridge. At Lookout Moun- 
 tain the company of our subject was on 
 the wagon road skirmish line. Later the 
 regiment was at Ringgold, and following 
 was in the siege and surrender of Atlanta. It 
 was in all the battles in the campaign from 
 Chattanooga to the surrender of .Atlanta in 
 1864. On the way down it was in the fight 
 at Dalton, and returning was in the fight at 
 Franklin, and also at Nashville, together 
 with a great many lesser fights and' skir- 
 mishes. From the 24th of November, 
 1862, our subject was never off duty nor 
 lost any time from sickness. He was dis- 
 charged at Chicago, July 4. 1865. and re- 
 turned to his home and resumed his place 
 upon the farm. 
 
 While still in the service. December ig, 
 1864, his wife died, leaving one son, Harrs' 
 Lincoln, now grown and married, and en- 
 gaged as a telegraph operator \,\ Oklaho- 
 ma. In Lee county, Illinois, December 
 10, 1865. Mr. Atherton married Miss Elea- 
 nor Stone, a native of New York state, 
 who came west with her father, William 
 Stone, who was one of the pioneers of De- 
 Kalb county, and who now resides at East 
 Paw Paw. .After marriage, he located on 
 a forty-acre tract, which he purchased ad- 
 joining the farm where he now resides, and 
 there engaged in farming until 1869, when 
 he rented the place and moved to Califor- 
 nia, where he purchased one hundred and 
 sixty acres of land and engaged in raising 
 grain. Ill luck attended him, the drv 
 we.'ither ruining two crops, but the thii<l 
 
>3t> 
 
 THK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 year he raised a fine crop, but having enough 
 of California, in 1872, he returned to De 
 l\alb county, and purchased ont- hiuidicd 
 and riiirt)' acres of his father's old place, 
 and some years later purchased the remain- 
 der, and has there since been activel}' en- 
 gaged in farming. 
 
 In 1883 Mrs. Atherton died. B\' the 
 last marriage there were five children. Ad- 
 die grew to womanhood, married, but is 
 now deceased. Ralph L. is married and en- 
 gaged in farming in Lee county. Benjamin 
 F. enlisted in the Third Illinois \'olunteer 
 Infantry as a member of Company- M, in 
 the late war with Spain. Wilbur A. C. is 
 assisting in carrying on the home farm. 
 Jonathan \V. resides with his parents. 
 
 Politically .Mr. Atherton was a Repub- 
 lican for many years, then a Greenbacker 
 and later a Prohibitionist, but in 1896 sup- 
 ported Bryan and free silver. For three 
 years he served assessor of his township, and 
 for five years was school director of his dis- 
 trict. In the fifty-five years of his residence 
 in De Kalb county he has made many 
 warm friends and few enemies. 
 
 WILLIAM BLAIR is a retired farmer 
 residing in the village of Malta. He 
 was born in Barrickshire, Scotland, Febru- 
 ary 28, 1824, and is the son of Robert and 
 Jane (Dickson) Blair, both of whom were 
 natives of the same shire. Robert Blair 
 was by trade a weaver, but handlooms be- 
 ing superseded by machinery, he abandoned 
 his trade and engaged in farming. Our 
 subject coming to this country in 185 i, his 
 parents followed him the ne.xt year, locat- 
 ing at St. Charles, Illinois, where they re- 
 sided two years, when they removed to Du 
 Page county, Illinois, and remained three 
 
 years, after which they came to De Kalb 
 county, wlure they resided during the re- 
 mainder cil then- lives. Robert Blair died 
 .May -|. iSiji, at the age of ninet\'-tliree 
 years, while his wife died August 6, 187(1, 
 in her seventy-ninth year. Their family 
 consisted of nine children, of whom five 
 grew to maturity, William being third in 
 order of birth. 
 
 William Blair was reared and educated 
 in his native country, and five years prior 
 to his emigration to America he served as a 
 tobacconist and chandler. He was twenty- 
 seven years of age when he left his native 
 land and came to America. After residing 
 here for a time he sent for his parents, and 
 on their arrival cared for them during the 
 remainder of their li\es. In May, 1857, he 
 bought a farm of one hundred and si.xty 
 acres in Mihn township, to which he soon 
 added eight\' more acres, and still later pur- 
 chased one hundred and five acres, making 
 him a fine farm of three hundred and forty- 
 five acres. All this was in its wild state 
 when purchased, but now it is handsomely 
 improved and supplied with all that is mod- 
 ern in the farming world. He was an all 
 around farmer, confining himself to no par- 
 ticular line, but was a success in whatever 
 he undertook. In 1891 he built a cream- 
 ery on his place, which was run by his son 
 |ohn until 1898, when, the labor required 
 in running both creamery and farm being 
 too great, he disposed of the former to some 
 Chicago parties. The output of butter 
 manufactured was quite large. 
 
 On November 13 1856, Mr. Blair was 
 joined in marriage with Miss Mary McNeil, 
 daughter of John and Mary McNeil, both 
 natives of Scotland, who came to this coun- 
 try in August, 1855. By this union six 
 children have been born, all of whom are 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 137 
 
 yet living, name!)-: Robert H., John N., 
 Mary J., Alice D. and Edith. 
 
 In politics Mr. Blair is a Republican, 
 and has been honored with nearly all the 
 offices the citizens of his township could 
 bestow upon him. He and his wife are 
 consistent members of the Congregational 
 church. 
 
 GEORGE WOOD, a retired blacksmith 
 residing in De Kalb, was born at East 
 Lothain, Scotland, September 9, 1818. His 
 parents, Robert and Beatrice (Thorn) Wood, 
 were natives of Scotland, and lived and died 
 on their native soil. They were honest, up- 
 right and industrious psople. Robert died 
 in 1848, at the age of sixty-six years, his 
 wife surviving him until 1878, dying at the 
 age of eighty-five years. Their family con- 
 sisted of eight children, three of whom are 
 now living: Robert, a resident of New 
 Zealand; John, residing in New York; and 
 George, our subject. 
 
 The subject of this sketch resided in 
 Lothain, Scotland, until he reached his 
 fifteenth year, when he removed to the 
 county of Edinboro, where he served an ap- 
 prenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, though 
 a part of the time working in the city of 
 Edinburgh. In that county he continued 
 to remain, working as a journeyman black- 
 smith, up to 1 85 1, at which time he em- 
 barked for the United States. Arriving in 
 New York, he remained in that state for 
 four years. In 1855, '1^ removed to May- 
 field, Illinois, w^here he remained one year, 
 and in 1856 moved to De Kalb, where he 
 opened a shop on Nfain street. Since locat- 
 ing in De Kalb, he has- been quite success- 
 ful and has hammered out on his anvil 
 some valuable city property. He now owns 
 
 five choice lots, upon two of which are ex- 
 cellent dwellings, one being occupied by 
 himself. In 1896, he sold his shop and 
 tools to Thomas Thompson, since which 
 time he has lived a retired life. 
 
 In December, 1839, Mr. Wood married 
 Miss Jeannette King, a native of Scotland, 
 born in 1800, and a daughter of Adam I\ing. 
 She died at De Kalb, Illinois, in 1858, in 
 her fifty-ninth year. For his second wife, 
 in December, 1859, Mr. Wood married 
 Flora Bennett, a native of Ireland, born at 
 Sanfield, in 1823, and a daughter of John 
 and Elizabeth McKee, who emigrated to 
 Canada, in an early day, where the father 
 died. Subsequently the mother and chil- 
 dren removed to the United States, locating 
 in De Kalb, where Mrs. McKee died April 
 24, 1875, at the age of eighty-five years. 
 By this second union four children were 
 born: Jennie, born February 7, i860; Rob- 
 ert, born May 27, i 861, died in 1878; Belle, 
 born April 21, 1863; and Joseph, July 7, 
 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Wood are members 
 of the Congregational church and are con- 
 scientious people, having many friends in 
 De Kalb. 
 
 EDWIN P. SMITH, a retired farmer, re- 
 siding in the city of Sycamore, is a 
 native of De Kalb county, born in Mayfield 
 township, January 19, 1843. His father; 
 Spafford S.nith, was born in Windsor, Ver- 
 mont, May 18, i8og. He remained under 
 the parental roof until seventeen years of 
 age, when he left home to learn the carpen- 
 ter's trade. He married Eliza Sholes, June 
 9, 1835, and four years later came to De 
 Kalb county. She was the daughter of 
 Prentiss Sholes, of Clearmont, New Hamp- 
 shire, who was ^ farmer by occupation and 
 
'3« 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 who died in his native state. On his arrival 
 in De Kalb count}', Spafford Smith stopped 
 for a tune in Sycamore, which then com- 
 prised Init \L'r\' few houses, and he was only 
 able to get one room in the city hijtel. At 
 tiiat time there were six families doing like- 
 wise. He worked as a carpenter on the 
 hotel antl other buildings until the following 
 spring, wiieii he moved to his farm in May- 
 tield township, and for several years li\'ei.l 
 in a log house. Chicago, si.\ts' miles away, 
 was his tradmg point. For some \ ears 
 after his arrival Shabbona, w itli his tribe 
 ol Indians, were often seen in the \icinitv. 
 For thirty years he lived upon his farm in 
 Mayfield township, but in 1870 moved to 
 the city of Sycamore, where the remainder 
 of his life was spent He became a \er\' 
 prospert)us man, and at one time was the 
 owner of four farms, two of two hundred 
 and sixty acres, one of one hundred and 
 eighty-three acres, and one of three hundred 
 and ten acres. His death occurred in 1895, 
 at the age of eighty-six years. He came of 
 a long-lived family. His father served in 
 the war of t8i2. The grandfather was 
 twice married, Spafford and Curtis Smith, 
 who came west together, being children b\ 
 the second wife. A half-brother of Spafford 
 heard of the latter living in Sycamore, 
 through a gentleman from that cit\' travel- 
 ing on a train in the west. He wrote to 
 him and visited with him in 1889, after a 
 separation of seventy years. The mother 
 of our subject, who was born in 1800. died 
 January 31, 1881. 
 
 Edwin P. Smith, our subject, was reared 
 in his native township, and there resided 
 until 1892, a period of forty-nine years. 
 He attended the district school until the 
 age of twenty years, and spent two years 
 ij) the schools of Sycamore and one year 
 
 in a private school. He remained with 
 his father until the age of twenty-six years, 
 when he married and took charge of the 
 old farm, his parents shortly after mo\ - 
 ing t<j Sscamore. .\fter operating the farm 
 for some years, his father gave to him a 
 deed to the ^ilace, retaining an annuit}' lor 
 life. He was married on the 6th of January, 
 1870, in Ma}fieli] township, to Miss Flora 
 M. joiner, a native oi that township, and 
 tiftli in a family oi six chiklren born to 
 Cyrus S. and Elmira (L\on ) Joiner, the for- 
 mer a native of \\'olcott, \\'a\ne county. 
 New \'ork, born Ootober 5, 1813. and who 
 at the age of sixteen went to .Allegany 
 county. New York, but who was married in 
 Chautaucjua county, that state, .April 24, 
 1836. He came to l)e Kalb county in 1837, 
 and located in Mayfield township, becoming 
 one of its pioneer citizens. By this tmion 
 one son was born, Albert P., born on the 
 farm November 8, 1870, and who now lives 
 in Denver, Colorado, where he is engaged 
 in the coal, v\'ood and ice business. He is 
 a fine amateur photographer, and is also 
 very skillful with fine tools, and being quite 
 artistic, he has manufactured for his own 
 family and friends a number of pieces of fine 
 inlaid work. He built a large hall clock of 
 walnut, inlaid with beautiful figures of white 
 wood. It is a small clock, and as fine as 
 anything that ever came from Switzerland. 
 His education was obtained at Lombard 
 University, Galesburg, Illinois, from which 
 he was graduated in 1894, and the following 
 year took up his residence in Denver. He 
 is a member of the Universalist church. 
 
 In politics our subject is a Republican, 
 and has served as road commissioner and 
 school director. He is a substantial farmer 
 and good business man, and has three hun- 
 dred and ten acres in Mayfield township. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 139 
 
 which is well improved in every respect. 
 Both he and his wife come from fine old 
 New England families, dating back in colo- 
 nial days. As a citizen he is enterprising, 
 and is ever ready to do his part in promot- 
 ing tlie material interests of his native 
 county and state. 
 
 GEORGE N. LUCAS, M. D. , is a well- 
 known physician and surgeon of Malta, 
 Illinois. There is no profession or calling 
 more sacred than that of the physician. He 
 stands on the threshold of time and ushers 
 man into the world; he assists him in the 
 observance of nature's laws all through life, 
 and, at its close, helps him down the steep 
 declivity, smoothing his pathway and mak- 
 ing his e.\it easy, as he again passes back to 
 the unknown. The man who proclaims a 
 written law is no higher or holier than he who 
 teaches the observance of the unwritten law 
 of the Almighty. We revere the learned and 
 eloquent divine, but no less the experienced 
 and cultured physician. Whatever art or 
 profession aids humanity to he true to itself 
 and the laws of nature, that takes up the 
 brittle and often shattered threads of life, 
 making it to perforni its proper functions, 
 is noble, philanthropic, divine. It is with 
 pleasure, therefore, that we write the sketch 
 of Dr. George N. Lucas, a man who is self- 
 made in the true sense of the term. 
 
 Dr. I..ucas was born at Quaker Hill, In- 
 diana, March 25, i860, and is the son of 
 George and Emily (Henderson) Lucas, the 
 firmer a native of Uniontown, Pennsylva- 
 nia, and the latter of Quaker Hill, Indiana. 
 Shortly after the birth of our subject, they 
 removed from Quaker Hill, Indiana, to 
 Texas, where the husband and father died, 
 gt the age of twenty- four years, when 
 
 George was but six months old. After the 
 death of her husband, Mrs. Lucas returned 
 to Indiana, where, later, she was again 
 married, but died in 1871. This advent 
 threw the boy on the world without the 
 protecting influence of a mother's love, the 
 ties of which are often tested, but never 
 broken, for "No love like mother's love 
 ever was known." Mrs. Lucas was reared 
 among those peace-loving people known as 
 Friends, whose habits of life are proverbial 
 for their strictness in those christian princi- 
 ples upon which rest true manhood. She 
 was known and respected for her true 
 worth, upright character and pure life. 
 
 After the death of his mother, our sub- 
 ject went to the home of his grandfather, 
 Henry Lucas, at Whitestown, Boone coun- 
 ty, Indiana, where he remaiued until 1874. 
 The panic of 1873 proving ruinous to his 
 grandfather's business, at the age of four- 
 teen he was thrown entirely upon his own re- 
 sources, and at once saw the necessity of 
 striking out in life for himself. For the 
 space of ten years he worked at various vo- 
 cations in various places, as any boy would 
 under similar circumstances. All this time, 
 however, he was looking to the develop- 
 ment of the intellectual man by attending 
 school at every opportunit}'. Up to the 
 time he attained his majorit}' the most of 
 his schooling was received in Boone and 
 Putnam counties, Indiana. He then en- 
 tered the high school at Lebanon, Indiana, 
 where he spent some time in fitting himself 
 for future usefulness. In 1874 he removed 
 to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was em- 
 ployed in the Hospital for the Insane, but 
 on account of the treatment of patients, 
 which did not agree with his tastes, he 
 abandoned the situation. He next repaired 
 to Elgin, Illinois, where, through high infin- 
 
I4(> THp, BIOC.RAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ence. he ubtained ;i similar situation, dur- ninety-eight jeais, while the mother died 
 
 ing which time he served also as attendant in 1856, at the age of ninety-two years, 
 
 and assistant supervisor, and also as night Leonard Aurner removed from Michi- 
 
 watchman At the expiration of three igan to Illinois, in 183S, locating on section 
 
 years he obtained a position in the watch 22, Kingston township. He purchased one 
 
 factory where he remained for fi\e years. hinulreil and sixty acres of a Mr. Ta\lor, nf 
 
 Turning his attention to higher attainments, C'liicago, and to this he added at various 
 
 after mature thought and deliberate consid- times until he had some five hmidred acres 
 
 eration, he entered the College of Phy- of excellent farming land. Some of this he 
 
 sicians and Surgeons, in the L'niversity of has since sold, and some has been given to 
 
 Illinois, at Chicago, from which institution his children. He was appointed the first 
 
 he was graduated with honors in 1895. trustee of the Hrst school taught in this dis- 
 
 On March 25, 1888, Dr Lucas was trict, which was in 1840, Miss Harriet Rus- 
 
 united ill marriage with Miss Lucy E. sell ofliciating. 
 
 131ackl)iirii, daughter of Frank and Eliza Mr. .Vurner was lirst niarrie<i in St. fo- 
 
 Blackbiirn, of Manchester, Illinois, and by sephcoimt\, Michigan, in 1836, to .Miss Mar- 
 
 this unicMi two sons have been born, Frank garet W. Dibble, a daughter of James antl 
 
 in i8yo, and Edwin in i8y2. Mrs. Lucas Dolly Dibble, and to this union was born 
 
 was born at Murrayville, Illinois, March 30. nine children, seven of whom are \et living: 
 
 1866. Orlando J., Eliza C. , Wiliiain R., Harriet 
 
 Immediately after his graduation. Dr. L. . Charles L, Joseph F. and Marquis D. 
 
 Lucas established himself at Malta, where .Mrs. .Aurner died in De Kalb county, Sep- 
 
 he has now a large and increasing practice. tember 26, 1864, at the age of fifty-two 
 
 He possesses these social qualities which \ears. She was born in Delaware county, 
 
 mark the successful man. His conversa- New York, .\ugust 13, 1812, and wasatrue 
 
 tional powers are good with enough of hii- helpmeet to her hnsbaiul. b'or his second 
 
 mor to make him a genial companion. wife Mr. .\urner married a Mrs. Snyder, 
 
 of Sycamore, and for his third a Mrs. Burg- 
 heart, of De Kalb. By the last two mar- 
 riages there are no children. Both are now 
 
 LEON.\RD .\LRN'EK, agriculturist, re- deceased, 
 
 siding on section 22, Kingston township, Mr. .\urner has lived an hi:)nest ,ind iip- 
 
 is one of the pioneers ol this section whose right life, respected aiul honored among all 
 
 name and history is well known all over De men, and dealing squarely with whome\er 
 
 Kalb county. He was born in .Armstrong he came in contact. His experience in the 
 
 county, Pennsylvania, July 6, 1810, and is count}' has been varied and interesting, and 
 
 the son of Henry and Elizabeth Aurner, he is truly the architect of his own fortune, 
 
 both natives of Pennsylvania, and who re- He has been a Republican since the organi- 
 
 moved to De Kalb county, Illinois, some zation of the partv and has filled manv 
 
 time later than their son Leonard. Leon- offices of honor and trust to the entire satis- 
 
 and Aurner justly comes of his good old faction of all concerneii. When younger 
 
 age, his f.ither dying in 1S52, at the age of he was engaged in the mercantile business 
 
LEONARD AURNER, 
 
 Aged 88 Years. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 143 
 
 in Chapnianville for a number of years, but 
 of late has been living <]uietly under the 
 roof which has sheltered him so long. 
 
 His daughter, Harriet L. , was born in 
 Kingston township, February 8, 1846, and 
 m 1866 was united in marriage with S. 
 Keppel, of Kingston, and to them si.\ chil- 
 dren were born, three of whom are now liv- 
 ing: Minnie A., born at Kingston, February 
 21, 1872; John M., April 27, 1876; and 
 Lida B., November 16, 1880. They re- 
 moved in 1866, to Topeka, Kansas, but 
 subsequently removed to Montgomery coun- 
 ty, that state, where Mr. Keppel founded 
 the town of Elk City, and where he was a 
 very prominent merchant. He was obliged 
 on account of failing health to abandon the 
 mercantile business, and went to Miles City, 
 Montana, in an effort to regain waning 
 health, but it was in vain, and at that place, 
 April 5, 1887, he passed away to the better 
 home. 
 
 On December 25, 1888, Mrs. Keppel 
 was joined in wedlock with T. A. Shorey, 
 a farmer, whose demise occurred May 17, 
 1890. Shortly after this bereavement, Mrs. 
 Shorey sold out her interest in the property 
 and came to Kingston, where she has since 
 remained under the old roof which protected 
 her in days of yore. Her daughter, Minnie 
 A., was united in marriage to C. C. Smith, 
 January 7, 1895, and to them three children 
 have been born, Harland L., Helen C. and 
 Fay. 
 
 CHAUNCY H. WILDER, M. D.— There 
 can be no greater honor conferred upon 
 man than the title of M. D. Trained must 
 be his nerve, tender and delicate his touch, 
 deep must be his study and wide must be 
 his range of thought and knowledge to 
 
 acquire it. There is no more responsible 
 position or profession than that of the physi- 
 cian, the man who aids dame nature in 
 weavmg together the brittle and often shat- 
 tered strands of the thread of life. If true 
 to his calling, he must be in love with his 
 profession. He must be as much in har- 
 mony with the eternal laws of ]ehovah as 
 the man who proclaims from the sacred 
 desk the oracles of the almighty. Dr. 
 Wilder is yet a young man, but he has that 
 true love for the profession that should 
 animate the hearts of all engaged in it. He 
 is a native of Independence, Missouri, born 
 October 21, 1865, and is the son of Chauncy 
 H. and Elizabeth (Hurlbert) Wilder, the 
 former a native of Vermont and the latter 
 of Illinois. 
 
 Chauncy H. Wilder, Sr. , the father of 
 our subject, was a man of natural and 
 acquired abilities. While residing in Ver- 
 mont, he was postmaster of his native town 
 for several years. In 1844, he accom- 
 panied his father, Oliver Wilder, to Win- 
 nebago county, Illinois, where the family 
 resided until May, [863, when Oliver 
 Wilder passed to his reward. His wife fol- 
 lowed him just two years later, in May, 1865. 
 Oliver Wilder was a prosperous farmer, and 
 was loyal to his country, ser\ing it faithfully 
 and well in the war of 181 2 with Great 
 Britain. The father of Oliver was Ransom 
 Wilder, a native of Massachusetts, and a 
 brave soldier in the Revolutionary war. He 
 was a direct descendant of one of three 
 brothers who emigrated from England, with 
 a widowed mother, Martha Wilder, who 
 landed in Massachusetts bay in 1638 and 
 from whom it is supposed all the Wilders 
 in the United States descended. One of the 
 family was made a baron in 1497 by Henry 
 VH, who gave him a land grant. After the 
 
144 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 death of his parents, Chauncy H. Wilder, 
 Sr., removed from Winnebago county, Illi- 
 nois, to Independence, Missouri, where he 
 soon contracted a disease which resulted in 
 his de;ith in 1868. After his death his 
 widow with her family of little ones re- 
 turned to their old home in Winnebago 
 county, Illinois, where Martin \'. B. Wilder 
 then resided, and where she died the same 
 year. The family consisted of eight chil- 
 dren, si.\ of whom are now living, Chauncy 
 H. being the youngest. 
 
 Dr. Wilder was only two years of age 
 when his parents died. His uncle, Martin 
 \'. B. Wilder, then adopted him into hi.s 
 own family, where he shared alike with the 
 children of his adopted father. In this 
 home in the city of De Kalb, Illinois, the 
 Doctor received his first training, and in the 
 public schools of the city received his edu- 
 cation, assisting at odd times his foster 
 father, who was one of De Kalb's proini- 
 nent merchants. He assisted in the store 
 and attended school until he reached his 
 twenty-tirst year. In 1886. he removed to 
 California, where one of his brothers re- 
 sided. He there remained three years, dur- 
 ing which time he was employed as a clerk 
 and in mercantile business. In 1890, he 
 returned to De Kalb, where he engaged as 
 a clerk for the tirm of Oleson Wilder, 
 with whom he remained one year, after 
 which he went to Chicago and began the 
 study of medicine under Dr. James A. 
 Clark, formerly of De Kalb, of the College 
 of Physicians and Surgeons, and where he 
 remained four years, three years of which 
 time he held the position of house surgeon, 
 which opened up to his mind a large and, 
 as yet to him, an unexplored field of science. 
 His experience there was varied, but all the 
 time his education and training were ripen- 
 
 ing. He firmly believed in the sentiment 
 embodied in the words of Bryant, when he 
 said: 
 
 " Keep pushing; 'tis better than sitting aside, 
 .\nil .sighing anil watching and waiting the tide. 
 In life's earnest battles, they only prevail, 
 Willi daily march forward, and never say fail." 
 
 After four years of hard and earnest 
 study, he graduated with high honors, re- 
 turned to De Kalb, in 1895, and began the 
 practice of inedicine in his home town. 
 While in California, the Doctor was united 
 in marriage with Miss Adalla Aplin, a na- 
 tive of Little York, California, born Decem- 
 ber 9, 1865, and a daughter of Dr. William 
 D. and Mary L. Aplin. The marriage cer- 
 emony was celebrated August 6, 1889. 
 They have one child, born September 2, 
 1895. 
 
 Dr. Aplin, the father of Mrs. Wilder, is 
 a graduate of the Royal College of Surgery, 
 of Manchester, England, and was in the 
 einploy of the English government previous 
 to his coming to this country, in about 
 1852. For a time he resided in Rhode 
 Island, where he held a position as chemist. 
 On his removal to California he was em- 
 ployed by mining companies as assayist and 
 chemist, and finally went into the mining 
 business himself. He has, however, aban- 
 doned the mining business, but for his 
 health's sake still makes his home in Cali- 
 fornia. 
 
 Martin Van Buren Wilder, whose name 
 has been mentioned in this sketch, is 
 worthy of a more extended notice. He 
 was born in Jericho, Vermont, in 1836, 
 and was a brother to Chauncy H. Wilder, 
 Sr. , the father of our subject. In 1844 he 
 came with his parents to Illinois, and in 
 [857 went to Nebraska, where he engaged 
 in mining. In i860 he went to Colorado, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 H5 
 
 and from there to New Mexico, where he 
 was Hving at the outbreak of the Civil war. 
 Stirred by a spirit of patriotism, he enHsted 
 in Company F, Fourth New Mexico Volun- 
 teer Infantry, which was subsequently 
 transferred to the Second New Mexico Ca\- 
 alry. He served all through the war and 
 was honorably discharged in 1865, after 
 spending eight years of cainp life in various 
 parts of the south and west. After the 
 close of the war he moved to De Kalb, Illi- 
 nois, and engaged in the mercantile busi- 
 ness, in which he continued until his death, 
 in 1894. In 1864 he married Miss Clara 
 Whitmore, who, with her three daughters, 
 survive him. 
 
 Dr. Wilder is an inveterate relic hunter, 
 and has in his possession fifty different pat- 
 terns of pistols, eleven kinds of muskets, 
 some of which were used in the Revolu- 
 tionary war, others in the Fenian raid, and 
 some in the Rebellion. Besides these he 
 has knives, daggers, stilettoes and other 
 curiosities. Each relic has its own history, 
 and the affable Doctor takes delight in ex- 
 plaining in detail each in its order. The 
 old Wilder home in Hingham, Massachu- 
 setts, has remained unchanged for two 
 centuries. The Doctor has a large and in- 
 creasing practice, and his office and labora- 
 tory are supplied with all the latest appli- 
 ances. 
 
 LEWIS FAMES, who resides on section 
 17, Milan township, and whose post- 
 office is Lee, Lee county, Illinois, owns 
 and operates a farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres of well improved land. He is a 
 native of Norway, born near the city of 
 Stavanger, March 19, 1848, and is the son 
 of Ole Eames, also a native of Norsvay, born 
 
 in the same section, and a grandson of Ole 
 Eames, Sr. , who was a well-to-do farmer of 
 Norway. Ole Eames, Jr., grew to man- 
 hood in his native country, and there mar- 
 ried Anna Turena Eames Goodmans, also 
 a native of that country. By occupation 
 Ole Eames was a farmer, and also was a 
 dealer in cattle in his native country. He 
 there raised his family and spent his entire 
 life; dying when our subject was but nine 
 years of age. Of their family (ff nine chil- 
 dren, all grew to mature years, and of that 
 number four sons and two daughters are yet 
 living. 
 
 Lewis Eames remained on the old home- 
 stead until eighteen years of age, when he 
 emigrated to the United States, accompan- 
 ied by his brothers, Soren and Andrew, and 
 sister, Hannah. His brother, Soren, had 
 made a visit in i860, and made a location 
 in La Salle county, Illinois. To that coun- 
 ty the brothers all went on their arrival in 
 this country, and there our subject com- 
 menced work for Ezekiel Howland, at 
 Prairie Center, and continued with him 
 three years. He then went to Champaign 
 county, rented land for a time and then pur- 
 chased a farm near Urbana, which he sold 
 — and lived on rented land some six years. 
 In 1873 he came to De Kalb county, re- 
 turned home, and selling out, again came 
 to this county and purchased one hundred 
 and sixty acres where he now resides. 
 While the place was partially improved, he 
 has since added greatly to its appearance 
 by settinj; out an orchard and planting 
 shade and ornamental trees and otherwise 
 improving the place. 
 
 Mr. Eames was married in De Kalb 
 county, March 10, 1875, to Martha Peter- 
 son, a native of De Kalb county, reared in 
 Paw Paw township, and a daughter of 
 
146 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Peter Peterson, one of the first settlers in 
 tfie western part of the county. By this 
 union there are nine children, eight of 
 wlioni are yet living as follows: Orrin 
 .Augustus, Peter Immanuel, Mabel Sophia, 
 Leonard .Mertin. Ir\ing Silas, Lester Mer- 
 tin, N'erna Ivuth, Ethel Agnes and Clarion 
 Obed. All are living e.xcept Leonard Mer- 
 tin, who died at the age of three years and 
 ti\e months. Orrin A. is a stenographer 
 and is etnployed in Chicago. Mabel S. is 
 now in Houston, Texas, taking lessons in 
 music and also in elocution. The remamder 
 of the children are at home. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Eaines are members uf the 
 Lutheran church, in which he is one of the 
 official members, and for some 3ears has 
 served as a deacon. Politically he is a Re- 
 publican, and has given his support to that 
 party since becoming a citizen of this coun- 
 try. He was elected and is now serving 
 as commissioner of highways. For some 
 years he served as a member of the school 
 board, giving much of his time to the ad- 
 vancement of the public schools. He has 
 always manifested more or less interest in 
 political affairs, and has been elected as a 
 delegate to the conventions of his party. 
 He is a well known citizen of Milan town- 
 ship, and is held in the highest esteem. 
 
 PATRICK A. McGIRR, who resides upon 
 section 29, Afton township, is a repre- 
 sentative farmer, one who has had lifelong 
 experience in agricultural pursuits. He is a 
 native of Alton township, born September 
 23, 1862, and is the son of John and Mary 
 (Powers) McGirr, of whom further mention 
 is made in the sketch ot John McGirr, to 
 be found elsewhere in this volume. In the 
 district schools of Afton township our sub- 
 
 ject received his primary education, which 
 was supplemented by attending the schools 
 of De Kalb and Chicago. For some years 
 he has been engaged in the grain business 
 at Carlton, Illinois, and also in the general 
 mercantile trade, a business in which he has 
 been very successful, his trade extending 
 for many miles around. In 1897 he was 
 appointed postmaster of the place and is 
 still serving in that capacity to the satisfac- 
 tion of all concerned. 
 
 On the 14th of February, 1893, Mr. 
 McGirr was united in marriage with Miss 
 Ellen Minnehan, a native of Afton town- 
 ship, and a daughter of Dennis and Marga- 
 ret (Foy) Minnehan, who were natives of 
 Ireland, and who are the parents of seven 
 children. By this union there are two chil- 
 dren, Gertrude, born November 18, 1893, 
 and Margaret, born May 19, 1896. Fra- 
 ternally Mr. McGirr is a member of the 
 Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen 
 of America. In politics he is a Democrat, 
 having abiding faith in the principles of that 
 party. He has never sought nor desired 
 public office, but has served as assessor of 
 his township, an office which he was well 
 qualified to fill. Success has crowned his 
 efforts in everything that he has undertaken, 
 and in addition to his stock of general mer- 
 chandise and means invested in grain busi- 
 ness, he has two hundred and forty acres 
 of valuable land, and is numbered among 
 the well-to-do and progressive citizens of 
 the township. 
 
 JOHN WALKER, deceased, was for years 
 one of the leading farmers of Malta 
 township, and one of the worthy citizens of 
 Lee county prior to his removal to De Kalb 
 county, honest and upright in ever\' respect 
 
THE BIOGRAPHKAI. KECOKD. 
 
 M7 
 
 He was a native of Scotland, born in Bute- 
 shire, August 28, 1 8 14, and was the son of 
 William and Jeannette Walker, both of 
 whom were also natives of Scotland. The 
 life of a farmer in Scotland afforded no 
 chance for advancement. One could not 
 add to his material wealth, and a bare liv- 
 ing was about all that could be obtained. 
 Because of this fact, our subject determined 
 to come to the New World, and in 1845 he 
 left his native land, and came directly to Illi- 
 nois, locating in St. Charles, Kane county. 
 After residing there a few years, he sent for 
 his father's family, who joined him at that 
 place. They purchased a farm near St. 
 Charles, but account of reverses abandoned 
 it, and in 1862 removed to Lee county, Illi- 
 nois, where they purchased a quarter-sec- 
 tion of wild prairie land. In course of time 
 this became very valuable under their joint 
 efforts, and two more quarter sections were 
 added, which were later disposed of. 
 
 On the 24th of No\'ember, 1843, Mr. 
 Walker was united in marriage with Mi?s 
 Flora S. McNeil, who bore him thirteen 
 children, nine of whom are yet living — Mary 
 C, Jeannette P., William G., John M., 
 Charles A., Joseph H., Flora J., Emma B., 
 Henry A. and Belle S. Mrs. Walker was 
 born in Argyleshire, Scotland, in 1825, and 
 she was there married to Mr. Walker, and 
 they spent three years of their wedded life 
 in their native land, before coming to this 
 country. She lived in sight of the farm 
 upon which Robert Burns lived and worked, 
 and often visited the cottage in which the 
 great Scotch poet was born. Mrs. Walker 
 is a woman of rare natural ability, alive to 
 every good word and work. 
 
 Mr. Walker was a man highly esteemed 
 by his fellow citizens, who elected him to 
 all the offices of the township, which he 
 
 filled with credit to himself and friends. He 
 was a member of the Congregational church, 
 and served eight years as deacon of the 
 church in Creston, Illinois. The family are 
 also members of the Congregational church. 
 His death occurred October 31, 1893, in his 
 seventj'-ninth year. His friends were manj' 
 throughout Kane, Lee and De Kalb coun- 
 ties, and all held him in the highest respect. 
 
 ALEXANDER RENNIE COURT is a 
 retired farmer now residing in the city 
 of Sycamore. He was born in Henderson 
 township, Jefferson county. New York, March 
 10, 1848. His great-grandfather, John 
 Court, was a native of London, England, 
 where his entire life was spent. He mar- 
 ried a Miss Gibson, and died at the age of 
 ninety years. His son, Henry Court, Sr. , 
 also a native of London, England, came to 
 .\merica, with his familj', in 1836, sailing 
 from London, in the ship Philadelphia, be- 
 ing forty-four days cii route, and landing in 
 New "\'ork. His son, Henry ("ourt, Jr., the 
 father of our subject, was born in London, 
 England, July 7, 1823, and came to the 
 United States with his parents at the age 6f 
 thirteen years. He grew to manhood in 
 Jefferson county. New York, and at Ant- 
 werp, married Lovira Cross, a native of 
 Jefferson county. New York, and a daughter 
 of Enoch and Betsey (Britton) Cross, the 
 former a native of Keene, New Hampshire. 
 They became the parents of four children, 
 of whom our subject is second in order of 
 birth. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in Jefferson county, New- 
 York, on the old farm on Henderson Bay, 
 near Sacketts Harbor. His time was spent 
 principall}- on water, sailing, bathing and 
 
148 
 
 'HK HIOC.RAPHICAI. RIXORD. 
 
 fishing. Ill 1865, he came to Ue Kalb coun- 
 t)', Illinois, with his parents, who settled in 
 Sycamore township. His education, began 
 in his native county, was finished with three 
 terms in the Sycamore schools. At the age 
 of twenty-one he began farming on shares 
 with his father. He married at the age of 
 twenty-four, and soon after rented a farm 
 near Charter Grove, which he operated for 
 four years. In P"ebruary, 1876, he went to 
 Story count}-, Iowa, with two thousand 
 eight Inmdred dollars in cash, and purchased 
 one hundred acres of prairie and six acres 
 of tiinlier laixi. In two years he saw clearly 
 that he could do better in De Kalb county, 
 as he was paying ten per cent, interest on 
 borrowed money to carry on the place. 
 What with poor crops, stock that he lost, 
 and hard times generally, he felt thatit was 
 for his interest to return, and coming back 
 he v\orked one year for his father-in-law, 
 then rented the John Woolsey farm, on 
 which he remained for thirteen years. He 
 then retired and came to Sycamore, bu}ing 
 his present residence in the winter of 1S93, 
 since which time he has followed carpenter- 
 ing and painting when work came to his 
 hand. 
 
 Mr. Court was married December 31, 
 1 87 1, to Miss .\nn B. Dean, born in Never- 
 sink, Sullivan county. New York, and a 
 daughter of Moses Dean, a native of the 
 same place, born January 27, 181 5, and who 
 came west in 1856. In his native state 
 Moses Dean followed the vocation of a 
 farmer, taught school and kept a ta\ern. 
 He acquired considerable property, some of 
 which he rented. His emigration to the 
 west was not until after the building of the 
 railroad, and the journeys that required of 
 the pioneers some weeks to make only re- 
 quired of him about two days. On arriving 
 
 in De Kalb county he settled in Charter 
 Grove, where he purchased a farm and be- 
 gan a prosperous career. He was a thrifty 
 man, a good manager, acquired more land, 
 loaned money and was regarded as one of 
 the best financiers in the county. Moses 
 Dean was a son of Solomon Dean, a native 
 of England, settled near Hartford, Connect- 
 icut, prior to the Revolutionary war, and 
 who died at the age of one hundred and four 
 years. His son. Solomon, born near Hart- 
 ford, Connecticut, served through the Revolu- 
 tionarj' war as a colonel under Washington. 
 .■\fter the war he married Elizabeth Brown, 
 by whom he had two daughters and one son. 
 The latter, Reuben Dean, moved to Never- 
 sink. New York, where he died December 
 16, 1845, ^^ the age of si.xty-one years. A 
 patriot like his father, he served in the war 
 of 18 1 2. Reuben Dean married Elizabeth 
 Devine, a daughter of Eleazer Devine; and 
 they became the parents of Moses Dean, the 
 father of Mrs. Court. Moses Dean married 
 Rachel Evans, a daughter of George and 
 Mary (Eller) Evans. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Court five children 
 have been born — Eliza. Henry A., Albert, 
 Moses A. and Delia Elizabeth. Of these 
 Eliza died at the age of thirteen months 
 and Albert in infancy. Mrs. Court is a 
 member of the Universalist church, which 
 Mr. Court also attends. 
 
 SEPTIMUS STOREY has been a resi- 
 dent of DeKalb county since the fall of 
 1852. He was born in Harthill, Yorkshire. 
 England, February 10, 1829, and grew to 
 mature years in his native county, where he 
 received a limited education, and in his boy- 
 hood worked for a time in the manufacture 
 of nails. His father, Harnabee Story, was 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 149 
 
 also a native of Yorkshire, England, as was 
 his father before him. For se\'eral genera- 
 tions the male members of the family en- 
 gaged in nail making. Barnabee Story mar- 
 ried Sarah Widdeson, a native of Derby- 
 shire, England, and their entire lives were 
 spent in their native country. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to the 
 United States in 1850, in company with 
 Joseph Billam and William Cutts, both 
 young men. They took ship at Liverpool, 
 and were about twenty-four days in making 
 the voyage, enconntering in that time one 
 severe storm, which damaged the sails of the 
 ship to some extent. On arriving in New 
 York Mr. Storey went up the Hudson to 
 Albany, thence by rail to Buffalo, and the 
 lakes to Chicago. From Chicago he went 
 to Kendall county, where he joined some 
 English friends and commenced work on a 
 farm at ten dollars per month, continuing 
 to be thus employed for one year. The 
 ne.xt year he rented some land in Big Grove 
 township, Kendall county, and secured one 
 crop. In the fall of iS^i he came to De 
 Kalb county, and purchased forty acres of 
 land. Three of his friends owned one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres, and they worked 
 together to improve the tract, continuing 
 thus engaged for two years. Mr. Storey 
 then bought the share of William Cutts on 
 section 17, to which he removed and erected 
 a small frame house, in which he lived while 
 developing the farm. He later bought 
 eighty acres adjoining, which had been 
 somewhat improved, and in due time built 
 a larger residence, two good barns, tiled the 
 place and enclosed a part of the barn with 
 a fine hedge fence. From time to time he 
 added to his possessions until he now owns 
 six hundred and forty acres in one body. 
 He previously owned one hundred and sixty 
 
 acres nearby, which he sold to his son. 
 Up to 1894 he was actively engaged in 
 farniin.t; and was recognized as one of the 
 most enterprising farmers of the township, 
 as well as a large breeder and dealer in 
 shorthorn cattle and Poland-China hogs. 
 In 1894 he moved to Shabbona, after having 
 erected one of the best residences in the 
 place, and has since lived a retired life. 
 
 Mr. Storey was married in De Kalb 
 county, December 2;;, 1856, to Miss Mary 
 Mullen, a native of Derbyshire, England, 
 who came to the United States a child of 
 thirteen years, and a daughter of Robert 
 and Sarah (Uyllett) Mullen, who were among 
 the early settlers of Shabbona township, De 
 Kalb county. By this union there are seven 
 children, five sons and two daughters. John 
 L. , Charles E. and William H. are each 
 engaged in farming in Shabbona township. 
 George T. is one of the leading merchants 
 of the village of Shabbona. De Forrest L. 
 is with his brother, William H., engaged in 
 farming on the old homestead. Sarah E. 
 is the wife of Harvey Green, a farmer of 
 Scranton township. Green county, Iowa. 
 Lilly M. yet remains at home. They lost 
 two children, Robert M. and Anna M. both 
 dying when about three years of age. 
 
 Politically Mr. Storey is a stanch Re- 
 publican, his first presidential ballot being 
 cast for Abraham Lincoln, in i860. He 
 was elected and served as a member of the 
 school-board for sixteen years, three 3ears 
 as road commissioner, and five years, at 
 different times, as supervisor. While a 
 member of the county board he served on 
 the personal property committee, and of 
 highways and printing, being chairman of 
 the latter committee. Since moving to 
 Shabbona, he served two years as a member 
 of the village trustees. In every position 
 
I so 
 
 THE BIOGKAI'TIICAL KICCORD. 
 
 to which he has been elected he has dis- 
 charged the duties in a faithful and efficient 
 manner. In the various conventions of his 
 party, county, district and state, he has 
 often served as a delegate. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Storey are members of the 
 WestShabbona Methodist Episcopal church, 
 of which Mr. Storey has officially served for 
 many years. For almost half a century Mr. 
 Storey has been a resident of Illinois, forty- 
 eight years of which time a resident of De 
 Kalb county. Coming to this county a poor 
 man. by his industry and thrifty habits he has 
 become independent financially, and can 
 well afford to take a well-earned rest, know- 
 ing that he has the esteem and confidence 
 of the entire communitv in which he has 
 resided so man\' \'ears. 
 
 EDWAI'il) M. BURST, the present city 
 attorney oi Sycamore, is a native of 
 the city, born January i, 1872. He here 
 grew tu manhood, and in its public schools 
 received his literary education. Early evinc- 
 ing a desire to make the legal profession his 
 life work, in 1890, he entered the law de- 
 partment of the Michigan University at Ann 
 Arbor, from which he was graduated in 
 fune, 1892, with the degree of LL. B., and 
 was admitted to practice the same year, in 
 the courts of Michigan. In 1893, he en- 
 tered the law office of Caldwell & Pierson, 
 of Chicago, where he remained about one 
 year, and then returned to .Sycamore, 
 (;pened an office in the room occupied by 
 Judge L. Lowell, and began the practice of 
 his profession. His professional qualities 
 attracted the attention of the people of the 
 city, and in 1895 he was elected to serve 
 them as city attornej', and was re-elected 
 in 1897. While in politics he is a Repub- 
 
 lican, he was elected the first term by the 
 independent voters and to the second term 
 on the citizens ticket. In 1892, he was one 
 of the delegates from Illinois to the Na- 
 tional Republican League, held at Buffalo, 
 New York. 
 
 John W. Burst, the father of our sub- 
 ject, \\as born in Delaware county, New 
 York. He is a veteran of the Civil war, 
 and is held in high regard b\- his fellow 
 comrades. 
 
 Captain Burst was one of the earliest to 
 jom the G. A. R., having been mustered 
 into Ransom Post, Chicago, in 1866. He 
 was transferred to the post in Sycamore, 
 Illinois, in 1874, and was its commander for 
 several years. He was very active in build- 
 ing up the order in Illinois, and besides 
 holding many subordinate positions was 
 senior vice-commander, and commander of 
 the department. He served for several years 
 on the G. A. R. National Pension Commit- 
 tee, and did effective work in the formula- 
 tion and passage of the disability bill. He 
 has been three times the candidate of the 
 department of Illinois for commander-in- 
 chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
 His appointment by Commander-in-Chief 
 Lawler as quartermaster-general met the 
 enthusiastic approval of thousands of per- 
 sonal friends among the comrades. 
 
 During the campaign of 1896, Captain 
 Burst was a part of the aggregation made 
 up of crippled veterans of the war for the 
 union that made a tour of the country in 
 the interest of the Republican part}-. In 
 the party were Generals Sickles, Howard, 
 Stewart, Corporal Tanner and others. Soon 
 after his election President McKinley ap- 
 pointed Captain Burst United States im- 
 migration inspector, with headquarters at 
 Chicago, v\'hich position he now holds. 
 
EDWARD M. BURST. 
 
THE BIOCRAPinCAL KF.COKD. 
 
 Captain Burst mnrried Lattice Mavo, a 
 daughter of Hon. Edward L. and Emily 
 (Holden) Mayo. Her father settled at Syca- 
 more, Illinois, in 1841, and for many years 
 was the acknowledged leader of the bar of 
 De Kalb county. As a lawyer and a man, 
 he was prominently identified with its earl)' 
 history. He was born in Moretown, Wash- 
 ino;ton county, Vermont, in 1S07, and wiiile 
 his advantages in early life were limited, he 
 obtained a fair education. His friends tried 
 to persuade him to enter the ministry, but 
 he chose the lnw, and was admitted to the 
 bar in 1S35. He was twice niMrried. Ins 
 first wife being Miss Lettice Ann Holden, 
 who died shorti}' afterward, when in Sep- 
 tember, I S40, he married Miss I'Imily Hold- 
 en, her cousin. In politics he was a Demo- 
 crat, and in 1854 was the candidate of that 
 party for congress, but was defeated, the 
 district being strongly Republican. He was 
 three times elected county judge, notwith- 
 standing his politics, and the fact that he 
 belonged to a party casting the minority 
 vote. He was on intimate terms of friend- 
 ship with the leading men of the state, 
 among them being Stephen .\. Douglas, 
 Judge John D. C'aton and Lyman Trunibull. 
 After i860, he was a "war Democrat," in 
 full sympathy with the union cause. His 
 integrity and honor were never questioned. 
 Possessed of a legal mind, it was among his 
 legal brethren who knew him best and were 
 best able to judge, that he was most appre- 
 ciated. He died in De Kalb, November 16, 
 1877. at the age of seventy years, leaving a 
 widow and one son, Dr. E. L. Mayo, of De 
 Kalb. and three daughters, Mrs. John W. 
 Burst, of Sycamore; Mrs. T. E. Bagley, of 
 Genoa; and Miss Kate Mayo, of De Kalb, 
 surviving. To Captain and Mrs. Burst, 
 three children were born — Edward M., the 
 
 subject of this sketch; Bessie, wife of Henry 
 \\'. Prentice, an attorney of De Kalb; and 
 Bertha C. 
 
 Edward M. Burst, the subject of this 
 sketch, is an earnest and active member of 
 the Republican party. In 1898 here-ar- 
 ranged and revised the citv nrdinances. 
 Fraternally he is a member ot the I'oresters, 
 and in 1898 was elected chief ranger of 
 Court Kish\\aukee of Sycatnore. He is a 
 young man of tine character and future 
 pronnse, and has already taken rank among 
 the able members of the bar o( De Kalb 
 conntw 
 
 THOMAS M. HOPKINS was for many 
 years one of the leading attorneys in 
 De Kalb county. He was born in the town 
 of Salem, Washington county. New York, 
 .April 23, 1 818, and was the son of Hiram 
 and Sarah (McClaryi Hopkins, also natives 
 of the town of Salem. Hiram Hopkins was 
 a man of considerable prominence in Salem, 
 but with a view (jf bettering his condition 
 in life, he came west and h^cated in Aurora, 
 Illinois, in the early settlement of that place. 
 Thomas M. Hopkins, our subject, was 
 reared in his native town and educated in 
 its public schools, completing his studies 
 with three years at Washington .Academy. 
 In 1835, when Init seventeen j'ears of age, 
 he commenced the study of law, and Janu- 
 ary, 1842, was admitted to the l)ar by the 
 supreme court of the state, at .Albany, New 
 York, Judge Samuel Nelson presiding. At 
 Salem he began the practice of his profes- 
 sion and there continued one year. In 1843 
 he came to Illinois, and after spending one 
 summer in this state, went to Missouri, 
 where he resided until February. 1846, 
 when he catiie to De Knlb count\' and en- 
 
•54 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tered a claim on section 13, De Kalb town- 
 ship, afterward entering the same from the 
 general government. He at once com- 
 menced improving the land, erecting there- 
 on a dwelling and necessary outbuildings 
 and for some years engaged in general farm- 
 ing. 
 
 On the 23d of April, 1846, Mr. Hopkins 
 was joined in marriage with Miss Julia .\. 
 Ha\\ken, a daughter of Jacob Havvken, a 
 native of Hagerstown, Maryland, from which 
 place he removed with his family to St. 
 Louis, Missouri, where the remainder of his 
 life was passed, dying at the age of sixty 
 years. His wife died when thirty-five years 
 old. To Mr. and Mrs. Hopki.js five children 
 were born. Montgomery, who is a farmer, 
 was born October 16, 1847. Charles O., also 
 a farmer by occupation, was born October 2, 
 1849. Christopher M., born September i, 
 1853, is a physician residing in Iowa. Alice 
 C. (now Mrs. Bradt) was born December 
 19, 1855. Jacob H., a leading attorney in 
 Chicago, was born May 3, 1865. 
 
 On first coming to the state Mr. Hopkins 
 applied for admission to the bar of Illinois 
 and was duly licensed to practice May 2, 
 1843, by the supreme court of the state. 
 Chief Justice Caton and Judge Richard M. 
 Young presiding. On his return to the state 
 in 1846, in connection with farming, he en- 
 gaged in general practice. In 1865 he 
 moved into the village of De Kalb, opened 
 a law office and devoted his whole time to 
 the legal profession. He was a man of 
 marked gifts and powers, thoroughly versed 
 in his profession. His familiarity with all 
 the laws, rules and regulations of the va- 
 rious courts enabled him to maintain a po- 
 sition in the front ranks of his profession, 
 and it was admitted by all that he was one 
 of the best members of the bar in De Kalb 
 
 county. His many clients bore testimony 
 to his zeal and success in furthering their 
 interests. Socially he was large-hearted 
 and benevolent in the extreme. He passed 
 away in 1888 at the age of seventy years, 
 mourned by many friends and missed bv all. 
 
 HH. HOPKINS, a representative busi- 
 ness man of Hinck!e\' and De Kalb 
 county, the supi-rintendent and manager of 
 e.xtensive creameries in De Kalb, Ken lall. 
 Ogle and Lee counties, has been a resident of 
 the county since 1880 and of Hincklev 
 since 1884. He is a nati\e of New Hamp- 
 shire, born in Chesterfield, Cheshire county, 
 July 2, 1 86 1, and is the son of R. Henry 
 Hopkins, a native of the same state and 
 county, who there grew to manhood and 
 married Miss Ellen L. Newton. For many 
 years he was one of the leading business 
 men of his native town, and occupied a very 
 prominent position in social, business and 
 political affairs. For one or more terms he 
 served as a member of the legislature, 
 with credit to himself atid constituents. 
 Fraternally he was a Mason. His death 
 occurred in 1878, his wife passing away two 
 years previously. They were the parents 
 of five children as follows: Charles Barton, 
 a business man of Hinsdale, New Hamp- 
 shire; H. H., of this review; (leorge C , of 
 Oregon, Illinois, who is interested in the 
 creamery business with our subject. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in his native town, and in 
 the high school of Hinsdale, New Hamp- 
 shire, finished his education. He came to 
 De Kalb county in 1880, and was employed 
 by H. B. r.nrley, who operated a creamery 
 on his farm near De Kalb, Illinois. While 
 with Mr. fiurley he received a thorough and 
 
THii. iuoctRaphical record. 
 
 '35 
 
 practical knowledge of the creamer}' busi- 
 ness, and in 1884 he formed a partnership 
 with his employer, and under the firm name 
 of Gurley & Hopkins, they purchased a 
 creamery at Hinckley, which had been in 
 operation some years, but was then run 
 <lown and doing no business. Mr. Hopkins 
 assumed the business management of the 
 Hinckley concern, and at once commenced 
 active operations. In due time the old ma- 
 chinery was replaced with new, and the 
 plant is now better supplied with improved 
 machinery than any other in this section of 
 the state. From time to time the firm 
 added other plants, until they have now 
 eight creameries in Lee, De Kalb and Ogle 
 counties. They are all first class plants, 
 and turn out dail}' about three thousand 
 three hundred pounds of first class butter. 
 Our subject has full charge of the business, 
 and to him is due the great success of these 
 creameries. 
 
 Mr. Hopkins was married at De Kalb, 
 Illinois, March 14, 1883, to Miss Frances 
 E. Geiser, a native of Fonda, New York, 
 but who was reared and educated in He 
 Kali). 
 
 Politirall\' Mr. Hopkins is a stanch Re- 
 publican, an(J has been quite active in local 
 politics, often serving as a delegate to the 
 various conventions of his party. In the 
 state convention of 1898, with others, he 
 represented De Kalb county as a delegate. 
 For some twelve years he served as a mem- 
 ber of the town council, being one of its 
 most active and influential men. He was 
 interested in and helped organize the fire 
 department, and has since been at the head 
 of that organization. Fraternally he is a 
 Mason, holding meinbershij") in the blue 
 lodge at Hinckley, the chapter at Sandwich 
 and the cominandery at .Aurora. In the 
 
 work of the lodge he has taken special inter- 
 est, and has served as worshipful master of 
 the lodge at Hinckley. While a resident of 
 the county but eighteen years, he has an 
 extensive acquaintance in every part as well 
 as in the surrounding counties. As a busi- 
 ness man he is thoroughly enterprising, and 
 is alive to every matter that will add to the 
 growth and prosperity of his adopted county 
 and state. 
 
 T C DUNCAN, M. D. , is one of DeKalb's 
 kJ prominent physicians and surgeons, be- 
 ing a thorough e.xpert, both in the medical 
 and surgical branches of his profession. His 
 office is on F"ourth street, where he has in 
 his service the latest and most improved 
 medical and surgical appliances. He was 
 born in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, March 
 3, 1851, and is the son of Thomas and Eliza 
 (Cation) Duncan, both of whom were natives 
 of Scotland, and who immigrated to this 
 country in 1842, locating in New York, where 
 they remained fi\e years In 1 847 they re- 
 moved to Wisconsin, where they remained 
 twenty-three years, going from thence to 
 Iowa, where the succeeding ten years was 
 spent. In 1880 they removed to Mendota, 
 Illinois, where the remainder of their lives 
 was spent. Eliza Duncan died in Decem- 
 ber, 1890, in her seventy- third year, and 
 Thomas Duncan, December 18, 1895, at the 
 age of eighty-one years. 
 
 The family of Thomas and Eliz.i Duncan 
 consisted of nine children, seven sons and 
 two daughters. Five of these sons are 
 practicing physicians at the present time. 
 Thomas C. Duncan, M. D., of Chicago, is 
 also an author of some note, his volume on 
 treatment of infants and children being a 
 standard work, which shouKl not onlv be in 
 
156 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 every physician's library, but in every par- 
 ent's home. David Duncan, M. D., is also 
 a resident of Chicago. George B. Duncan, 
 M. D., resides in Kewanee, Illinois, while J. 
 C. Duncan, M. D., is the subject of this 
 sketch. Frank is an occuiist and ranks 
 high in his profession in Des Moines, Iowa. 
 John is a farmer, residing in Mexico, Mis- 
 souri. William, a deceased son, gave his 
 life in defense of his country during the 
 siege of X'icksburg. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received his 
 primary education in Waukesha county, 
 Wisconsin, after which he entered Milton 
 College, Wisconsin, from which he was 
 graduated in 1869. He then went to Iowa 
 and engaged in agricultural pursuits, remain- 
 ing there until 1877, when he went to Chi- 
 cago, and attended a course of medical lec- 
 tures, but did not then graduate. Returning 
 to Iowa, he studied and practiced with his 
 brother, even then a prominent physician, 
 until 1882, when he again went to Chicago 
 and became associated with his two brothers 
 in study and practice. In 1887 he again 
 attended medical college, and was graduated 
 from the Chicago Homeopathic College. In 
 March of the same year he removed to La 
 Moile, Illinois, where his real active life be- 
 gan, and where success attended all his 
 efforts. In 1892 he took up the studv of 
 the eye and ear, making himself familiar 
 with all the diseases of those organs. He 
 is an expert at testing the eye and fitting 
 glasses to suit all the conditions of that del- 
 icate member. 
 
 On the 1 8th of May, 1875, Dr. Duncan 
 was united in marriage with Miss Anna 
 English, a native of Mitchell county. Iowa, 
 born in 1855, and a daughter of Samuel 
 English, one of the early settlers of that 
 county. Mrs. Duncan died May r, 1877, 
 
 leaving one son, Clifford }., born September 
 10, 1876. On the 8th of April, 1880, the 
 Doctor was joined by marriage with Miss 
 Nettie M. Patchen, a daughter of Orlando 
 and Cassie Patchen, of Wisconsin. By 
 this union three boys were born: Howard 
 W., December ir, 1 SS 1 ; I). Edgar, De- 
 cember 3, 1885; and Thomas Ro\-, Novem- 
 ber 22, 1889. 
 
 Dr. Duncan remained in La Moile, Illi- 
 nois, until October 15, 1896, when he re- 
 moved to De Kalb, where he now resides, 
 and where he enjoys the full confidence of 
 De Kalb's best citizens. As a physician he 
 has been very successful. 
 
 CAPTAIN HENRY C. W HITTEMORE, 
 one of the representative and honored 
 citizens of De Kalb county, who for many 
 years has been one of the leading merchants 
 of Sycamore, was born at Auburn, New 
 York, October 31, 1841, and is the son of 
 Lorenzo and Hannah (Kelsey 1 Whittemore. 
 His father was born in Leicester, Massa- 
 chusetts, March 11, 1807, and was the son 
 of Samuel Whittemore, who was a native of 
 the same place, born September 15, 1769. 
 Samuel Whittemore was a son of Lieuten- 
 ant James Whittemore, who was first ser- 
 geant of a company during the war of the 
 Revolution, and who marched with his c :)m- 
 pany to Le.xington, April 17, 1775, and 
 was subsequently promoted to lieutenant. 
 James was the son of John of Leicester, and 
 a great-grandson of Thomas, who came to 
 America from Hitchin, county Hereford, 
 England, in 1641, settling in Charlestown, 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 Samuel \\'hittemore, who was a farmer 
 by occupation, moved from Massachusetts 
 to New York and resided for a time in Cav- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '5; 
 
 uga and Allegany counties. He later 
 moved to Sycamore, Illinois, but died at 
 Westfield, New York, in 1866. while on a 
 visit to that place. His wife, Catherine 
 Ringer, died some twent}' years previously. 
 Lorenzo Whittemore came west in 1848, 
 and located in Sycamore, where his death 
 occurred August :; 1 , 1887. He was by occu- 
 pation a carp-nter, but also learned the 
 shoemaking trade and was engaged in that 
 line of business for a time. He was a 
 natural mechanic. Politically he was a 
 Republican, and religiously a member of the 
 Congregational church. . He was a large, 
 portly man, weighing two hundred and 
 twenty-five pounds. At one time he was 
 coroner of the county, serving a single term. 
 His wife, Hannah Kelsey, was a native of 
 Ulster county. New Yoik, born December 
 25, 1805, and died at Sycamore in March, 
 1879. They were the parents of two chil- 
 dren, Henry C. and Floyd K. The latter 
 is now deputy state treasurer and resides at 
 Springfield, Illinois. He was born October 
 2, 1S44, at Auburn, New York, came west 
 with his parents and was educated in the 
 schools of Sycamore. \her serving an ap- 
 prenticeship in the office of the True Repub- 
 lican, he entered the offices of the circuit 
 clerk of De Kalb county, and served from 
 1 86 1 to 1864. In 1865 he was made assist- 
 ant state treasurer under Beverridge, and 
 served with hitn two years, going out at the 
 expiration of his term. He then entered 
 the banking house of Jacob Bunn, at Spring- 
 field, as bookkeeper and was shortly made 
 teller and later cashier, serving as such until 
 the organization of the State National Bank 
 at Springfield, when he became cashier of 
 that institution, serving about twenty years. 
 He then became cashier of the subtreasury 
 at Chicago, under the administration of 
 
 President Harrison. In 1895 he was made 
 assistant state treasurer, and has held that 
 position up to the present time. In the 
 summer of 1898 he was nominated on the 
 Republican ticket for the office of state 
 treasurer. He is regarded as one of the 
 best financiers in Illinois. 
 
 Henry C. Whittemore, our subject, was 
 reared in Sycamore, where he received his 
 education in the public schools. For a time 
 he served as clt-rk in a mercantile establish- 
 ment, and then entered the office of the cir- 
 cuit clerk and was there engaged when the 
 war broke out. He enlisted in September, 
 18G1, and was mustered in in October of 
 the same year, as a member of Battery G, 
 Second Illinois Light Artillery, Captain C. 
 J. Stolbrand commanding. He was in a 
 camp of instruction until December, then 
 went to Cairo, and from there followed the 
 army down the Mississippi. He was ap- 
 pointed ordnance officer at Cairo, and had 
 charge of the ordnance department of the 
 Army of the Tennessee. He was with the 
 fieet at Island No. 10, where he remained 
 two weeks. He then went to Columbus, 
 Kentucky, and was engaged in keeping open 
 the railroads there. At that place he served 
 on the staff of General Ouimby, and also 
 General Davis. He was later transferred to 
 the Army of the Cumberland, and was judge 
 advocate for several months. He was then 
 with his battery in front of Fort Donelson. 
 Later he w^as placed on the staff of General 
 Rousseau and ser\ed with him until the 
 close of the war. 
 
 Captain Whittemore was mustered out 
 of service July 29, 1865, and was soon aft- 
 erwards sent south in the employ of the 
 postal department, in reorganizing the pos- 
 tal service in the southern states. He con- 
 tinued in that service until 1867, when he 
 
I 5.^ 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 returned home and later engaged in the 
 tanning business in which he continued for 
 a tiuic. In 1873 he coininenced in the 
 hardware business under the tirni name of 
 Harkness iS: W'hittemore. which partner- 
 ship Cfintinued until the formfr's death, 
 when Mr. Chaniberlain and Mr. A. W. 
 Brower purchased the interest of the Hark- 
 ness heirs, and the tirm became Whitte- 
 niore, Chambeilain & Co. Later Mr. 
 Chamberlain retired and the hrm became 
 W'hittemore & Brower. They carry a large 
 line of general hardware, agricultural im- 
 plements, carriages and wagons, and have 
 iiuilt up a large trade. 
 
 Captain Whittemore was united in mar- 
 riage March 17, 1864, to Miss Amelia Mar- 
 tin, a daughter of Harry and Jane (Slack) 
 Martin, both of whom were natives of Ver- 
 mont. She was born in Sycamore, to 
 which place her parents removed some 
 years previously. By this union there are 
 five children: Charles F., born in July, 1865, 
 died at the age of six years. Mary is yet 
 under the parental roof. Harry M., who 
 is engaged in business with his father, mar- 
 ried Miss Gertrude Chapell, by whom he 
 has one child, Helen. Cora married Dr. 
 George W. Nesbitt, of Sycamore. Flojd 
 graduated from the high school at Syca- 
 more, then entered the Illinois University, 
 from which he was also graduated. He is 
 now employed in the office of the state 
 treasurer at Springfield. 
 
 Mrs. Whittemore is a member of the 
 Congregational church in which she takes 
 an active part. Politically the Captain is 
 a Republican, with which part}' he has 
 been associated since attaining his major- 
 ity. By his party he has been honored 
 with a number of official positions, includ- 
 ing alderman of his ward and member of 
 
 the county board of supervisors. He was 
 first elected a member cf the board in 1883, 
 and has been re-elected at each succeeding 
 election, and is yet serving as a member, 
 gi\ing eminent safisfaction. He was a 
 member of tlie thirty-fourth general as- 
 sembl\' at the time General Logan was 
 elected United States senator, after a hard 
 and gallant fight. As a member of that 
 body Captain W'hittemore did good serv- 
 ice. He is now one of the trustees of the 
 State Home for Juvenile Offenders at Ge- 
 neva. He has always taken an active in- 
 terest in political affairs, and is usually a 
 delegate in the various con\entit)ns of his 
 party, county, congressional and state. 
 
 Fraternally Captain Whittemore is a 
 Mason, and is a memlier of the blue lodge, 
 chapter and commandery at Sycamore. 
 He is also a member of Potter Post, No. 
 12, G. A. R. , at Sycamore, of which he is 
 past commander. He is a man of social 
 character and generous instinct. As a citi- 
 zen he is public-spirited and is active in all 
 enterprises for the benefit of the people. 
 He is greatly esteemed by all who know 
 him. 
 
 JOHN POWERS, who resides on section 
 28, Alton township, is a representative 
 farmer and well known throughout the 
 county. He is a native of county Water- 
 ford, Ireland, born December 20, 1837. 
 and is the son of John and Catherine (Ouin- 
 lan) Powers, who were also natives of Ire- 
 land and the parents of five children, Ed- 
 ward, Patrick, John, Mary and Ann 
 
 In 1854, when but seventeen >ears of 
 age, our subject came to America, and 
 workeil on a farm in De Kalb county by the 
 month for several years in order that he 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 159 
 
 might get a start in the world. Previous 
 to leaving his native land he attended a 
 private school, and received a limited edu- 
 cation. Since coming to the United States, 
 by reading and observation, he has become 
 a well-informed man. In 1864 he made 
 his first purchase of land, buying two hun- 
 dred acres at sixteen dollars per acre. 
 Later he purchased eighty acres more, giv- 
 ing him a fine farm of two hundred and 
 eighty acres of good land, which, with the 
 improvements, is now worth about seventy- 
 five dollars per acre. 
 
 Mr. Powers was united in marriage with 
 Miss x\nna Hannagan, a native of Ireland 
 and of Irish descent. Eleven children have 
 been born to this union, of whom three are 
 deceased. The living are Anna, John, 
 Stephen, William, Nora, Maggie, Fred and 
 Ed. Mr. Powers and his family are all 
 members of the Catholic chiircii, and in 
 politics he is a Democrat. He has always 
 been interested in educational affairs, and 
 for full}- twenty years has served as a mem- 
 ber of the school board, A farmer who 
 thoroughly understands his business, he has 
 met with success in his vocation. As a cit- 
 izen he is greatly esteemed in the commu- 
 nity, which has been his home for more 
 than a third of a centurj'. 
 
 JOHN G. DAVY, foreman in Bradt & 
 J Shipman's glove factory, De Kalb, Illi- 
 nois, is a native of the city, born March 7, 
 1859, and is the son of Charles and Mary 
 Ann (Whitler) Davy, both natives of Eng- 
 land, who emigrated to this country in 1S55, 
 locating in De Kalb, Illinois, where the 
 father engaged in the butcher business in 
 which he proved very successful. In i860, 
 during the campaign, lie killed and roasted 
 
 an o.N, in honor of Lincoln's visit to the city. 
 He was a strict business man, true to those 
 principles which guide and govern success- 
 ful men. He died June 29, 1862, at the 
 age of thirty two years, his widow and two 
 sons surviving. 
 
 John G. Davy was reared and educated' 
 in De Kalb, and after receiving his educa- 
 tion in the schools of the city, he was em- 
 ployed by George Gurler in the grocery 
 trade, for whom he worked three and a half 
 years. At the age of twenty-two, he went 
 to work for I. A. Robinson, in the glove 
 factory, then located in the basement of the 
 Glidden House. He remained there two 
 years, and at the expiration of his first year 
 Mr. Robinson made him foreman of the 
 shop. In 1883 he bought the De Kalb 
 Mitten Coinpan}', which he successfully con- 
 ducted on his own account, increasing the 
 business to such an extent that Mott & Wol- 
 cott were induced to buy him out in 1891. 
 In the following year Mott & Wolcott sold 
 out to Bradt & Shipman, who put Mr. Davy 
 in charge of the entire plant. 
 
 On the 29th of March, 1882, Mr. Davy 
 was united in marriage with Miss Laura B. 
 Stevens, born at Sterling, New York, August 
 5, 1865, and a daughter of Phillip and Car- 
 oline M. Stevens. Her father died March 
 25, 1880, and her mother moved with the 
 family to De Kalb county, Illinois, arriving 
 here May 18, 1880. To Mr. and Mrs. Davy 
 five children have been born: Althea Ruth, 
 born October 11, 1883; Percival E. , Febru- 
 ary 10, 1886; Benjamin L., December i, 
 1888; Reuben R., June i, 1891; and Okley 
 B., October 12, 1893. 
 
 Mr. Davy is one of De Kalb's prominent 
 young men, of good business tact and enter- 
 prise. He has been interested in the man- 
 ufacture of cigars for a number of years, 
 
i6o 
 
 THE BIOGKArilKAL RECORD. 
 
 ;iiid has brought upon the iiiarkel several 
 novel and choice brands, one known as the 
 " Fraternit. " He has also carried on suc- 
 cessfully the lunch-room known as " The 
 F'amous Coffee House," ?ituated on Sixth 
 street, near the depot. By his townsmen 
 he has been chosen as a fit man to repre- 
 sent their interests in office, and is now 
 servinji his second term as alderman ol the 
 second ward. He is a charter member of 
 the Modern Woodmen of America, orj^an- 
 ized in 1884, and is also a membtr of the 
 Knights of Pythias, Rnights of the Macca- 
 bees, Royal Neighbors and Home Formi], 
 in all of which he is a leat'ing spirit. 
 
 AMOS W . TOWNSENl), deceased, was 
 for many years one of the leading busi- 
 ness men of De Kalb count}-, a man well 
 known throughout its length and breadth, 
 one who by his own success was enabled to 
 assist others in securing a foothold in life. 
 His life was an exemplification of the fact 
 that there are no rules for building charac- 
 ters and none for achieving success. The 
 man who can rise from the ranks to a posi- 
 tion of eminence is he who can see and util- 
 ize the opportunities that surround his path. 
 The essential conditions of human life are 
 ever tl)e same; the surroundings of indi\id- 
 uals differ but slightly. When one man 
 passes another on the highwa}' of life, it is 
 because he has the power to use advantages 
 which probably encompass the whole human 
 race. 
 
 Amos W. Townsend was born in the 
 town of Neversink, Sullivan county, New 
 York, September 23, 1832. His ancestry 
 is traced back to his great-grandfather, 
 Charles Townsend, who lived for some years 
 in Sussex county. New York, but spent the 
 
 latter years of his life in Sulli\an county, in 
 the same state, d)'ing when cpjite an old 
 man. His wife was a Miss Hall. During 
 the Revolutionary war, he served in the 
 unlitia of New \'ork, assisting the struggle 
 f<jr independence. His son, jrjshua Town- 
 send, was born in Deckertown, Sussex coun- 
 ty. New York, July 14, 1787. He married 
 Phebe Porter, a native of New Haven coun- 
 ty, Connecticut, born P'ebruary 17, 1787. 
 They came west in 1840, locating in May field 
 township, De Kalb county, Illinois, where the 
 former died April 17, 1861, and the latter 
 .April 28, 1867. Their son, Stephen Town- 
 send, the father of our subject, was born in 
 Sulli\an C(->unty, New \'ork, in the town of 
 Ne\'ersink, [une 30, 1807. He there married 
 Miss Ann Denman. Herfather, William Den- 
 man, was born in Ditchling, Sussex county, 
 England, November 12, 1763. He married 
 .\nn Boorman, born in Sheddom, Kent coun- 
 ty, England, August 9, 1772. They later 
 emigrated to the United States, and settled 
 in the town of Neversink, Sullivan county, 
 New York, where his death occurred De- 
 cember 10, 185S, his wife preceding him, 
 having died June 5, 1842. In 1 840, Stephen 
 Townsend came with his family to Mayfield 
 township, De Kalb county, Illinois, where 
 he purchased a farm ami where the re- 
 mainder of his life was passed. He died 
 some ) ears ago and his wife makes her home 
 in Sycamore and is now eighty-nine years 
 old. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but eight 
 years of age when he came with the family 
 to De Kalb county. They came to this 
 country preceded by an uncle of our sub- 
 ject, who came here in 1837. There were 
 three generations in the party, and all lo- 
 cated in Ma\fielJ township. They diove 
 through from the east with teams, and were 
 
AMOS V/. TOWNSEND. 
 
MRS. A. W^. TOWNSEND. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 165 
 
 several weeks in making the journey. Pre- 
 vious to their leaving Sullivan county, New 
 York, our subject there attended school for 
 a year or two, and after his coming to De 
 Kalb county he attended the district school 
 for a time, and completed his education in 
 the Wheaton academy now Wheaton Col- 
 lege. Before attaining his majority, he be- 
 gan farming on his grandfather's farm, where 
 he remained until the time of his marriage. 
 
 Mr. Townsend was married in Sycamore, 
 October 15, 1857, to Miss Eleanor Pierce, 
 a native of Sullivan county, New York, and 
 a daughter of Daniel and Phebe j. (Brund- 
 age) Pierce, of whom mention is made else- 
 where in this work. By this union five 
 children have been born. Frederick B. is 
 the present mayor of Sycamore and man- 
 ager of the bank of Daniel Pierce & Com- 
 pany. A more extended notice of him 
 appears on another page uf this work. 
 Jennie married Charles A. Webster, and 
 they have three children, Marian, Fred- 
 erick C. and Pierce. They reside in Gales- 
 burg, Illinois. Anna married Frank E. 
 Claycomb, of Monmouth, Illinois, by whom 
 she had five children, Eleanor, Amos T., 
 Aha Louise, George F. and Edward Den- 
 man. She is now deceased, dying April 8, 
 1892. Georgia married Captain John E. 
 Yates, and their four children are Dorothy, 
 Margaret, Marjorie and Oscar T. The 
 family now reside in Boise City, Idaho. 
 Mary, the youngest born, yet remains with 
 her mother. 
 
 Immediatel}' after his marriage, Mr. 
 Townsend bought a farm a few miles north 
 of Malta, where he lived for nineteen years, 
 and where he successfully followed agricult- 
 ural pursuits. In the fall of 1876, on ac- 
 count of the death of the mother of Mrs. 
 Tow'nsend, they reniovcd to a farm one 
 
 mile west of Sycamore, to make a home for 
 Mrs. Townsend's father. On removal to 
 this farm, in addition to giving his personal 
 attention to its management, Mr. Town- 
 send soon became interested in the banking 
 house of Daniel Pierce & Company, as the 
 junior member of the firm. He was a 
 thorough business man, methodical in all 
 his ways, and success crowned his efforts. 
 In politics he was a stanch Republican, and 
 while always taking an active interest in 
 political affairs, and while giving unswerving 
 allegiance to his party, he never asked nor 
 would accept office, save that of supervisor 
 of his township, an office which was forced 
 upon him b}' his friends and neighbors, be- 
 cause of his well-known ability and strict 
 integrity of character. His death occurred 
 August 25, 1887, and his remains were laid 
 to rest in the beautiful cemetery at Syca- 
 more. By his death the wife lost an affec- 
 tionate husband, and the children a kind 
 and loving father, and the community one 
 of its best known citizens, a man that was 
 ever ready to do his part in promoting the 
 business and material welfare of his adopted 
 county and state. Mrs. Townsend now re- 
 sides in a beautiful residence on Scmonauk 
 street. Sycamore, Illinois, and her home is 
 the abode of hospitality and the center of a 
 refined circle of friends and acquaintances, 
 who esteemed her for her many excellent 
 traits of character. 
 
 WILLIAM H. ROBINSON, for many 
 years a successful farmer in Syca- 
 more township, and later a dealer in agri- 
 cultural implements in the city of Syca- 
 more, but who is now living a retired life, 
 was born January 9, 1835. His father, 
 John l-iobinson, was born in Lancashire, 
 
1 66 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 England, November 14, 1804, and came to 
 America, when but eighteen years old, sail- 
 ing from Liverpool and landing in Canada, 
 where he resided for a time, and later 
 moved to New York, but returned to Can- 
 ada. In the fall of 1836 he came to Illi- 
 nois and selected a location in Plato town- 
 ship. Kane county, and then sent for his 
 family, consisting then of a wife, son and 
 daughter. They came in the spring of 
 1837, and he there made his home until his 
 death, with the exception of about three 
 years spent in California. In 1852 he went 
 with a drove of cattle across the plains to 
 California, riding all the way on horseback, 
 and was from April to November in making 
 the journey. He reached the mountains 
 too late to get the cattle through, and 
 therefore left them with his partners in Car- 
 son Valley until the next spring. He met 
 only with moderate success in mining oper- 
 ations. After the expiration of three years 
 he returned to Plato township, Ivane coun- 
 ty, Illinois, and resumed farming. Success 
 attended him as an agriculturist, and he ac- 
 quired two hundred and fifty acres of very 
 valuable land. \\'hile residing in Canada he 
 married Sarah Hole, a native of Somerset- 
 shire, England, born in 1800, and who 
 came to America in 1818. Her father, 
 Robert Hole, who married Rachel Hans- 
 ford in England, settled first in Canada, and 
 later came to the United States, settling 
 near St. Charles, Kane county, Illinois, 
 where he engaged in farming, but later re- 
 turned to Canada, where he died at the age 
 of ninety-seven years. To John and Sarah 
 Robinson four children were born. Mary 
 Ann married Gilbert Sawin, and both are 
 now deceased. William H. is the subject 
 of this sketch. Robert lives in Elgin. 
 Rachel died in young wouianhood. 
 
 William H. Robinson, our subject, was 
 born in Bradford, Canada, and was brought 
 by his parents to Plato township, Kane coun- 
 ty, Illinois. On the farm of his father he 
 grew to manhood and assisted in its culti- 
 vation from the time he was able to hold 
 the plow. His education was limited to 
 the common schools of Plato township, but 
 by reading and observation he has since 
 become well informed. When his father 
 went to California he left him, a lad of sev- 
 enteen years, in charge of the home farm, 
 with all its responsibilites. He remained 
 under the parental roof until the age oi 
 twenty-four years, when he was united in 
 marriage, August i, 1S58, with Miss Sabron 
 C. Seward, born at Romulus, Seneca coun- 
 ty. New York, October 18, 1837, but who 
 at the age of two years was taken by her 
 parents to Broome county. New York. In 
 185 I the family moved west and settled in 
 North Plato, Kane county, Illinois. Her 
 father, Chandlej' Lambert Seward, was 
 born in Courtwright, Delaware county. New 
 York, in 1807. In Broome county, the 
 same state, he married Harriet Lee, No- 
 vember 28, 1830. She was born in Che- 
 nango county, New York, April 25, 181 3, 
 and is the daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah 
 (French) Lee, who moved from Connecti- 
 cut to New York, at a very early day. Na- 
 thaniel Lee was a fine cabinet maker, and 
 made a set of furniture for his daughter 
 Harriet when she began housekeeping as 
 the wife of Mr. Seward. Chandley L. and 
 Harriet Seward were the parents of four 
 children, of whom Mrs. Robinson is third 
 in order of birth. The others were Mary 
 Jane Holmes, \vho lives in Kaneville, Illi- 
 nois; Nathaniel Edrick, living in Boone 
 county, Illinois; and ^^'illiam Wallace, who 
 li\es in Newago county, iMichigan. Chand- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 167 
 
 ley L. Seward was one of the first to vol- 
 unteer from Kane county in the Civil war, 
 enlisting for three years. His son, Nathan- 
 iel Edrick, served four years in that war, 
 enlisting in Kansas. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 William Robinson, lived and died in Lan- 
 cashire, England, where he was the owner 
 of forty acres of land which is now in the 
 heart of the city of Lanshire. The grand- 
 father of Mrs. Robinson, David Seward, a 
 native of New York, married Susan Smith 
 and moved to Michigan, where he died 
 some years ago. He was a soldier in the 
 war of 1 8 1 2 . 
 
 To our subject and wife four children 
 have been born, (i) George E., born in 
 Plato township, Kane county, Illinois, May 
 27, 1859, married Miner\a Love, who was 
 a successful school teacher, and they have 
 six children, Carrie, Arthur, Glenn, Leon 
 D. and Fern S. and an infant. For some 
 years he was engaged in the farming imple- 
 ment business with his father, but now con- 
 tinuing the same business in partnership 
 with his brother-in-law, L. D. Lcve. 
 George E. is a graduate of a business col- 
 lege in Jacksonville, Illinois. (2) Cora B. 
 married Fred S. Rich, and they have one 
 son, Ernest Paul. Their home is in New- 
 ton, Iowa, where he is engaged in the 
 manufacture of self-feeders for threshing 
 machines. Cora attended Jennings Semi- 
 nary at Aurora and later taught school for 
 several terms. (3) Elsie A. is a graduate 
 of the Sycamore public schools. She studied 
 stenography and journalism, and was em- 
 ployed during the World's Fair at Chicago, 
 by the Press Bureau, to gather news at the 
 White City. At the close of the fair she 
 accepted a position with the same bureau 
 jii New York City. She is a writer on 
 
 special topics for the New York Herald, 
 New York World and the Chicago Times- 
 Herald. As a story writer, and also a 
 writer of poetry, she has contributed to 
 such magazines as Lippincott's, Overland 
 and others. She is a fluent writer, spe- 
 cially strong in expressive adjectives, with a 
 good conception of local color. She is now 
 a stenographer in the office of a railroad 
 official in Butte, Montana, a position which 
 does not interfere with her literary work. 
 (4) Edith died in infancy. 
 
 Immediately after his marriage, Mr. 
 Robinson was deeded forty acres on sec- 
 tion 8, a part of his father's farm, and later 
 lie bought eighty acres in an adjoining sec- 
 tion, and a timber tract in Hampshire 
 township. In 1865, he sold that farm and 
 came to De Kalb county and purchased one 
 hundred and five acres in sections 4 and 9, 
 Sycamore township, and there engaged in 
 farming until 1874, when he moved to the 
 city of Sycamore, opened an agricultural 
 implement store and engaged in the busi- 
 ness until January i, 1897, when he sold 
 his interest to his son and son-in-law, who 
 for some time had been in partnership with 
 him. 
 
 In politics Mr. Robinson is a Republican. 
 The family are regular attendants of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 ORLANDO HARPER is a retired farm- 
 er living in the village of Kingston. 
 He was born in what is now Erie county, 
 Ohio, May 27, 1830, and is the son of 
 Joseph and Susan (Williams) Harper, the 
 former a native of New York and the latter 
 of Vermont. Prior to the birth of our sub- 
 ject, they had resided in Ohio for some 
 time, where the father engaged in agricult- 
 
i68 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ural pursuits. In 1839 they removed to 
 Boone county, Illinois, where they remained 
 about one year, and then moved to Frank- 
 lin township, De Kalb count}-, antl in 1841 
 located in Kingston township, where the 
 father made a claim to a farm of one hun- 
 dred and si.\ty acres, which he improved 
 and upon which they lived a prosperous and 
 respected people. Afterwards he purchased 
 it from the government. Joseph Harper 
 died in 1848, at the age of fifty- four years, 
 and his wife in 1857, at the age of sixty 
 years. Their famih' numbered nine chil- 
 dren, four of whom are now living, Mrs. 
 Laura W. Buck, George, Col. J. W. and 
 Orlando. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was tifth in 
 order of birth, and was reared and educated 
 mostly in Kingston township, being nine 
 years of age when his parents removed to 
 Illinois. He remained upon the home farm 
 and assisted in its cultivation until after he 
 attained his majority, in the meantime at- 
 tending the common schools, as the oppor- 
 tunity was afforded him. On the 21st of 
 September, 1853, he was united in mar- 
 riage with .Miss Sallie Cameron, a native of 
 Indiana, born July 21, 1837, and a daughter 
 of William and Sallie Cameron, who came 
 to De Kalb county in 1843, locating in 
 Kingston township, on section 19, where 
 her father purchased a farm of one hundred 
 and twenty acres. He was born in Ken- 
 tucky in 1793, and died in 1872, at the age 
 of seventy-nine years. His wife was born 
 in Virginia in 1795, and died in 1868, at the 
 age of seventy-three years. They were 
 well-to-do people, and highly respected for 
 the true worth. 
 
 Immediately after his marriage Mr. 
 Harper rented a farm, which he cultivated 
 for two years. He iuid youth, strength, 
 
 ambition and pluck on his side, and saw the 
 necessity of putting his entire energies on a 
 place of his own. He therefore purchased 
 a small farm of eight}- acres in section 31, 
 Kingston township, upon which he built 
 and where he resided for six years. In 
 1865 he sold that farm to H. P. Grout, and 
 purchased another farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres of partially impro\-ed land, and 
 which in after years under his skillful hands 
 and governing mind became a model farm. 
 He was always practical and kept abreast 
 of the times. In 1881, on account of fail- 
 ing health, he retired to Kingston, renting 
 his farm. There with his wife he lives a 
 peaceful and contented life. He has been 
 honored with the office of trustee of his 
 town, an office which he conscientiously 
 filled. 
 
 CHARLES S. HOLMES, who is living 
 retired in the village of Shabbona, 
 came to De Kalb county, in 1848. He is 
 a native of New York, born in Madison 
 county, July 14, 1S37. He is the son of 
 Richard Holmes, a native of Vermont, born 
 in 1 8 10, and the grandson of Seth Holmes, 
 a native of one of the New Enland states. 
 The family are of English descent, and 
 were early sttlers of New England. Seth Hol- 
 mes moved from Vermont to New York, and 
 became one of the pioneers of Madison 
 county. Richard Holmes, his son, there 
 grew to manhood and married Lucretia 
 Smith, a native of New York, born near the 
 Hudson river. For a number of years, he 
 engaged in merchandising at Albany, New- 
 York, and in 1848 came to De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, and purchased a tract of land in 
 Paw Paw township, owing some live or six 
 hundred acres. W'itii his suns he com- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 169 
 
 menced the development of the place, and 
 later sold a portion, leaving the home farm 
 to consist of two hundred and forty acres, 
 oil which he erected good substantial build- 
 ings, and spent some years there. His last 
 days were spen, at the home of his sons, in 
 the village of Shabbona. He died in March, 
 1895, at the age of eighty-five years. His 
 wife passed away in April, 1889, at the age 
 of seventy-nine years. Previous to his 
 moving to Shabbona, he resided some 
 twenty years at Leland. By his fellow 
 citizens he was honored with various town- 
 ship offices, including road commissioner 
 and supervisor. Richard and Lucretia 
 Holmes were the parents of three sons. J. 
 L. is a retired farmer, residing in Paw Paw 
 township, near Rollo. Charles S. is the 
 subject of this review. George R. is a 
 business man of De Kalb. 
 
 Charles S. Holmes came to De Kalb 
 county, with his parents, when a lad of 
 eleven years, and was educated in the com- 
 mon schools and in the seminary at Paw 
 Paw. He later took a commercial 
 course at L. W. Burnham's Commercial 
 College at Rockford, Illinois. He then 
 engaged in merchandising at Ross' G.ove, 
 two years, but not liking the business, he 
 sold out and returned to the farm. Purchas- 
 ing the interest of the other heirs, he 
 succeeded to the old homestead, to which he 
 later added one hundred and twenty acres, 
 making him a fine and very productive farm 
 of three hundred and sixty acres. In addi- 
 tion to general farming, he gave some atten- 
 tion to graded stock, and had some tine 
 driving horses, from which he sold two 
 teams one day, for nine hundred and fifty 
 dollars. In his farming operations he was 
 quite successful, but in 1883 he rented the 
 farm, moved to Shabbona, purchased an 
 
 acre of ground, built a residence and has 
 since lived retired. 
 
 Mr. Holmes was married in State Cen- 
 ter, Iowa, December 11, 1873, to Miss Ella 
 Sherwood, who was born, reared and edu- 
 cated in Shabbona, De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 and who commenced teaching in the public 
 schools when but sixteen years of age, and 
 was a successful teacher in De Kalb county 
 for five years. She is a daughter of Solo- 
 man and Martha Sherwood, natives of Ver- 
 mont and West Virginia respectively. Mr. 
 Sherwood came with his family to De Kalb 
 county, March 1, 1852, and settled on a 
 farm near the village of Shabbona. He 
 met his death by accident in 1858. His 
 wife survived him and reared the family 
 of eight children that grew to maturity, 
 six of whom are living at the present 
 time. To Mr. and Mrs. Holmes three 
 sons have been born. Charles S., Jr., who 
 is a well educated young man, is now taking 
 a course at the Metropolitan Business Col- 
 lege, Chicago. Fred W. is a graduate of 
 the Shabbona schools, and is also taking a 
 course at the Metropolitan College, and has 
 entered th'j Northwestern University of Den- 
 tistry, of Chicago, Illinois. Clare Richard is a 
 student of the Shabbona schools, and is resid- 
 ingat home. They lost onadiughter, Grace 
 Ella, who died at the age of fifteen months. 
 
 Politically Mr. Holmes was originally 
 identified with the Democratic party, giving 
 his support to the "little giant," Stephen 
 A. Douglas, in i860. Later he became a 
 Republican, with which party lie was iden- 
 tified for soma years, but on account of his 
 stanch temperance principles he has of late 
 voted the Prohibition ticket. He never de- 
 sired nor asked for office, and while in the 
 country never served in an official capacit}-, 
 but since his remo\-al to the village he has 
 
r 70 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 served on the village board two terms, one 
 year being president of the board. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Holmes, together with 
 their two youngest sons, are members of 
 the Congregational church in Shabbona, in 
 which both are active workers. Both were 
 teachers in the Sunday school, where they 
 have been instrumental in doing much good. 
 The latter is still a teacher. For many 
 years Mrs. Holmes has had charge of a class 
 of adults, made up mostly of the young men 
 of the place. Her class book shows that 
 she has had sevent}- different pupils, some 
 who have been actively engaged in business. 
 Her influence has always been for good. In 
 the fifty years in which Mr. Holmes has 
 been a resident of De Kalb county, he has 
 done his share in making it rank among the 
 best counties of the state. His teaching 
 and his e.xample has always been for good. 
 
 CAPT.MX JOSEPH W. FOSTER, a 
 resident of the village of Kingston, is 
 a native of Adams county, Ohio, born Jan- 
 uary 17, 1828, and is- the son of Moses C. 
 and Anna B (Robb) Foster, the former a 
 native of Adams county, Ohio, and the 
 latter of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, both 
 born about 1 S06. He lived until his eighty- 
 fourth year, while his wife lived to see her 
 seventy-fourth year. Moses C. Foster was 
 the son of Nathaniel and Rebecca C. Fos- 
 ter, the former a native of New Jersey, who 
 served six years in the Revolutionary army, 
 and who finally settled in Ohio, where he 
 died at an advanced age. Thomas Robb, 
 the maternal grandfather of our subject, 
 was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania. 
 He was the father of a pair of twins, John 
 and Thomas, who fought under General 
 lackson in the war of 1812. .A \oiinger 
 
 son, William, was sheriff for several terms 
 of a county in Indiana, also a representative 
 in the state legislature. All were men of 
 great influence in political affairs in their 
 respective places of abode. Thomas Robb 
 came to De Kalb county in 1835, locating in 
 Kingston township where he took up one 
 hundred and si.xty acres of prairie and tim- 
 ber land in section 22. Politically he was 
 a Democrat and a man of influence in his 
 party. He served fiis township in various 
 offices He also assisted in the organiza- 
 tion of De Kalb county. His death oc- 
 curred in 1844 at the age of seventy years. 
 James K. Polk, once president of the Unit- 
 ed States, was a cousin of Thomas Robb. 
 
 Moses C. Foster was a potter by trade, 
 and an expert workman. He removed 
 from Ohio to Indiana, and there resided six 
 years, coming from that state to Illinois in 
 1836, locating in Kingston township, De 
 Kalb county, where he purchased a farm of 
 eighty acres on section 26. After his re- 
 moval to the latter place he confined him- 
 self principally to agricultural pursuits. He 
 was quite active in politics, and was well 
 versed in the political issues of the day. 
 Originally he was a strong Henry Clay 
 \\'hig, but subsequently became a Republic- 
 an, with which party he was identified un- 
 til his death in 1890. By his fellow citizens 
 he was honored with several of the princi- 
 pal township offices. His wife died in 
 1868. Their family consisted of nine chil- 
 dren, eight of whom grew to maturity and 
 six of whom are now living. 
 
 Joseph W. Foster, our subject, was but 
 eight years of age when his parents came to 
 Kingston township. He was there reared 
 upon the home farm and after receiving his 
 education in the common schools followed 
 the vocation of a fartner until 18^2, when 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 i/t 
 
 he went to Belvidere, Boone county, Illi- 
 nois, and there engaged in the mercantile 
 business, in which he continued for seven 
 years. During his stay at Belvidere he be- 
 came a member of a military company 
 known as the Boone Rifles. In i 859 he re- 
 moved to De Kalb, where he was for a 
 time engaged in the grain business. In 1861 
 he assisted in organizing a company, the 
 services of which were offered to the gen- 
 eral government and of which he was com- 
 missioned first lieutenant. The compan\- 
 was assigned to the Forty-second Illinois 
 \^o]unteer, Infantry under Colonel D. Stuart, 
 and became known as Company K. With 
 his regiment he went to the front and par- 
 ticipated in the battles of Farmington, Co- 
 lumbia, Stone River, Chickamauga, and in 
 the latter engagement was severely wounded, 
 September 20, 1863, and left for dead on 
 the battlefield, and taken prisoner by the 
 enemy. He was removed from one prison 
 to another and was finally incarcerated in 
 Libby prison, where he originated the 
 scheme of tunneling the prison. The 
 scheme was carried out and one hundred 
 and nine men escaped, but it was discovered 
 before his turn came. He was thus doomed 
 to be a prisoner uati"l the close of the war. 
 He was mustered out of the service, as cap- 
 tain, May 15, 1865, after spending seven- 
 teen months and eleven days in prison. 
 
 On his return to civil life Captain Foster 
 settled in Kingston township, where he 
 turned his attention to farming until 1892, 
 when he removed to the village of Kingston 
 where he now resides. On June 19, 1849, 
 he was joined in wedlock with Miss Alidah 
 Baringer, born at Sand Lake, Genesee coun- 
 ty, New York, August 30, 1831, and a 
 daughter of Martin and Mary Ann Baringer. 
 l>v this union four children were born, three 
 
 of whom are now living; John W., Charles 
 M. and Thomas P. The first two are farm- 
 ers, while the latter is a skillful mechanic. 
 Captain Foster is a popular man in his 
 town and is thoroughly alive to all its inter- 
 ests. As an appreciation of his willingness 
 to serve well they have elected him assessor 
 for fourteen years. He has also been pres- 
 ident of the board of trustees for one term. 
 Under President Hayes' administration he 
 was appointed assistant United States mar- 
 shal, and took the census of se\'en town- 
 ships in De Kalb county. His arm\' record 
 is good — none better --and when found 
 wounded on the battlefield of Chickamauga 
 no man was nearer the enemy's lines. As 
 a reward for his bravery and injuries re- 
 ceived the government pays him a pension. 
 He is a member of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic and has been commander of the 
 post at Kingston. He and his wiie are con- 
 sistent members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church and he was superintendent of the 
 Sunday school for four years at Charter Oak. 
 
 ALFRED BRADBURY is a retired mer- 
 chant residing in Waterman. Illinois. 
 He is a native of England, born in the county 
 of Middlesex, near London, September 27, 
 1822, and is the son of Jacob and Mary 
 (Wetherly) Bradbury, both of whom were 
 natives of Middlese.x county, the former liv- 
 ing to the remarkable age of ninety-two 
 years, the latter dying when seventy-eight 
 years old. They were the parents of five 
 children: Charles, deceased; Alfred, our sub- 
 ject: Frances, who married a Mr. Honn- 
 densden, and is now a widow residing in 
 London; Ambrose, deceased; and Mrs. Sarah 
 Whitehead, residing in London. Mrs. Brad- 
 bury, the mother of these children, was a 
 
172 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 daufjjhter of William Such, of London. ;i 
 traveling man, who married Ann Blake, also 
 a native of England. Mrs. Bradbury uas 
 also born in the city of London. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native county, and in his youth 
 learned the carriage and wagon maker's 
 trade, but later worked at railroad carriage 
 building in the city of London, for about 
 eight years, being in the employ of the Lon- 
 don & Northwestern Railroad Company. 
 He was married in l^ondon, fuly 15, 1847. 
 to Elizabeth Such, a native of London, 
 England. In 1S55, with his family, he came 
 to the United States, taking passage on a 
 sailing vessel and being five weeks on the 
 Atlantic ocean. He arrived in New York 
 May 22, and came directly west to De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, where he joined his brother 
 Charles and located in Squaw drove town- 
 ship in 1S51. 
 
 On his arrnal in De I"Calb county, Mr. 
 Bradbiirv imrchased a lot at Freeland Cor- 
 ners, built a shop and went to work at 
 wagon making and blacksmithing, and also 
 doing general repair work and continued in 
 that business for seven years. He then pur- 
 chased a ^"mall grocery store at the corner and 
 engaged in the grocery business at that place 
 for several j'ears. When the railroad was 
 built he was one of the first to commence 
 business in the village of Waterman, and 
 the very first one to engage exclusively in 
 the grocery business. For twenty years he 
 was activelj" engaged in that business at 
 Waterm.an, when he sold out to his son, and 
 has since been living a retired life. Mr. 
 IBradbury was appointed postmaster at Free- 
 land, November 3, 1863, and served there 
 until his removal to Waterman. Shortly 
 after removing to the latter place, he was 
 again appointed postmaster and served u!itil 
 
 Cleveland was elected president in 1884, a 
 period in all of twenty-three years. He has 
 also served in other positions of trust and 
 honor, serving as township treasurer some 
 six or eight years, and as a member of the 
 village board several 3'ears. Since becoming 
 a naturalized citizen, he has been a stanch 
 Republican, not only advocating the prin- 
 ciples of the partv. but \oting the party 
 ticket. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bradbury have fotu' chil- 
 dren. Charles, who is a traveling sales- 
 man, makes his home in Hartford City, 
 Indiana. Frances Ann is the wife of Au- 
 gust A. .Stryker, a farmer of DeKalb coun- 
 ty. Harry is now postmaster of Waterman. 
 Georgetta resides at home and assists her 
 brother in the postoffice. They lost three 
 children — Ambrose, who died when about 
 twelve years old; William, who died when 
 five years old; and Emily, who died when 
 twelve years old. Mr. and Mrs. Bradbury 
 were reared in the Episcopal faith. They 
 have in their possession a bible that has 
 been in the family for over two hundred and 
 forty years. It was published in London, 
 in 1637. They celebrated their golden wed- 
 ding, July 15, 1897, when their children and 
 grandchildren came to their home, making 
 their hearts glad by their presents and tok- 
 ens of love and esteem. For forty-three 
 years they have resided in De Kalb county, 
 and are well known, especialK' in the cen- 
 tral part, and those who know them liest 
 have for them the highest regard. 
 
 GENERAL F. W. PARTRIDGE, one 
 of De Kalb county's most distin- 
 guished citizens, now residing in the city of 
 Sycamore, comes of fighting stock. His 
 great-grandfather. Captain Samuel Part- 
 
GEN. F. W. PARTRIDGE. 
 
 Aged 63 Years. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 '75 
 
 ridge, served in the colonial wars, while 
 his grandfather, Captain Isaac Partridge, 
 was in the Revolutionary war, and his 
 father. Captain Cyrus Partridge, in the war 
 of 1812. A cousin. Captain Alden Par- 
 tridge, was at one time superintendent at 
 West Point, and later established a mili- 
 tary school at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 
 which our subject was military instructor. 
 
 Captain Cyrus Partridge, the father of 
 our subject, was born in Norwich, \'er- 
 mont, Jul)' II, 1786, and there spent his 
 entire life, dying Jul}- 16, 1842. He was a 
 very prominent man in his native city and 
 county, and for almost forty years was en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business, and for a 
 like period was postmaster. In addition to 
 his mercantile business, he owned large 
 sheep farms and was e.xtensively engaged 
 in farming. For fifteen or twenty years he 
 served as a member of the legislature, and 
 was high sheriff of the county (or several 
 terms. He was seldom or never out of 
 one or more official positions, and could 
 have had any office for the asking. A life- 
 long member of the Congregational church, 
 he was active in thu work of that body. 
 During the wai" of 1812, he served as a 
 captain of a company, and was with Scott 
 at the battle of I^undy's Lane. A self-ed- 
 ucated man, he had an unusually good 
 inemory, keen perceptive faculties, and was 
 an omniverous reader. 
 
 Captain Cyrus Partridge was united in 
 marriage December 10, 1806, with Miss 
 Mary Loveland, a native of Norwich, Ver- 
 mont, born November 3, 1786, and who 
 died in La Salle county, Illinois, January 
 24, 1866. She was the daughter of Joseph 
 Loveland, a native of Glastonbury, Con- 
 necticut, born April 14, 1747, and who 
 
 died in Norwich, \'crmont, September 8, 
 9 
 
 (813. At Colchester, Connecticut, No- 
 vember 12, 1773, he married Mercy Bige- 
 low, a daughter of David and Mercy (Lewis) 
 Bigelow. In 1776 he moved from Weath- 
 ersfield, Connecticut, to Hanover, New 
 Hampshire, and during the Revolutionary 
 war, served in Colonel Jonathan Chase's 
 regiment, and was in the battle of Ticon- 
 deroga. David Bigelow was the son of 
 John Bigelow, [r. , whose father was John 
 Bigelow, Sr. , the son of Thomas Bigelow, 
 who was an immigrant to this country. 
 The Lovelands were early settlers of this 
 country. A widow Loveland, with her 
 three sons, settled at Glastonbury and 
 Weathersfield, Connecticut, and bought In- 
 dian land on both sides of the river. One 
 of these brothers, Elisha, was the ancestor 
 of our subject. He married Lucy Sparks, 
 and served four years in the I^e\olutionary 
 army. 
 
 Frederick W. Partridge, of this sketch, 
 was born on the old homestead in Norwich, 
 Vermont, August 19, 1824. After attend- 
 ing the common schools he studied at the 
 American Literary, Scientific and Military 
 Academy at Norwich, Vermont. He then en- 
 tered Dartmouth College at Hanover, New 
 Hampshire, which was only a mile and a 
 quarter across the river from his place of 
 residence, leaving at the close of the fresh- 
 man year on account of the death of his 
 father. In 1845, a few years after his fa- 
 ther's death, he went to Pennsylvania and 
 took charge of the Harrisburg Military Col- 
 lege, which was established by his distin- 
 guished cousin. He proved to be a pro- 
 ficient teacher in military as well as classi- 
 cal branches. 
 
 In January, 1847, Mr. Partridge enlisted 
 in the United States army and was en- 
 trusted with a secret mission to Me.xico by 
 
ij6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 President James K. Polk, with instructions 
 to see how operations were beitig conducted 
 at the front, reporting to the Secretary of 
 War. Being a secret mission he could not 
 have credentials, and when captured as a 
 spy he could not divulge the object of his 
 mission. He was imprisoned at Sun Juan 
 D'Ulloa, where his cousin, Henry S. Kur- 
 ton, lieutenant of First Artillery, was in 
 command. He was later a general in the 
 Civil war and commanded at Fortress Mon- 
 roe at the time Jefferson Davis was a pris- 
 oner there. Mr. Partridge was soon re- 
 leased and returned to Washington, the 
 object of his mission not accomplished. 
 
 After the Mexican war Mr. Partridge 
 came to Illinois and located 0[i a farm in 
 Kendall county, where he made iiis home 
 some seven or eigiit years. At the age of 
 sixteen he began the study of law in Albany, 
 New York, with Chancellor Kent, and after- 
 ward read in the office of Franklin Pierce, 
 of Concord, New Hampshire, later presi- 
 dent of the United States. On coming to 
 Illinois he continued his studies and finished 
 under the tutelage of Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, 
 of Chicago. On admission to the bar he 
 began practice in Sandwich, Illinois, to 
 which city he removed about 1857. He 
 always took an active interest in politics 
 and was originally a Democrat, but left that 
 organization on the birth of the Republican 
 party. During the famous debates of Doug- 
 las and Lincoln he attended many of their 
 meetings and once entertained both of them 
 at his home at the same time. He told 
 Douglas frankly that he could not support 
 his latest principles, and stumped the north- 
 ern part of the state for Lincoln. 
 
 In 1849, while still a resident of Kendall 
 county, he was in command of a company 
 of militia. At the outbreak of the Civil war. 
 
 he was commissioned by Cio\errior Yates 
 captain of Company E, Thirteenth Illinois 
 Volimteer Infantry, to take rank as the sen- 
 ior captain of the state of Illinois and 
 served with distinction for three j'ears. He 
 was rapidly promoted, being commissioned 
 as major of his regiment, in June, 1861. 
 In December, i86j, he was promoted lieu- 
 tenant-colonel, and lime 18, 1864, colonel, 
 for gallant service at Lookout Mountain, 
 and after the battle of Ringgold Gap was 
 breveted brigadier-general for distinguished 
 braverj'at Missionary Ridge. At Chickasaw 
 Bayou, Mississippi, he was wounded and 
 again at Chattanooga, and also at Ringgold 
 Gap, Georgia. With his regiment he was 
 mustered out of service July 18, 1864. 
 
 After his discharge, General Partridge 
 resumed the practice of law at Sandwich, 
 Illinois, and also for some years had an 
 office at 52 Lake street, Chicago. He 
 served as postmaster of Sandwich for sev- 
 eral years and was occupyin':^ that official 
 position when elected clerk of the circuit 
 court of De Kalb county, at which time he 
 removed to Sycamore, Illinois. On the ex- 
 piration of his term of office, he was ap- 
 pointed in the spring of 1869, by President 
 U. S. Grant, as United States consul gen- 
 eral to Bangkok, Siam, serving eight years. 
 During his incumbency, he traveled much, 
 made copious notes and at retirement wrote 
 a voluminous account of his tra\'els, exper- 
 iences and observations in Siam, the manu- 
 script unfortunately being lost in the de- 
 struction of his residence by fire. 
 
 On one of his excursions he saved the 
 life of a j'oung man, by shooting his mur- 
 derous pursuers. It chanced to be the son 
 of the King of Siam that he saved, and 
 the King became his fast friend, sending 
 him many presents and offering him gold 
 
IHE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 I// 
 
 medals, etc., which owing to his official po- 
 sition, had at that time to be refused, hut 
 when offered later, after his term of office 
 had e.xpired, were accepted and are treasured 
 relics of his life in Asia. 
 
 At one time Kint; of Cliieiigmai, of mie 
 of the tribes of Siam, l)ecanie hostile to 
 Christians, killing native converts and send- 
 ing the missionaries from the country. 
 General Partridge insisted of the King of 
 Siam that the persecutions of his tributary 
 prince should cease, under threat of the 
 United States recognizing the latter's in- 
 dependence. A treaty was then signed, 
 granting greater freedom than ever to 
 Christian missionaries. The consul's firm 
 stand and successful fight for religious free- 
 dom gained for the United States more re- 
 spect than had ever been i<nown before in 
 southern Asia. 
 
 During histravelsGeneral Partridge \isit- 
 ed many places of umisual interest, but none 
 greater than the famous temple, Nakon-Wat, 
 one of the wonders of tiie world. On lay- 
 ing down the cares of office in July, 1876, 
 he returned home b}' way of Singapore and 
 the Suez canal, traveled over Europe and 
 reached home in October, very tired from 
 travel and sightseeing. ,\fter a few }ears of 
 private life, in 1882, the General was again 
 called to official duties, being appointed 
 special e.xaininer of pensions, with head- 
 quarters at Rushville, Indiana, and Tiffin, 
 Ohio. He resigned in 1889, since which 
 time he has been living a retired life. 
 
 In 1852, General Partridge was united 
 in marriage with Miss Mary Pauline, a na- 
 tive of East Aurora, Erie county. New 
 York, by whom he had si.\ children, only 
 one, Frederick P., now living. His daugh- 
 ter, Blanche, who was a graduate of Elmira 
 College, New York, died February 22, 1898. 
 
 She was a great help to her father, attend- 
 ing to his manuscript and correspondence. 
 She had fine talents as a painter, many 
 samples of her work being treasured by our 
 subject. Mrs. Partridge died Septend)cr 
 20, 1882. 
 
 General Partridge has his hciu-e filK d 
 with curios and relics from se\eral conti- 
 nents. His recollections of General Grant 
 are very pleasant. While on his special 
 mission during the Mexican war, at Yera 
 Cruz, he first met the General, and there 
 dined with him. Later he was instrumental 
 in securing the commission lor Grant at the 
 beginning of the Civil war, when his ap- 
 pointment hung in the balance. Grant 
 remembered his face and recalled meeting 
 him at Yera Cruz. When elected president, 
 he did not forget his friend General Part- 
 ridge. 
 
 HON. HENRY M. I50ARDMAN, of 
 Shabbona, Illinois, is one of the enter- 
 prismg and representatixe farmers and 
 business men of De Kalb county, owning 
 and operating two well improved farms jn 
 Paw Paw township. His settlement in 
 Illinois dates from the fall of 1854 and in 
 De Kalb county since 1856. He is a native 
 of the Green Mountain state, born in Rut- 
 land county, December 12, 1831, and is the 
 son of Captain Charles G. Boardman, a na- 
 tive of the same county and state, and the 
 grandson of Timothy Boardman, a native of 
 Connecticut, who served on board a man- 
 of war during the Revolution. By trade he 
 was a ship carpenter. The Boardman 
 family are of English descent, the first of 
 the name coming to this country locating 
 near Hartford, Connecticut. 
 
 Captain Charles G. lloardman, the f,i- 
 
178 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ther of our subject, gained his title by ser\- 
 ice in the mihtia of Vermont. He was mar- 
 ried in his native state, to Submit Wati<ins, 
 also a native of Vermont, and a daughter of 
 Colonel Watkins, a soldier of the Revolu- 
 tionary war and one of the prominent men 
 of Rutland, Vermont. In his native state 
 Captain Boardman spent his entire life. He 
 was a man highly honored and respected by 
 all who knew him. 
 
 Henry M. Boardman, our subject, grew 
 to manhood in \'ermont, and had good 
 common-school advantages, supplemented 
 by one term in a select school at Manches- 
 ter, Vermont. After his education was 
 completed, he was a teacher for two winter 
 terms in his nati\e state. In the fall of 
 1854 he came to Illinois, and stopped for a 
 time at Joliet, where he joined a sister, 
 then residing there. For some fifteen 
 months he traxeled through the northern 
 part of Illinois, and in the spring of 1856 
 came to De Kalb county, and purchased 
 one hundred and eighty acres of partially 
 improved land in Paw Paw township, upon 
 which a small house had been erected. Re- 
 turning to Vermont on the 6th of I'ebruary, 
 1856, in -the city of Rutland, he married 
 Miss Caroline Chatterton, a native of that 
 state, reared and educated at Rutland, and 
 the daughter of Deacon Waite Chatterton, 
 who was of an old Vermont famil}-. Im- 
 mediately after marriage, he returned with 
 his bride and they at once began their 
 domestic life on the farm which was their 
 home for many years after. He later bought 
 forty acres adjoining, and still later si.xty 
 acres more, making a fine farm of two hun- 
 dred and eighty acres. This farm he im- 
 proved in a most substantial manner, mak- 
 ing of it one of the best in the township. 
 As his means increased, he purchased an- 
 
 other farm in the same township, of one 
 hundred and fifty-four acres, which is also 
 a well improved place. He now owns four 
 hundred and thirty-four acres in Paw Paw 
 township, .\fter nearly thirty years of hard 
 labor upon the farm, Mr. Boardman moved 
 to the village of Shabbona in the spring of 
 1885, and is now living a retired life. In 
 addition to his farms in Paw Paw township, 
 he owns two hundred acres of improved 
 land in Pocahontas county, Iowa, near 
 Pomeroy Station. 
 
 Mrs. Boardman died in 1866, leaving 
 one daughter, Frances, now the wife of 
 George Hyde, of Paw Paw. For his sec- 
 ond wife, November 18, 1S68, Mr. Ijoard- 
 man married Miss Christiana Posvers, a na- 
 tive of La Salle count)', Illinois, and a 
 daughter of Norman H. Powers, who was 
 an earh' settler of De Kail) county, where 
 the early life of Mrs. Boardman was spent, 
 but who was then residing in La Salle 
 county. Mrs. Boardman, after attending 
 the public schools of De Kalb and La Salle 
 counties, co.npleted her education in the 
 State Normal School at Normal, Illinois. 
 By this union there are four children. I-^llen 
 is a joung lady residing at home. After 
 attending the schools of Shabbona, she 
 spent two years at school in .^nu Arbor, 
 and is now one of the successful teachers 
 of De Kalb county. Norman H. and Cath- 
 erine S. are twins, and, after graduating at 
 the High School of Shabbona, are now at- 
 tending school at Ann Arbor, Michigan. 
 Charles W., after completing the course at 
 the High School at Shabbona, engaged in 
 farm work, and is assisting in carrying on 
 the home farm. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Boardman and family are 
 members of the Congregational church at 
 Shabbona. Both parents are active workers 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 179 
 
 in tiic church and Sunday scliodl. Mr. 
 Boardman being one of the trustees of the 
 church and teacher of the Bible class, hav- 
 ing had charge of the I5ible class since 
 his removal to the village. Politically he 
 is a lifelong Republican, and in 1S56 
 cast his first presidential ballot for John 
 C. Fremont, the first presidential nominee 
 of the jiarty. He has always taken an 
 active part in local politics, and served 
 as assessor of his township for eight years, 
 and as supervisor for hve years, serving 
 as chairman of some of the most import- 
 committees of the board. In 1882 he was 
 elected a member of the legislature, and 
 served one term. He was a member of the 
 agricultural and other committees. He has 
 been a steadfast friend of education and the 
 public schools, and served some years as a 
 member of the school board while in the 
 country, and since his removal to the village 
 has continued such service, being one year 
 president of the board. He has always made 
 an efficient officer in whatever position he 
 has been asked to fall. 
 
 Mr. Boardman commenced life in Illi- 
 nois in very limited circumstances, but he 
 was industrious and methodical, and, toil- 
 ing early and late, he has secured a compe- 
 tence that enables him to live in ease and 
 retirement during the remainder of his days. 
 His long residence in this section of the 
 state has brought him in contact with many 
 people, and wherever and by whoever 
 known he is held in the highest respect. 
 
 REV. MAGNUS FRYKMAN, pastor of 
 the Swedish Evangelical Lutlieran 
 Salem church, Sycamore, Illinois, was born 
 in Sweden, pru\ince of W'crmland, parish of 
 Sunne, October 3, i S44. He is the son of 
 
 Lars and Chiistina (Olson) Frykman, both 
 natives of the same province and country. 
 The family were old residents of that town. 
 By occupation the father was a farmer and 
 for years was in the public service, con- 
 nected with the courts. Both he and his 
 wife have been deceased for many years. 
 The Olson family were also agriculturalists, 
 and all were members of the Lutheran 
 church. Lars and Christina Frykman were 
 the parents of nine children: Olof, Carrie, 
 Mary, Christina, Cajsa, John, Nels, Mag- 
 nus, and Catherine. The four oldest are 
 deceased, while the living all reside in this 
 country, except Cajsa. John and Nels are 
 lixing in Minnesota. Catherine married 
 Joseph Lind and is living in Sjxamore. 
 
 The subject of this biography was par- 
 tially educated in Sweden. He came to this 
 country in 1873, and entered the seminary 
 at Paxton, Illinois, the institution being 
 shortly afterwards removetl to Rock Island, 
 and is now known as the Aiigustana College. 
 He was graduated there in 1875, and on 
 June 27, of that year, at Vasa, Minnesota, 
 was ordained to the ministery. His first 
 charge was at Chariton, Iowa, where he re- 
 mained five years. From there he wet t to 
 Marinette, Wisconsin, where he remained 
 three years. His next move was to Repub- 
 lic, Michigan, and after remaining there for 
 about three years, he came to Sycamore, 
 and took charge of the Swedish Lutheran 
 church, December 22, 1885. 
 
 Since coming to Sycamore Mr. Fryk- 
 man has largely increased the membership. 
 On taking charge of the church there were 
 about three hundred communicants, and it 
 now numbers ovi r five hundred, wiih a 
 membership of about eight hundred. In 
 the summer of 1896 he began the erection of 
 the new church edifice, and it was dedicated 
 
i8o 
 
 Tin: lUOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Fcbruarv j8, i8ij7, at a cost of over sixteen 
 thousand dollars. It is located on the cor- 
 ner of Somanaiik and Charles streets, and is 
 one of the finest church buildings in the 
 city, being constructed entirely of stone. .\t 
 the dedication services they seated about 
 one thousand persons, although the building 
 was not intended to seat but about five hun- 
 dred. The Congregation was organized 
 .\pril 4, iS-o, by Rev. A. Hult, of De Kalb. 
 He was succeeded by Rev. N. Norilgren, 
 who in turn was succeeded by lve\-. S. G. 
 Larson, who was the first to locate perma- 
 nently in Sycamore. He was succeeded by 
 Mr. Fryktnan, who is yet in charge of the 
 church. The\' have a Sunday school of 
 about one hundred members, and Mr. Fryk- 
 man conducts one in the country at the Lin- 
 dahl schoolhousi, of about forty scholars 
 which he visits occasionally. 
 
 Mr. Frykman was united in marriage 
 December 4, 1884, at Marinette, Wiscon- 
 sin, to Amanda Odea, daughter of Emanuel 
 and Gustave (Anderson) Olson. Her parents 
 were from Sweden, where Mrs. Frykman was 
 born, and came to the United States in 
 1873. They are yet li\'iug at Marinette, Wis- 
 consin. To. Mr. and Mrs. Frykman seven 
 children have been born — Reuben Eman- 
 uel, Victor Laureutius, Conrad Theoph- 
 ilus, Ruth Gustava Christina, Elmer Augus- 
 tinues, Hildur Amanda Catherina and Carl 
 Magnus. Of these, Reuben and Ruth are 
 deceased. 
 
 When in Chariton, Iowa, Mr. Frykman 
 was a member of the Iowa conference, and 
 served as secretary of the same for two 
 years. He served as secretary of the Illi- 
 nois conference three years, and in 1894 he 
 was elected vice-president of the conference 
 and on the president moving outside its 
 jurisdiction he took charge as president, 
 
 serving out llio term, and was then elected 
 president, and has been re-elected every 
 year since that time. This conference em- 
 braces Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and the 
 greater part of Wisconsin. Politically Mr. 
 Frykman is a Republican, but is not a parti- 
 san. He is an earnest and indefatigable 
 Worker in ciiurch matters, is an able minis- 
 ter and popular among bis people and also 
 with the community. Much credit is due 
 him in the building up of so large a congrega 
 tion and the erection of such a fine church 
 edifice. 
 
 J 
 
 OHX JOHNSON, a veteran of the war 
 for the Union and a retired farmer, now 
 resides in a beautiful home in the village of 
 Malta. He was born in Sweden, March 2;, 
 1820, and is the son of [ohn and Nellie 
 Johnson, both natives of the same country, 
 where they Ivied and died. In his native 
 land our subject grew to manhood, and re- 
 ceived a good common-school education. 
 He emigrated to this country in 1854, arriv- 
 ing in New York, August 11, where he re- 
 mained three months, because of cholera 
 being prevalent in Chicago at that time. In 
 the fall of the same year he came to De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, and located in the city of 
 De Kalb, where he worked for the North- 
 western Railway Company until the out- 
 break of the Civil war. In August, 1862, 
 his patriotism was so aroused as to cause 
 him to offer his services to his adopted 
 <;oimtry, and he was enrolled as a member 
 of Company K, One Hundred and Fifth Illi- 
 nois \ olunteer Infantry, for three years, 
 unless sooner discharged. He served under 
 Captain Austin and Colonel Dustin, was with 
 Sherman on his march to the sea, and was 
 in all the important engagements of that 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 i8[ 
 
 ineiiiorable c;inipaign. After serving faith- 
 fully until the end of the war, he was hon- 
 orably discharged at Washington, D. C. 
 He also participated in the celebrated grand 
 review at Washington city. 
 
 Returning to De Kalb Mr. |ohnson was 
 again employed bv the Northwestern Rail- 
 way Company', in whose employ he remain- 
 ed ten years, during which time he pur- 
 chased a farm of eighty acres, which he im- 
 proved as the opportunity was afforded him. 
 In 1875 he removed to the farm, and con- 
 tinued to add to his other improvements by 
 fencing, tiling and building. On this farm 
 he toiled for twenty years, confining himself 
 to no special line, but engaged in general 
 farming. In 1896 he purchased four lots in 
 Malta, erected a beautiful house, into which 
 he moved with his family, and is now living 
 a retired life, while his son, C. O., is work- 
 ing the farm in Malta township. 
 
 In 1866, Mr. Johnson married Mrs. Mary 
 Ann Johnson, widow of Alexander Johnson, 
 and a native of Norway, born October 3, 
 1840, and who, at the age of twelve years, 
 came with her parents to this country, the 
 family mo\ing to De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 where her father died in March, 1855, her 
 mother long surviving him, dying October 8, 
 1890. By her former husband, Mrs. John- 
 son had one child, which died soon after 
 her marriage with her present husband. 
 They are the parents of four sons, C. O., 
 Louis, Frank A. and Amos. The son Louis 
 has purchased a farm of eighty acres, in 
 Milan township, on which he now resides. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of 
 the Lutheran church, and were married by 
 a Lutheran minister at Chicago. From the 
 general government he receives a small 
 pension for his faithfulness to his adopted 
 country in her da3's of need. 
 
 A X r MOTT GOBLE resides on section 
 V V 19, Paw Paw township, where he 
 has a farm of two hundred and twenty-five 
 acres of valuable land. He was born in 
 Lee county, Illinois, January 14, 1847, and 
 is the son of Timothy Goble, a native of 
 Pennsylvania, born in Luzerne county, in 
 1808. The paternal grandfather, Ezekiel 
 Goble, was a pioneer of that county, and 
 there Timothy grew to manhood and mar- 
 ried Elizabeth Ayers, a native of the county, 
 where she was reared and educated. By 
 trade Timothy Goble was a carpenter and 
 joiner, which occupation he followed in his 
 nati\e state. In 1843, he came to Illinois, 
 and located in Lee county, in the same school 
 district where the son now resides. Entering 
 eighty acres of land, he at once commenced 
 to open up a farm, and later entered fifty 
 acres more, giving him a farm of one hun- 
 dred and thirty acres, on which he resided 
 a number of years, then sold and purchased 
 alarm in Paw Paw township, De Kalb coun- 
 ty, on which the last years of his life were 
 spent. His wife survives him and is yet in 
 the enjoyment of good health. Their fam- 
 ily consisted of three sons and three daugh- 
 ters. Esther married John Brown, but is 
 now deceased. Orella married Jacob Rad- 
 ley, and they reside at Earl, Illinois. Ayres 
 resides at Ayres, Nebraska, where he is 
 engaged in the grain business. W. Mott is 
 the subject of this sketch. E. T. is a phy- 
 sician residing in Earl. Illinois. Mary is 
 the wife of Augustus Ricker, of Paw Paw, 
 Illinois. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in the vicinity of his present residence, 
 spending his bo) h iod and youth in labor 
 upon the farm, and in attending the common 
 schools. He enlisted October 8, 1 864, when 
 seventeen years old, becoming a member of 
 
lS2 
 
 Till': inOGRAl'lIlCAL RliCORU. 
 
 ('oiii|iaiiy I), 'l'liirl\ -fiuirlli llliiKiis X'oluii- 
 leei [iifaiitiy, joiiiiiii; liif rL',t;iir,eiit .1! 
 (Joldsboni. North ( arolina, and serving; 
 with It to the close of the war. He was 011 
 detaclied duty and was in several battles be- 
 fore joininj; the regiment, among which was 
 the battle of Nashville, and the skirmish at 
 Raleigh, North Carolina. When he joined the 
 regiment at Goldsboro it was with Sherman 
 in his last campaign. From that place it 
 Continued on to Washington, and was in 
 the grand review. Our subject was dis- 
 charged in Louissdlle, and mustered out in 
 Chicago, July 17, 1S65. 
 
 Returning to his home, Mr. Goble re- 
 mained uniler the parental roof and assisted 
 his father until he arrived at mature \-ears. 
 He then bought a farm in Wyoming town- 
 ship, Lee county, a place of one hundred 
 and thirty acres, on which he settled and 
 there resided for several years. During 
 that time he purchased the farm where he 
 now resides, and owned other land in addi- 
 tion. He located on his present farm in 
 1883, since which time he has been engaged 
 in general farming and feeding stock. He 
 has on the place an average of one hundred 
 head of cattle and about three hundred 
 hogs, being one of the largest feeders and 
 shippers in the western part of De Kalb 
 county, shipping annually from ten to fif- 
 teen cars of stock. 
 
 Mr. Goble was married in Lee county, 
 Illinois, December 25, 1868, to Miss Susan 
 Robinson, a native of Lee county, and a 
 daughter of Benjamin K. Robinson, an 
 early settler of Lee county, but who later 
 removed to California. By this union 
 there has been eight children. I^enjamin 
 Fred is now a member of the First Illinois 
 Cavalry, under General Ward, and in the 
 snnimer of iSgSwas stationed at Chicka- 
 
 mauga awaiting urdi.'rs In gn tuC'iba. Lil- 
 lian is a young lady of good eiiucalioii, iia\- 
 inu; attended the schools a( Paw Haw and 
 the college at I_)ixon, Illinois. She is now 
 a teacher in the ]iub]ic schools of Lee coun- 
 ty. Viola is a student in the Paw Paw 
 schools. Bertha is also a student of the 
 Paw Paw schools. ('lifford, |. Ward, Elsie 
 and Glenn are at home. 
 
 Politically Mr. Goble is a I\epublican. 
 his first presidential \ote being cast in 1 868 
 for General Grant. He is now serving his 
 third term as commissioner of highways, 
 and his second term as treasurer of the 
 board. For eighteen years he has been a 
 member of the school board, thus showing 
 his interest in popular education. Frater- 
 nally he is a member of Paw Paw I_,odge, I. 
 O. O. F., and has passed through all the 
 chairs and served eight years as lodge dep- 
 uty. He is also a member of the encamp- 
 ment of that order, being past chief patri- 
 arch of the camp at Paw Paw. His inter- 
 est in military affairs is shown by his mem- 
 bership in William H. Thompson Post, No. 
 308, G. A. R., of Paw Paw, of which he has 
 been a commander for the past two years. 
 In every matter pertaining to the best inter- 
 ests of his adopted county he is always 
 found 1)11 the side of right. 
 
 HORATIO H. MASON, capitalist, of 
 Sycamore, Illinois, is pre-eminently a 
 self-made man. He began life with a defi- 
 nite purpose in view, worked faithfully and 
 honestly, and with a will for its accomplish- 
 ment, and now enjoys a reputation that is 
 l)y no means limited to the boundaries of ihe 
 state. There are three distinct families of 
 Masons in America, but who are not, as 
 
H. H. MASON. 
 
MRS. H. H. MASON. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 187 
 
 erroneously supposed, descended from the 
 traditional " three brothers who came over 
 at a very early date. " The three progen- 
 iters of the Mason family in America were 
 of different religious belief and came at dif- 
 ferent times. John Mason of Puritan stock 
 came in 1630, first settled in Massachusetts, 
 and later moved to the Connecticut Colony. 
 He was a man of no little prominence, and 
 was a principal factor in settling the Piquod 
 war. Sampson Mason is the progenitor of 
 the family of which our subject is a worth}- 
 representative. Colonel George Mason, an 
 Episcopalian, and a member of the English 
 parliament, was third of the name to estab- 
 lish a family in America. He was a mem- 
 ber of the royal army and colonel of 
 cavalry under Charles Stuart, afterwards 
 Charles H. After the battle of Worcester, 
 which ruined the hopes of Charles H, 
 George Mason escaped in disguise, reached 
 Norfolk, Virginia, settled in that province, 
 and established a family that was prominent 
 in colonial affairs during the Revolutionary 
 war, as well as in the early struggles of the 
 young republic. One of the number was a 
 signer of the Declaration of Independence. 
 Sampson Mason, known as the Baptist 
 officer in Cromwell's army, probably a mem- 
 ber of the old ironsides regiment and a rad- 
 ical, immigrated to America, about 1650, 
 prior to Cromwell's defeat. He settled at 
 Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and although 
 owning property at Swansea, which he was 
 instrumental in establishing, never removed 
 there. In earlier generations the family 
 lived in Rhode Island, or Massachusetts, 
 near the border. One of the founders of 
 Swansea became a man of substance and 
 one of the proprietors of the "North Pur- 
 chase," afterwards the town of Attleboro. 
 He advanced thirteen pounds, five shillings 
 
 and ten pence for the prosecution of King 
 Phillips War, which amount was voted to 
 his wife alter his death just at the close of 
 the war. Sampson Mason died in Reho- 
 both, and was buried September 15, 1676. 
 He married Mary Buttervvorth, who died 
 August 29, I 714. 
 
 To Sampson Mason and wife thirteen 
 children were born, of whom Peletiah was 
 eleventh. He was born in 1669, married 
 May 22, 1699, Hepzibah Brooks, daughter 
 of Timothy and Mary (Russell) Brooks. 
 The latter was a daughter of Elder John 
 Russell, Sr. , a noted divine of the colony. 
 Peletiah Mason died March 29, 1763, at the 
 age of ninety-four years. He was the last 
 of six brothers, all of whom attained sev- 
 enty years or over. Three of the sons of 
 Peletiah Mason were ministers. Job, Rus- 
 sell and John were successively ministers of 
 the Second Baptist church of Swansea, 
 Massachusetts. According to old records. 
 Job was a minister for over forty-seven 
 years and was thirty-seven years an elder. 
 Rev. Russell, ninth in a family of ten chil- 
 dren, was pastor of the Baptist church at 
 Swansea over forty years. He was boru 
 April 21, 1 7 14, and married Rhoda Kings- 
 le}', June 5, 1736, by whom he had thirteen 
 children, of whom Phillip was fifth. The 
 latter, born January 29, 1745, married Mary 
 Scott, born in March, 1745. Of their 
 twelve children, Russell was second. He 
 was born in Providence, Rhode Island, 
 February 25, 1769, and married Ruth Lap- 
 ham, born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, 
 April 4, 1769. He removed to Fairfield, 
 Herkimer county. New York, in 1794, 
 where he owned a large timber tract, which 
 he cleared and converted into a fine farm, 
 but later moved to Warren, New York. 
 Hiram, seventh in the family of nine chil- 
 
1 88 
 
 THE lUOr.RAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 drcn born to Russell aiui Ruth Masuii, was 
 born in the town of Warren, Herkimer 
 countj', New York, September 17, 1805. 
 Hiram Mason, an active, trading, business 
 man, pushed his speculations in real estate 
 into the state of Michigan, where on one of 
 his numerous trips, he died September 14, 
 1835, and was followed five months later, 
 Februar}- 29, 1836, by his wife, who was a 
 Miss Fannie Brown. She was born in Ger- 
 man Flats, Herkimer county. New York. 
 August 9, 1808, and was the daughter of 
 Henry and Wealthy (Able) Brown, both of 
 whom were natives of Colchester, Connec- 
 ticut. The former died at the age of si.xty- 
 three years, while residing in his native 
 county. 
 
 The Masons seem to have all been men 
 of strong physical and mental attamments, 
 men of energy and brains, resourceful, inde- 
 pendent and sell-reliant. Of such stock 
 sprung Horatio H. Mason, thesubject of this 
 sketch. Born in the tmvn of Warren, Herki- 
 mer county. New York, February 19,1829, he 
 was left an orphan at the age of seven years, 
 and was reared in the family of his grand- 
 father Brown, and an uncle. At a very 
 early age he became self-supporting, receiv- 
 ing before ten years of age, six and eight 
 dollars per month for his services on the 
 farm, while many other boys received only 
 their board and clothes and very little of the 
 latter. At the age of seventeen he went to 
 Culpeper county, Virginia, seeking his for- 
 tune in the South. Being recommended by 
 an acquaintance to a merchant in the Shen- 
 endoah Valley, he was told that if he would 
 break a certain colt to ride that he would 
 be sent on a collecting lour. Having been 
 familiar all his life with horses, the task 
 was an easy one. So successful was he in 
 collecting that he was given a position as 
 
 clerk in the store, and there remained two 
 years. 
 
 Returning to Herkimer county. New 
 York, in the village of Little Lakes, Febru- 
 ary 28, 1850, Mr. Mason was united in 
 marriage with Miss Mary E. Treadway, 
 who was born in the town of Warren, New 
 York, April 18, 1832. She was the daugh- 
 ter of Belia and Philotheta (Marshall) 
 Treadway. Her father was an attorney 
 and the son of David Treadway, a farmer, 
 who was one of the pioneers of Herkimer 
 county. Her mother was a daughter of 
 John Marshall, who died at the age of 
 ninet)'-seven years, and who was so clear of 
 mind and strong of body that he was able 
 to transact business up to the date of his 
 death. 
 
 About two years after his marriage Mr. 
 Mason came west, traveling through parts 
 of Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois, with a 
 view of location. He finally decided upon 
 Sycamore, Illinois, and in the spring of 
 1853 located here and had his family join 
 him. He purchased one hundred and sixty 
 acres, where his residence now stands, and 
 began housekeeping in a log cabin, long 
 since removed. The place he began imme- 
 diately to improve, planting an orchard and 
 ornamental trees and in due time erecting a 
 large and commodious dwelling. All the 
 ornamental trees around the place to-day 
 were planted by him, with the e.xception of 
 a few locust trees, which were standing near 
 the cabin when purchased. Much of the 
 original farm has since been platted, lots 
 have been sold, and many comfortable 
 homes erected. 
 
 Soon after locating in Sycamore our 
 subject began speculating in land, buying 
 and selling at a profit, and soon accumu- 
 lated considerable propert}- for that early 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 189 
 
 day. His good judgment of values, and his 
 watchfulness as to the time when sales 
 should be made, enabled him at all times 
 to place the balance on the right side of the 
 ledger. At various times during the last 
 forty -five years he has owned seven or eight 
 thousand acres of land in Illinois and nearlj* 
 half as many in Iowa. In 1871, with James 
 S. Waterman, he established the First Na- 
 tional Bank, of Sycamore, the first institu- 
 tion of the kind in De Ivalb county. He was 
 elected vice-president and given the entire 
 management of the bank. In 1875 h^ sold 
 his stock and severed all connections with 
 the bank. He later became a stockholder 
 in the Sycamore lS: Cortland Railroad and 
 assisted in its promotion and construction. 
 For some years he was in the abstract busi- 
 ness as a junior member of the firm of 
 Bailey & Mason. He is now living retired 
 from all business with the exception of the 
 inanagement of his financial and real estate 
 interests, to which he gives his exclusive at- 
 tention. 
 
 Mrs. Mason departed this life in Syca- 
 more August 25, 1882, having been the 
 mother of four children, two of whom died 
 in infancy. The living are Florence and 
 Maude M. The former married Walter 
 Loomis, who is engaged in the real estate 
 business in De Kalb county with our sub- 
 ject, and they make their home on the old 
 homestead in Sycamore. They have three 
 sons, Mason Walter, Samuel Colby and 
 Harold Herbert. The second daughter, 
 Maude M., married Horace H. Holladay 
 and they have one daughter, Virginia. 
 Their home is in Cairo, Illinois, where Mr. 
 Holladay is engaged in business. 
 
 In politics Mr. Mason is a Repulilican, 
 but with the exception of one term as alder- 
 man he has steadfastly refused to accept 
 
 office. He is a man of strong personality, 
 keen perception and possesses great busi- 
 ness acumen. He is a citizen of sterling 
 worth and through his own exertions he has 
 attained an honorable position and marked 
 prestige among the representative men of 
 De Ivalb county, and with signal consistency 
 it may be said that he is the architect of his 
 own fortunes and one whose success amply 
 justifies the application of the somewhat 
 hackneyed but most expressive title "a self 
 made man. " His youthful dreams of success 
 have been realized and in their happy ful- 
 fillment he sees the fitting reward of his 
 earnest toil. 
 
 WELLS A. FAY, deceased, was num- 
 bered among the very earliest of 
 the pioneers of De Kalb county, locating 
 here in 1836. He was born in Onondago 
 county. New York, November 13, 1S14, 
 and was the son of Jonathan and Rhoda 
 (White) Fay, the former a native of Massa- 
 chusetts and the latter of Vermont. In his 
 native state he grew to manhood, and when 
 twenty-two years of age came to De Kalb 
 county and took up a claim of land in 
 Squaw Grove township, comprising some 
 three hundred acres, which he entered and 
 purchased after it came into market. A 
 portion of this land he later sold. On mak- 
 ing the claim he at once commenced to im- 
 prove the place by the erection of a cabin 
 and the breaking of the prairie land. The 
 cabin was afterwards replaced with a good, 
 comfortable residence, and with the various 
 outbuildings erected, together with other 
 improvements, he made a farm that com- 
 pared well with any of the excellent farms 
 in Squaw Grove township. 
 
 On the 8th of June, 1842, he married 
 
igo 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Miss Harriett K. Lay, a native of Connecti- 
 cut, ami a daughter of Samuel H. and Em- 
 ily (Pratt) Lay, both of whom were also 
 natives of Connecticut, the former born 
 in 1/95 ''"'' the latter in 1800. In 
 1842 Mr. "Lay came west and settled on a 
 farm in De Kalb county where his last days 
 were spent, he dying in 1861, while his 
 wife, who survived him a few 3'ears, died 
 in 1869. In their family were five daugh- 
 ters and one son, of whom Mrs. Fay was 
 the oldest. One of their daughters, Julia, 
 is now the wife of Oscar Whitson, of State 
 Center, Iowa. The son, James H. Eay, 
 is a farmer now residing in Newport, Ne- 
 braska. Mrs. Fay was reared and educated 
 in Connecticut, and for one year after her 
 arrival in De Kalb county, she engaged in 
 teaching. To Mr. and Mrs. Fay five chil- 
 dren were born. Emma S. grew to 
 womanhood, married Rev. S. P. Gates, a 
 minister of the Presbyterian church, and 
 they moved to Pennsylvania, where she 
 later died leaving one daughter, Sarah. 
 Jennie is the wife of E. P. Gardiner, a 
 sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this 
 volume. .*\lcott N. married and is also en- 
 gaged in farming in De Kalb county. He 
 has a family of two sons and one daughter, 
 and has lost one son. Ida is the wife of L. 
 J. Lamson, who is a member of the Board 
 of Trade of Chicago. Ashley H. died at 
 the age of seven years. 
 
 In politics Mr. Fay was a Republican, 
 and while he never desired public office, he 
 was elected and served some years as jus- 
 tice of the peace. He took quite an inter- 
 est in educational matters and was elected 
 and served as school trustee for some years. 
 In his early life he was a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, but in later 
 life was converted to the Adventist faith, 
 
 although he continued to attend the Method- 
 ist church. His wife was a consistent mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church at 
 Hinckley. 
 
 In 1882 Mr. Fay rented his farm, pur- 
 chased residence property to which he re- 
 moved and lived a retired life until his 
 death October f, 1897. He was a man 
 well known and universally esteemed 
 wherever known. Since his death Mrs. 
 Fay has bought other residence property in 
 Hinckley where she resides and where her 
 many friends always receive a hearty wel- 
 con.e. 
 
 BENJAMIN F. UPLINGEK, dealer in 
 lumber, grain, coal, lime, salt, flour 
 and feed, is one of Kingston's li\e business 
 men. He was born in Butler township, 
 Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, September 
 10, 1859, and is the son of John and Eliz- 
 abeth (Wood) Uplinger, both natives of 
 the same state. John Uplinger was a 
 butcher, a business which he carried on in 
 connection with farming, and was an active 
 and prosperous business man. He re- 
 moved from Pennsylvania to Illinois, with 
 his family, in 1866, locating in Kingston 
 township, De Kalb county, where he pur- 
 chased three hundred and twenty acres of 
 improved land, and added to that several 
 other farms, which he disposed of at dif- 
 ferent times. He was a keen-sighted busi- 
 ness man, and was usually in advance of 
 his time. He retained two hundred acres 
 up to the time of his death, which oc- 
 curred October 6, 1893. His wife fol- 
 lowed him in July, 1897. They were the 
 parents of thirteen children, all of whom 
 grew to maturity, and twelve now Ii\ing. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORI 
 
 lyi 
 
 Benjamin F. Uplinger was in his seventh 
 year when he came with his parents to 
 Kingston township. His boyhood and 
 youth were spent upon the home farm, and 
 his education was obtained in the common 
 schools of Kingston. He remained with 
 his parents until he was twenty-four years 
 of age, when he removed to Kansas, where 
 he took up a claim of one hundred and sixty 
 acres, as a homestead, also took up a tree 
 claim of one hundred and si.xty acres, which 
 he now owns. His stay in Kansas lasted 
 but two years, and on his return to Kings- 
 ton he took his place on the home farm, 
 where he reniained three years, at which 
 time he removed to the village of Kingston, 
 and May 20, 1891, he entered upon his 
 present line of business. 
 
 On the 3d of December, 1886, Mr. Up- 
 linger was united in marriage with Miss Cal- 
 purnia Littrell, a native of Salem, Virginia, 
 born March 26, 1867. By this union two 
 children have been born: Leon O., Au- 
 gust 21, 1888; and Alfred R., January 13, 
 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Uplinger are members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which 
 he is an official member. He has been 
 honored by his townsmen by his election to 
 the presidency of the village board for two 
 years. He is a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity, and also of the Knights of the 
 Globe. No man stands higher in the esti- 
 mation of the people of Kingston. He is 
 active in business, and falls in line with 
 every modern improvement and scheme 
 which benefits man and adds value to his 
 labor. He has greatly at heart the build- 
 ing up of Kingston, a fact which is attested 
 by his own commodious business estabUsh- 
 ment. His grain trade amounts to about 
 two hundred and fifty cars per annum. Po- 
 litically he is a Democrat. 
 
 HENRY CLAPS ADDLE, who for forty- 
 six years has been a resident of De Kalb 
 county, is now living a retired life in the 
 village of Shabbona. He is a native of 
 Herkimer county, New York, born January 
 I, 1827, and is the son of Dennis Clap<ad- 
 dle, a native of the same state, born in 1774, 
 and a grandson of Major Clapsaddle, who 
 was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, in 
 which he held a major's commission. The 
 Clapsaddles are of German ancestry, the 
 family being among the early settlers of 
 New York. Dennis Clapsaddle grew to 
 manhood in his native county and state, and 
 there married Elizabeth Frank, also a na- 
 tive of Herkimer count}', and a daughter 
 of Squire Frank, of the same county and 
 a soldier of the Revolutionary war. By 
 occupation Dennis Clapsaddle was a farmer, 
 and spent his entire life in agricultural pur- 
 suits in Herkimer county, dying there in 
 1842. His wife survived him some twenty 
 years, dying in 1862. They were the par- 
 ents of five sons and six daughters, all of 
 whom grew to mature years and married, 
 our subject and three sisters being the sole 
 survivors. 
 
 In his native county Henr}- Clapsaddle 
 spent his boyhood and youth on a farm, and 
 there received a good common-school edu- 
 cation. After his father's death he remained 
 with his mother on the old farm until after 
 he attained his majority. In 1852 he came 
 west to De Kalb county, Illinois, where he 
 joined an older brother, Michael Clapsaddle, 
 who located here about 1847. He had, 
 however, come to De Kalb county two years 
 previoush' and purchased a tract of one hun- 
 dred and twenty acres in Paw Paw town- 
 ship, after which he returned to New York. 
 He was married February 26, 1852, in 
 Herkimer countv. New York, to Elizabeth 
 
t92 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 X. Cross, a native of Herkimer county and 
 a daughter of Peter and Ora (Ingraham) 
 Cross. 
 
 Soon after his marriage Mr. Clapsaddle 
 came to De Kail) county with his jtnmg 
 bride, and made a permanent location on 
 the farm which he had prexiously purchased. 
 There was a log house on the place and in 
 that they resided a few years while improve- 
 ments were being made in the place. Later 
 he built a good house and barn, made other 
 improvements and there resided twelve years. 
 In 1864 he sold that farm and purchased 
 and improved one of two hundred acres in 
 Shabbona township, which he further im- 
 proved by the erection of a large and sub- 
 stantial residence, barns and other outbuild- 
 ings, and upon that farm he resided for 
 twenty-eight years. In 1891 he rented the 
 farm and in 1892 moved to the village of 
 Shabbona, where he purchased lots and 
 built a fine residence, which has since been 
 his home. He has since sold the farm to 
 his son, but owns one of one hundred and 
 seventy acres near Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo 
 county, Iowa, a well improved place. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Clapsaddle are the parents of 
 three children, the first born. Dean, dying 
 in childhood. H. J. now owns and operates 
 the old home farm. He married Ella Lane 
 of De Kalb county. Delos D. is now mar- 
 ried, owns and operates a farm in Cerro 
 Gordo county, Iowa. He married Mary 
 Smith, of De I\alb county, and they have 
 two children, Guy and Clare. 
 
 Pohtically Mr. Clapsaddle is a stanch 
 Republican. Before the organization of 
 that party he was a free soiler, and in 
 1848 voted for Martin \'an Buren, the free 
 soil candidate for president. On the or- 
 ganization of the Republican party, and on 
 account of his liberty lo\ing principles, he 
 
 naturally drifted into it, and voted for its 
 first presidential candidate, John C. Fre- 
 mont, in 1856. He has never missed cast- 
 ing his vote for the presidential nominee of 
 the party, from that time to the present. 
 He has ever taken an active interest in local 
 politics, and was first elected commissioner 
 of highways in Paw Paw township, serving 
 as such until his removal to Shabbona town- 
 ship. For eight consecutive years he 
 served as supervisor of Shabbona township, 
 a portion of which lime he served as chair- 
 man of the committee on public printing, 
 and was on various other committees. He 
 also served as township trustee of Paw Paw, 
 and has filled the same office in Shabbona 
 township. In the various conventions of 
 his party he usually serves as a delegate. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Clapsaddle are members 
 of the Congregational church in Shabbona, 
 and he is a member of the official board, 
 serving as trustee and deacon. Mrs. Clap- 
 saddle is an active worker in the different 
 church societies. Fraternally he is a Mason, 
 first holding membership in the lodge at 
 Paw Paw, into which he was initiated about 
 1859. He is a charter member of the Blue 
 lodge at Shabbona, and has served through 
 all the chairs and has also represented his 
 lodge in the grand lodge of the state. In 
 whatever position he may be found every 
 duty is faithfully discharged. He is a man 
 greatly esteemed in the community where 
 he has so long resided, and his friends are 
 many throughout the county. 
 
 EDWARD P. GARDINER, who resides 
 ^ on section 19, Squaw Grove township, 
 where he operates a farm of two hundred 
 and seventy acres, has been a resident of 
 De Kalb county since 186S. He was born 
 
The biographical record. 
 
 193 
 
 in Middlesex county, Connecticut, July 29, 
 1842, and is the son of Orrin Gardiner, also 
 a native of Connecticut, born in 1810, and 
 who grew to manhood in his native state, 
 and married Cordelia Pratt, who was like- 
 wise a native of Connecticut. By occupa- 
 tion he was a farmer. In his native state 
 he spent his entire life, dying in the spring 
 of 1876, at the age of si.\ty-six years. His 
 wife survived him, and died in Aurora, Illi- 
 nois, in 1890. Their family consisted of 
 two sons and two daughters. Emily grew 
 to womanhood, married Dr. T. M. Triplett, 
 and they reside in Lincoln, Nebraska. 
 Henry W. resides in Brooklyn, New York, 
 where he is engaged in business. Edwin P. 
 is the subject of this review. Fanny C. 
 married Horace M. Smith, a farmer, and 
 they reside at Friend, Saline county, Ne- 
 braska. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native county, where he received 
 a good common-school education. When a 
 young man of twenty, in August, 1862, he 
 enlisted in Company C, Twentieth Connect- 
 icut Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned 
 to the Army of the Potomac, and later 
 transferred to the Army of the Cumberland. 
 With his regiment he participated in the 
 battle of Chancellorsville, where he was shot 
 through the right thigh and permanently 
 disabled. From the battle-field he was sent 
 to the hospital, where he lay for several 
 months, and recovering was transferred to 
 the veteran reserve corps, and was on guard 
 duty at Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Roches- 
 ter, New York, and later at Washington, D. 
 C, and at the close of the war was guarding 
 rebel prisoners at Elniira, New York. In 
 July, 1865, he was honorably discharged 
 and returned to his home in Connecticut. 
 On returning home Mr. Gardiner worked 
 
 on the farm and at such occupations as 
 came to hand, and there remained until 
 1868, when he came to De I\alb county, 
 Illinois, and located at Sandwich, where he 
 secured employment with the Sandwich 
 Manufacturing Company, for thirteen years 
 in the shipping department. He then had 
 charge of the repair shops for some jears. 
 On the 4th of October, 1869, he married 
 Miss Jennie L. Fay, a native of De Kalb 
 county, where she was reared and educated, 
 and a daughter of Wells A. Fay, who was 
 one of the fionored pioneers of the county, 
 a sketch of whom appears in this work. By 
 this union, three daughters have been born: 
 Emma, wife of Jesse J. Nichols, now of 
 Crowley county, Kansas; Hattie, who re- 
 sides at home; and Ida, also at home. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gardiner began their domestic life at Sand- 
 wich, where they continued to reside until 
 1882, when they moved to the farm, where 
 they now reside, and where Mr. Gardiner 
 has since been engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits, in which he has been quite successfid 
 as a general and dairy farmer. Politically, 
 he is a Republican and cast his first presi- 
 dential ballot for General IJ. S. Grant. 
 Office holding has never been to his taste, 
 and he has therefore never engaged in any 
 scramble for public office. Both he and his 
 wife are members of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church at Hinckley, in which he serves 
 as one of the official board. He is a mem- 
 ber of the G. A. R. Post at Sandwich, while 
 Mrs. Gardiner is a member of the Woman's 
 Relief Corps. They are also members of 
 the Ivnights and Ladies of Security at 
 Hinckley. He is well known in Somonauk 
 township and the southern part of the coun- 
 ty and has many warm friends, while Mrs. 
 Gardiner, coming as she does from an old 
 
'94 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 pioneer family, is also well known and 
 highly respected for her many womanly 
 traits of character. 
 
 JUDGE WILLIAM L. POND, attorney- 
 at-law, and judge of the county court, 
 is a resident of the city of De Kalb and is 
 a lawyer of well established reputation, one 
 of the truly representative members of the 
 legal profession of De Kalb county. He 
 was born in Genoa township, De Kalb coun- 
 ty, Illinois, February ii, i860, and is the 
 son of Americus H. and Amy N. (HoUem- 
 beak) Pond, who were early settlers in this 
 county, and whose sketch appears elsewhere 
 in this volume. His boyhood and youth 
 were spent upon the home farm, and his 
 education was received in the district school 
 and Genoa High School, from which he 
 graduated June 10, 1881, in the first class 
 graduating therefrom. He then taught the 
 High School at Kirkland one year, an ex- 
 perience to which he looks back with grati- 
 tude. In his capacity as teacher he came 
 in touch with Young America, in its gener- 
 ally unsubdued state. He abandoned school 
 teaching, however, for a vocation for which 
 he was more aptly fitted, both by nature 
 and education. Entering the law office of 
 Lowell & Carnes, he remained with that 
 firm one year and completed his course of 
 studies with the firm of Carnes & Denton, 
 of Sycamore. After passing a creditable 
 examination before the supreme court of 
 the state at Ottawa, Illinois, he was ad- 
 mitted to the bar June 10, 1884, and com- 
 menced the practice of law at De Kalb, in 
 September of the same year. 
 
 On November 9, 1887, Mr. Pond was 
 united in marriage with Miss Alice E. Cole, 
 a native of Kingston, Illinois, born April 21, 
 
 i860, and a daughter of Marcus W. and 
 Anna E. (Little) Cole, both of whom were 
 natives of New York. [See sketch in an- 
 other part of this work.] Mr. and Mrs. 
 Pond have one child, a tlaughter, Jessie A., 
 born November 4, 1S88, who is now attend- 
 ing the schools of De Kalb. 
 
 In May, 1886, Mr. Pond was elected 
 city attorney of De Kalb, an office which he 
 ably and conscientiously filled for eleven 
 consecutive years, in the meantime serving 
 one term on the board of education. In 
 Januar)-, 1887, he formed a partnership 
 with Judge Luther Lowell, which continued 
 two years, having offices in Sycamore and 
 De Kalb. He then practiced alone until 
 January i, 1895, when he formed a part- 
 nership with A. G. Kenned}-, who had just 
 located in De Kalb. This partnership con- 
 tinued until June, 1897, when it was dis- 
 solved just prior to the election of Mr. Pond 
 as county judge. At that time he was 
 elected to fill a vacancy, and in the summer 
 of 1898 he received the Republican nomi- 
 nation to the office for the full term. 
 
 Fraternally Judge Pond is a member of 
 De Kalb Lodge, No. 144, A. F. & A. M., 
 and also of De Kalb Chapter, No. 52, K. 
 A. M., De Kalb Council, No. 81, and Syca- 
 more Commandery, No. 15, K. T. Among 
 other fraternal organizations of which he is 
 a member are the Modern Woodmen of 
 America, Royal Arcanum, Knights of the 
 Globe, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
 and Knights of the Maccabees. Judge Pond 
 is honored and esteemed, not only for his 
 legal acumen and business ability, but for 
 his sterling personal worth. Upright, re- 
 liable and honorable, his strict adherence 
 to principle commands the respect of all. 
 He is a stanch Republican, adhering to the 
 true principles of the part}', principles which 
 
JUDGE W. L. POND. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 197 
 
 he has advocated since attaining his majority. 
 He is a genial, cotirteons gentleman, a pleas- 
 ant, entertaining companion, and has many 
 admiring friends among all classes of men. 
 
 ROBERT BOSTON is not only a pioneer 
 of De Kalb countx'. wliere he has re- 
 sided since 1S45, but is also a veteran of 
 the Civil war. He is a native of Canada, 
 born near London Fel)riiary 13, 1840. His 
 father, Thomas I^oston, was a native of 
 Scotlfmd, where he grew to manhood, emi- 
 grating from that country to Canada where 
 he opened up a farm, clearing it of timber 
 and making a home in the wilderness. He 
 there married Mary Ann Jones, a native of 
 Canada, of Welsh parentage. In 1838 he 
 came to Illinois and selected a location for 
 a future residence and for a time worked on 
 a farm and later on the dam at Di.xon, Illi- 
 nois, the first dam built across Rock river. 
 He later returned to Canada and there mar- 
 ried, and in 1845 returned with his family 
 and purchased a tract of one hundred and 
 twenty acres of Mr. Ross. On com'ing here 
 he resided for two or three years with the 
 father of his wife, then built his residence, 
 hauling the lumber from Chicago with an ox 
 team. Fencing the place he commenced 
 its improvement and later purchased one 
 hundred and twenty acres additional, giving 
 him a fine farm of two hundred and forty 
 acres, on which he continued to reside dur- 
 ing the remainder of his life, his death oc- 
 curring in I 866 at the age of seventy-three 
 years. His wife survives him and is now 
 seventy-seven years old. Of their family 
 of eight cinldren, seven grew to mature 
 years and ii\'e are now living. 
 
 Robert Boston grew to manhood on the 
 
 home farm in Paw Paw township and was 
 10 
 
 educated in the district schools. He re- 
 mained \\ith his father doing his share of 
 the farm work until August 13, 1S61, when 
 he enlisted in Company I, Fourth Illinois 
 Cavalry, his regiment later being assigned 
 to the Army of the Tennessee. With it he 
 participated in the battles of F"ort Henry, 
 Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, the siege of 
 \'icksburg, the battles of Jackson, Black 
 Ri\er and Coffeyville, together with a num- 
 ber of minor engagements. At Shiloh he 
 was struck by an exploded shell, his gun 
 being shot away, but he only received a 
 mere scratch on the ear, but he considered 
 it quite a close call. He enlisted as a 
 private and was appointed corporal and 
 later sergeant, serving as such until the ex- 
 piration of his term of service. He was dis- 
 charged at Springfield, Illinois, November 8, 
 1864, after serving about three years and 
 three months. 
 
 After receiving his discharge, Mr. Bos- 
 ton returned home, and continued work 
 with his father until the latter's death, when 
 he purchased the interests of the other 
 heirs and succeeded to the home place. 
 He was married October 17, 1867, to Lucy 
 S. Place, a native of New York, but reared 
 and educated in Paw Paw township, and a 
 daughter of George Place, one of the early 
 settlers of De Kalb county. By this union 
 there i-s one son living, R. Stanton, who is 
 married and engaged in farming in Paw 
 Paw township. They lost one daughter, 
 Nettie, who died in 1886, at the age of 
 seventeen years. 
 
 Politically Mr. Boston is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and has voted for every nominee 
 of the party for president since he cast his 
 ballot for Lincoln in 1S64. He was elected 
 and served as township collector one term, 
 for eight consecutive years has been assessor 
 
ipS 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of the township, was township clerk two 
 or three years, and also served as township 
 treasurer. For some twenty years he 
 served as school director, being clerk and 
 president of the board at different times. He 
 is a member of the Rollo Congregational 
 church, in which he takes an active part, 
 and fraternally he is a member of Shabbona 
 Post, G. A. R. As a citizen he has done 
 his full share in the development of his 
 adopted county, and by one and all is held 
 in the highest esteem. 
 
 W INFIELD S. CLARK has a reputa- 
 tion of being one of the best photog- 
 raphers in northern Illinois. His gallery at 
 Sycamore is well eciuipped for the produc- 
 tion of every kind of photographic work, 
 and he at all times keeps in touch with the 
 latest improvements made. He is a native 
 of New Milford, Illinois, born January i, 
 1852, and is the son of James H. and Nancy 
 M. (Horton) Clark, both of whom were na- 
 tis'es of Ithica, New York. They came to 
 Illinois in about NS38, settling at New Alill- 
 ford, Winnebago county, where they en- 
 gaged in farming. In politics he was an 
 Abolitionist, but became a Republican on 
 the organization of that part)-. His wife 
 died at New Milford in 1873, while he sur- 
 vived her some fifteen years, dying in -1888. 
 They were the parents of three children: 
 Charles M., Livonia C. and Winfield S. 
 Livonia is now the wife of E. H. Mande- 
 ville, and they reside in Fresno, California. 
 The subject of this sketch lived at New 
 Milford until he was ten years of age, when 
 the family moved to Rockford, Illinois, where 
 he grew to manhood and was educated in 
 its public schools, after which he learned 
 the photograph business in that place and 
 
 then Went tn Chicago, where he engaged in 
 the business for .two years. h'rom Chicago 
 he went to Paw Paw, Illinois, where he 
 carried on the business for five yea^s, and 
 then located at Sycamore, coming to this 
 place in 1887, where he has since continued 
 to remain. 
 
 Mr. Clark w-js united in marriage at 
 Paw Paw, January 27, 1882, with Miss Al- 
 meda M. Hicks, a daughter of Henrv I\. 
 and Adelaide M. (Matthews) Hicks, both of 
 whom were natives of New London, Con- 
 necticut. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are merubers 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church and are 
 active in church work. In politics he is a 
 Republican, and fraternally he is a member 
 of the Modern Woodmen of America. As 
 a citizen he is progressive, and, socialh', he 
 and his wife are held in the highest esteem. 
 Since coming to Sycamore he has built up 
 an e.xtensive and high-class patronage, and 
 has a prosperous business. 
 
 DAX'ID N. CORY, who resides on a farm 
 of one hundred and thirty-five acres, 
 in section 10, Paw Paw- township, is a nati\-e 
 of De Kalb county, born on the farm where 
 he now resides, July 29, 1854. His father, 
 Jesse Cory, was a native of New jersey, 
 born in 1818, and removed with his parents 
 to Orange county. New York, when a child, 
 and there grew to manhood He was a well 
 educated man, and for a number of years en- 
 engaged in teaching in the public schools. In 
 Tompkins count}-. New York, he married 
 Catherine Nicholson, a nati\e of that count)-, 
 and shortly afterward came to Illinois and 
 first located in Kendall county, where he 
 remained a short time, and then moved to 
 Winnebago county, but later returned to 
 New York. Two years residence in his 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 199 
 
 native state decided liitn that the west was 
 the place for one tc) succeed in life. He 
 therefore came to Do Kalli count)-, Hhnuis, 
 and entered the land where his son now 
 resides. He was one of the first settlers on 
 the prairie. 
 
 After locating upon the place Jesse Corj- 
 erected a small house, in which the family 
 resided for a few years, when he built a 
 more modern residence with f^ood barns and 
 other outbuildinp;s, making; a valuable farm 
 of one hundred and eighty acres. On that 
 farm he spent the remainder of his life, d\'- 
 ing in 1881, at the age of sixty-three years. 
 His wife survived him and died on Februarv 
 '3. '893, when about seventy-seven years 
 old. He was a pioneer teacher of De Ivalb 
 county, and taught many winter terms of 
 school while engaged in improving his 
 farm. He held many positions of honor 
 and trust in his township, serving as town- 
 ship treasurer for about twenty-live years. 
 His e.xperience as a teacher made him de- 
 sirous of obtaining good schools, and he 
 therefore used his influence in that direction. 
 Fraternally he was a member of Shabbona 
 Lodge, A. 1-^. & A. M. Jesse and Catherine 
 Cory were the parents of eight children, four 
 of whom grew to mature years. Susan is 
 the wife of H. 1^. Terpening, a farmer of 
 \'ermillion county, Illinois. Elizabeth is 
 the wife of William Campbell, of Janesville, 
 Wisconsin. Andrew A. resides in Chicago, 
 where he is employed as a conductor on the 
 street railway. David N. is the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 David N. Cory grew to manhood on 
 the home farm and received his educa- 
 tion in the common school and East Paw 
 Paw Seminary. He assisted his father on 
 the farm until the latter's death, when he 
 took charge of the place, and later pur- 
 
 chased the interests of the other heirs. 
 Since coming in possession of the estate he 
 has added materially to the improvements, 
 and has now one of the most valuable farms 
 in the town. In liis chosen occupation he 
 has been successful, and in addition to 
 general farmmg has engaged in breeding to 
 some extent high grade stock. He was 
 married in De Ivalb county, January 28, 
 1880, to Miss Susan James, a native of 
 Kendall county, Illinois, but who spent the 
 great part of her life in De Kalb conntw 
 A well educated lady, she was for some 
 years a teacher in the public schools prior 
 to her marriage. She is a daughter of F. 
 M. lames, of Squaw Grove township. By 
 this union there are two children, Ralph 
 and Jessie, students in the home school. 
 
 A life long Republican, Mr. Cory cast 
 his first presidential ballot for U. S. Grant 
 in 1868. He has taken quite an active part 
 in local politics, and in various campaigns 
 has contributed of his time and means. 
 For three terms he has served as township 
 collector, and has also served as supervisor 
 of his township, making an efficient mem- 
 ber, and serving on the committees on edu- * 
 cation, real estate and assessments, and 
 some others. Mrs. Cory is a member of 
 the Congregational church of Rollo, and 
 fraternally he is a member of Shabbona 
 lodge, A. F. & A. M. lloth are highly re- 
 spected citizens of the township and have 
 man}' friends with whom ihev are held in 
 the highest esteem. 
 
 LLICIAN DODtiE, a retired farmer resid- 
 ing in De Kalb, has been a resident of 
 the county since 1863, thirty- two years of 
 which time he spent in arduous toil upon 
 the farm, and by his industry and thrift he 
 
200 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 is now permitted to live in ease and retire- 
 ment. He is a native of Vermont, born at 
 Mt. Holly, June 19, 1843, and is the son of 
 Thomas and Eliza (Connant) Dodge, the 
 former born at Durham P'lats, Canada, Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1809, and the latter in Townsend, 
 Massachusetts, September 12, 1807. Thomas 
 Dodge was a large landowner, having some 
 fourteen hundred acres under his control. 
 He removed from Canada to N'ermont, at 
 the close of the war of 1812, in company 
 with his father, Abram Dodge, locating near 
 Mt. Holly, \ermont. In that state he at- 
 tained some prominence, serving in the leg- 
 islature of that state for one term. In 1863, 
 he came to De Kalb county, Illinois, and 
 purchased what was then known as the Van 
 Wert property. Politically he was a Re- 
 publican, and was always interested in po- 
 litical affairs. He died December 29, 1893, 
 and his wife March 23, 1875. Their family 
 consisted of three sons: Thomas VV., born 
 May 30, 1838; Rollin, October 13, 1841; 
 and Lucian, as noted above. All were born 
 at Mt. Holly, Vermont. 
 
 Lucian Dodge was reared and received 
 his primary education at Mt. Holly, Ver- 
 mont, and afterward took a course at Black 
 River Academy, Ludlow, N'ermont. He 
 was twenty years of age when he accom- 
 panied his parents to De Kalb county, Illi- 
 nois. He at once engaged in farming, which 
 he successfully carried on until 1895, when 
 he removed to the city of De Kalb, where 
 he now lives in retirement, enjoying the 
 fruits of his former toil. 
 
 On the 22nd of October, 1891, Mr. 
 Dodge was united in marriage with Miss 
 Cora A. Tiffany, a native of Darien, Wis- 
 consin, born December 6, i860, and ths 
 daughter of Vester and Louise I'Blodgettj 
 Tiffany, both nati\'es of Hartford, Pennsvl- 
 
 x'ania, from wbirh j^lan- in 1S57 thev re- 
 moved to Wisconsin, where they renjained 
 for several years. They ne.xt moved to 
 Iowa, where Mr. Tiffany died in February, 
 1892, in his sixty-fifth year. His widow 
 then came to De Kalb county, Illinois, where 
 she now resides. They reared a family of 
 eight children. Jessie is the wife of Dr. A. 
 T. Piercy, Placerville, California. Ida mar- 
 ried Rev. C. W. Pruitt, and died October 
 19, 1884, at Cheefoo, China, after ha\ing 
 li\'ed in China se\'eral year.> as a missionarN'. 
 Cora is the wife of our subject. William is 
 a farmer at Independence, Iowa. Elmer is 
 a practicing physician of Modera, Califor- 
 nia. Edward is a physician of Plymouth, 
 California. Belle resides in Placerville, Cal- 
 ifornia. Herbert is a bookkeeper in Chi- 
 cago, and served in the war with Spain. 
 The Tiffan\'S are of English extraction, and 
 some of that name emigrated to the New 
 World in 1600, and located at Attleburj-, 
 Massachusetts. Colonel Amos Tiffany, the 
 grandfather of Mrs. Dodge, was an officer 
 in the war of 18 12 and fought valiantly for 
 his country. Her maternal great-grandfa- 
 ther, Timothy Blodgett, was a soldier in the 
 Revolutionary war. The Blodgettsare also 
 of English extraction, the first of the name 
 locating in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as 
 early as 1635, coming to the New World in 
 the ship Increase. 
 
 The Dodges are of Scotch descent, and 
 wereearly settlers in this country. Abra- 
 ham Dodge, the grandfather of our subject, 
 took an active part in the war of the Revo- 
 lution. Lucian Dodge, in addition to his 
 fine farm of four hundred acres in DeKalb 
 township, owns a beautiful residence in the 
 city. For some years he engaged in general 
 farming, but of late years confined himself 
 principally to dair\ing. Success crowned 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 20 1 
 
 his efforts, and ht; is now miiiibered among 
 the well-to-do citizens of De Kalb county. 
 Fraternal!}', he is a Mason and a firm be- 
 liever in the principles of that order. Polit- 
 ically, he is a Republican. 
 
 DANIEL HOHM, who is now serving 
 as marshal of the village of Hinckley, 
 is a well known citizen of the county, of 
 which he has been a resident since 1878. 
 He was born in New \'ork city September 
 15, i860, and is the son of Vincent Hohm, 
 a native of Germany, who came to the 
 New World after attaining his majority, 
 locating in New 'S'ork city, where he mar- 
 ried Charlotte Schneider, also a native of 
 Germany. By trade he was a shoemaker, 
 at which he worked in New York about 
 four years. In 1S62 he removed to Piano, 
 Illinois, where he engaged in business, and 
 there resided until 1878, when he moved 
 with his faniil}' to \'ictor township, De Kalb 
 county. 
 
 Daniel Hohm, uur subject, grew to man- 
 hood in Piano, Illinois, where he obtained 
 a limited education in the public schools. 
 From the age of ten years he has made his 
 own living in the world, at that time com- 
 mencing work in a liver}' barn. In 1878 
 he came with the family to De Kalb county, 
 and for two years worked upon a farm, then 
 engaged with George Watson, and after- 
 terwards with Joseph Glidden and others 
 in the care of their horses. In 18S5 he 
 moved to Hinckley, where he engaged in 
 the livery business. One year later he was 
 burned out, suffering considerable loss, but 
 later rebuilt the livery barn which he still 
 owns, and for ten years was actively en- 
 gaged in the livery business, m which he 
 had a nice and satisfactory trade. During 
 
 those ten years he was also engaged in buy- 
 ing and shipping fine coach and driving 
 horses, his market being principally Chicago, 
 although he would occasionally make ship- 
 ment to New York city. 
 
 Mr. Hohm was married in Hinckley, 
 March 31, 1885, to Miss Bertha Bastian, a 
 native of De Kalb county, Illinois, and a 
 daughter of August Bastian, one of the 
 early settlers of De Kalb county, and a sub- 
 stantial farmer of S(]uaw Grove township. 
 By this union there are three children. May, 
 Lola and Harley. 
 
 In 1895 Mr. Hohm was appointed mar- 
 shal by the town board of Hinckley, and 
 accepting the office he rented his livery 
 barn, sold his stock, and has since given his 
 entire attention to the duties of the office. 
 In the discharge of the duties of the office 
 of marshal he has been brought incon- 
 tact with leading citizens of the county, 
 who recognizing his abiltity as an ofTicer 
 lent their active support to his candidacy, 
 and assisted him in securing him the nomi- 
 nation for sheriff of De Kalb county in the 
 Republican county convention of 1898. He 
 has the confidence and esteem of those with 
 whom he is acejuainted, and they are all 
 confident of his election. He has been a 
 life-long Republican, and an earnest sup- 
 porter of the men and measures of that 
 party. Fraternally he is a Mason, a mem- 
 ber of Hinckley Blue Lodge, Sandwich Chap- 
 ter and Sycamore Commandery. Asa busi- 
 ness man, he has always been enterprising, 
 endeavoring not only to advance his own 
 good, but that of the community in which 
 he resided. By his own industry, he has 
 accumulated a fair property, and is recog- 
 nized as one of the best men in the village 
 of Hinckley, with friends scattered through- 
 out the entire county. On the 9th of June, 
 
202 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAT. KFXORD. 
 
 1898, at Sugar drove, Illinois, he sustained 
 some injuries and a general shake up in a 
 railroad accident at that time and place. 
 He feels fortunate that the injuries received 
 were no worse, hut he was hadh" l)ruise<l 
 and disabled fur duty for several weeks. 
 
 WI1,LL\M LABKANT, a retired mer- 
 chant residing in Malta, Illinois, is a 
 native of Massilon, Stark county, Ohio, born 
 September i, 1833, and is the son of |on- 
 athan and Margaret (Isenbrigh) Labrant, 
 both natives of Germany, who emigrated to 
 this country about 1832, locating near Mas- 
 silon, Ohici. While residing in Ins nati\e 
 coimtr3% Jonathan Labrant ser\ed as a me- 
 chanic, but after his emigration to this 
 country he engaged in farming, which was 
 his occupation during the remainder of his 
 life. In 1843, he remo\ed to Crawford 
 countw Ohio, where he leased a large tract 
 of land, which he cleared, turning it into a 
 valuable and producti\e farm. On that 
 farm he remained until 1851, when, with 
 his family, he came to Ue Kalb count}', 
 Illinois, where he purchased eighty acres of 
 land in Pierce township, which he at once 
 began to improve, and on which he resided 
 until 1868, when he sold the same at an 
 advanced price. He then reino\ed ti) the 
 \ ill;jge of Malta, where he lived until l.S;(i, 
 when he exchanged his Malta property for 
 Sandwich property, to which place he re- 
 moved, having two daughters residing there. 
 His death occurred at that place in June, 
 1876, at the age of sixty-seven. His wife's 
 death occurred July 9, 1879, also at the age 
 of si.xty-seven years. They W'ere consistenf 
 and upright people, members of the German 
 Evangelical church. 
 
 Of the famiKol Inehe childri'ii horn to 
 
 Jonithan and Margaret Labrant, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch was the eldest. In his 
 native state he received his primary edu- 
 cation, which was supplemented bv one or 
 two terms of school, after his renxjval to 
 Ue Kalb county, Illinois, when in his eight- 
 eenth year. W'hile yet residing in Crawford 
 county, Ohio, he assisted his father in clear- 
 ing aii<l cultivating the home farm. He left 
 his father's roof at the age of twenty, and 
 for two }ears subsequent worked on a 
 faim. In the following year he engaged 
 with Frederick Streely to learn the carpen- 
 ter's trade, and was with him one year. In 
 1859, he removed to Missouri, where he 
 worked at his trade until r86i, wlien he re- 
 turned to Ue Kalb county, and in 1862 he 
 was appointed postmaster of Pierceville, 
 Illinois, an office which he honestly and 
 honorably filled. In 1865, he removed to 
 Malta, Illinois, where for the first two years 
 he was engaged at working at his trade, 
 after which he formed a partnership with 
 P. C. Wagner, of Ue Kalb, and opened the 
 first furniture and undertaking establish- 
 ment in Malta. This business was carried 
 on bv the firm for two years, when Mr. La- 
 brant purchased Mr. Wagner's interest. A 
 larger store room was built to accommodate 
 his growing trade, and he continued in the 
 business until iSSij, when he sold out In 
 Mrs. Leatherby, and removed to .Xslitiin, 
 Illinois, where, iiecause nothing better 
 offered, he kept hotel. This proving dis- 
 agreeable to himself and family, he aban- 
 doned it, and removed to Aurora, Illinois, 
 but seeing no opening there, he returned to 
 Malta and bought back from Mrs. Leath- 
 erbv his old business, which he followed 
 until 1891, when he soki out to Ur. Badg- 
 ley, anti has since lived a retired life. 
 
 (Jn the 23d of November, 1862, Mr. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Labrant was joineci in wedlock with Miss 
 Elizabeth Ann M^ers. born in 1845, ^"d a 
 daughter of George W. and Naoma (Eberly) 
 Myers. By this union were live children, of 
 whom Edward E. is deceased. The living 
 are Cora E.. Myrtie M., Maude O. and Roy 
 W. Mrs. Labrant died December 6, 1890, 
 and May 4, 1892, Mr. Labrant was joined 
 in marriage with Mrs. Jane A. Harrington, 
 widow of H. H. Harrington, of Malta. She 
 was born March 11, 1843, and was eleven 
 years of age when she came with her par- 
 rents to De Kalb county. She is a member 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church. For 
 a number of years Mr. I^abrant was a mem- 
 ber and an officer in the same church, hold- 
 ing the office of class leader and steward to 
 the entire satisfaction of his brethren. 
 Some years ago he did that which all men 
 have a right to do. After due deliberation, 
 he changed his religious belief, and is now a 
 member and elder in the Advent church of 
 De Kalb, Illinois. Politically he is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 FRANK A. LA PORTE, an enterprising 
 farmer residing in section 8, Paw Paw- 
 township, owns and operates a farm of 
 three hundred and sixty acres, three and 
 three-fourths miles east of Paw Paw. He 
 is a native of Paw Paw to\\'nship, born No- 
 vember 6, 1 860, and is the son of Alonzo 
 La Porte, a native of New York, born in 
 1826 at Sackett's Harbor, near the Thou- 
 sand Islands. The paternal grandfather, 
 Narcis La Porte, was a native of France 
 and a pioneer of Sackett's Harbor. He 
 moved west with his family in 1837 and lo- 
 lated at Sugar Grove, K.ane county, Illi- 
 nois, where he engaged at his trade of 
 fjlacksmithing, and there reared his family. 
 
 He some years later, however, moved to 
 De Kalb county and settled on a farm in 
 Paw Paw township. 
 
 Alonzo La Porte v\as eleven years of 
 age when he accompanied his father to 
 Sugar Grove, Kane county, Illinois, and on 
 a farm in that township grew to manhood 
 and whenever possible attended the com- 
 mon schools where he received a fair edu- 
 cation. F"rom Sugar Grove he came to 
 De Kalb county in 1848 and here married 
 Thirza A. Hyde, a daughter of James and 
 Ruth Hyde, who were early settlers in De 
 Kalb county. They became the parents of 
 two sons and four daughters, all of whom 
 grew to mature years and married and all 
 are living save one daughter. The wife and 
 mother died about 1882. 
 
 Alonzo La Porte was a soldier in the 
 Me.\ican war, and three times walked across 
 the plains, first as a soldier to Santa Fe, 
 next to California in 1850, and later to 
 Pike's Peak. With a land warrant he en- 
 tered one hundred and si.xty acres and later 
 added to his possessions until he now owns 
 over eight hundred acres in Paw Paw town- 
 ship. For years he was actively engaged 
 in farming, but in 1893 moved to the village 
 of Paw Paw where he is now living a re- 
 tired life. He was quite active in local 
 affairs in his township and served as super- 
 visor and in other positions of honor and 
 trust. 
 
 On the home farm in Paw Paw township 
 our subject passed his boyhood and youth, 
 and after attending the district schools, 
 finished his course in the East Paw Paw 
 Seminary, once a noted educational institu- 
 tion. He remained under the parental 
 roof until after attaining his majority, and 
 assisted in carrying on the farm until 
 twenty-tive years of age. He was married 
 
204 
 
 THL: lUOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in ("lintoii township, De Kalb county, May 
 12, 1.S87, to Miss Margaret Fraser, a 
 dauf^hter of Edwin Eraser, an earlj' settler 
 and a substantia! farmer of that township. 
 Hy tiiis union there are t\\ o riiildren, Thirza 
 .\I. and I'^rank A. 
 
 .Aft(>r marriage Mr. Ea Porte settled on 
 the farm where he now resides, which then 
 consisted of two hundred and ejghty acres. 
 Later he. purchased eighty acres additional, 
 and has now a well improved and \aluable 
 farni of three hundred ami si.\tv acres. 
 With general farming he combines stock 
 raising, feeding and preparing for market, 
 about si.\ carloads of stock annually, which 
 he ships to Chicago. He has been quite 
 successful in his farming operations, and is 
 regarded as one of the best farmers in the 
 community. His first presidential vote was 
 in 1 884, when he voted for James G. Blaine. 
 He has since been an earnest advocate of the 
 principles of the Republican party. He has 
 ne\erdesireii nor has he e\er held jiublic of- 
 his tastes and inclinations not running in that 
 direction. fn 1884 he rented his farm and 
 moved to l^aw Paw and there engaged m mer- 
 chandising in partnership with his brother 
 James H. La Porte. After three years suc- 
 cessful e.xperience in that line, he sold his 
 interest in the store, and for a time was not 
 actively engaged in any business. While 
 residing in the village he served two years 
 as a member of the board of trustees, and 
 also served on the school board. In the 
 spring of 1898 he returned to his farm, 
 where he is now actively employed, and 
 with the same characteristic energy dis- 
 played in past years, will no doubt meet 
 with good success. His life has been an 
 active one, and he is well known and has 
 many friends in l)e Kalb and Eee coiin- 
 ities, 
 
 ASHER DOWNER, residing on .section 
 32, Milan township, is one of the most 
 progressive farmers in De Kalb county, and 
 owns and operates a farm of four hundred 
 and forty acres, which is under the highest 
 state of cultivation. He is a native of On- 
 tario, Canada, born near Montreal, August 
 30. 1832, and is the son of Al)el Downer, a 
 native of Winchester, Vermont, born in 
 1/9 1. His paternal grandfather Downer 
 was a pioneer of Vermont, and .\bel Downer 
 there grew to manhood, and when a \oung 
 man went to Canada, where he married 
 Luciiida Loomer, a nati\e of Canada, born 
 on an island in the St. Lawrence river. 
 After his marriage he engaged in farming in 
 Canada for a few years, but being dissatis- 
 fied with the country, in 1837, he came to 
 Illinois, looking for a location, but made no 
 selection and came the second time for the 
 same purpose,, removing to the state in 
 1840, locating at Aurora, Kane county, 
 which was then hut an insignificant \ illage. 
 He made a claim some two miles from tlu' 
 village, and commenced the erection of a 
 dwelling house, which was burned lielore 
 completion, taking fire from one of the 
 numerous prairie fires. He then built in 
 the village a small house and there resided 
 four years while opening up the farm. 
 Erecting a good house upon the place, he 
 remo\ed to the farm and there spent the 
 last years of his life, dying iu |mi<\ 1864. 
 His wife survived him and passed away in 
 June, 1885. Of their family of eight chil- 
 dren, three sons and two daughters yet sur- 
 \ive. 
 
 Asher Downer was reared at Aurora and 
 on the old homestead near that place, and 
 had but common-school ad\antagcs. He 
 remained with his lather until twents-five 
 years of age and assisted him in carrying on 
 
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 ASHER DOWNER, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 207 
 
 the home farm. In 1858, at Batavia, Illi- 
 nois, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Elizabeth Curtis, a native of New York and 
 a daughter of Ephraim Curtis, an early set- 
 tler of I\ane county. By this union were 
 three children, Fred C, H. C. and Mary S. , 
 all of whom yet remain at home, the sons 
 assisting in the farm work and the daughter 
 now acting as housekeeper for the famil}'. 
 
 Immediately after his marriage, Mr. 
 Downer came to De Kalb county and set- 
 tled on a farm of one hundred and si.xty 
 acres of raw prairie land, purchased by his 
 father in Milan township, and at a time 
 when there were but few settlers in the 
 township. Erecting a small house, he 
 commenced breaking the ground and placing 
 the farm under cultivation. Success 
 crowned his efforts, and he after added to 
 his possessions until he now owns four hun- 
 dred and forty acres all in one body. The 
 small house originally erected has given 
 place to a larger and more substantial one, 
 and a large barn has been built together 
 with various outbuildings and over three 
 miles of hedge fence enclosed the place. 
 The pumps which supply the stock with 
 water are operated by a gasoline engine 
 which also runs a feed mill that grinds feed 
 for the stock. The farm is one of the best 
 improved in De Kalb county. 
 
 Mrs. Downer, who for thirty years was 
 indeed a helpmeet to her husband, passed 
 to her reward in December, 1888, leaving 
 not only the family, but many friends to 
 mourn her loss. Politically Mr. Downer 
 has been a Republican since the organiza- 
 tion of the party. He never desired nor 
 would he ever hold office, preferring to give 
 his time and attention to his business inter- 
 ests. Both sons are also stanch Repub- 
 licans, H. C. having been elected and serv- 
 
 ing as justice of the peace for several years. 
 For fifty-eight years Mr. Downer has been 
 a resident of the state and for forty years a 
 resident of De Kalb county. In its devel- 
 opernnt it will certainly, be acknowledged 
 that he has done his full share. 
 
 HECTOR H. COLEMAN, fur many 
 years was one of the leading agricult- 
 uralists of Mayfield township, was born 
 March 11, 1837, in Orange county, New 
 York, and is the son of John and Ph(ebe 
 (Ketcham) Coleman, both of whom were 
 natives of the same count}', the former born 
 November 8, 1791, and the latter August 
 25, 1805. They were the parents of five 
 children, of whom one besides our subject, 
 Charles W., is yet surviving. By a former 
 marriage there were ten children, of whom 
 the following are living: John, residing in 
 New York City; James H., at Sing Sing, 
 New York; Hiram, in Johnston, Michigan. 
 John Coleman, the father, was by occu- 
 pation a farmer, and in early life was a 
 Whig, and later a Republican. Religiously 
 be was a member of the Presbyterian church. 
 During the second war with Great Britain 
 he served acceptably as one of the members 
 of a New York regiment. His death oc- 
 curred in Orange county. New York, No- 
 vember 9, 1859. His wife survived him 
 many years, dying December 1, 1890, in 
 her eighty-sixth year, at the home of her son 
 in Mayfield township. The Coleman fam- 
 ily were established in the United States in 
 a very early day, three brothers coming 
 from England, locating on Long Island 
 about 1760, and from there moving to 
 Orange county. New York, settling near 
 Goshen, where the grandfather of our sub- 
 
208 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ject, Nathan Coleman, and ijreat-grand- 
 father lived and died. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the home farm in Orange county, and there 
 received his education in the common 
 schools. In October, 1875, he started for 
 the west, coming direct to DeKalb county, 
 locating on section i, Mayfield township, 
 where he engaged in farming, and there re- 
 mained until 1897, when he built a nice 
 residence on Main street. Sycamore, to 
 which he removed. He ac(]uired in May- 
 tield township two hcmdred and twenty-five 
 acres of land, which he still owns and w here 
 he carried on general farming. He now 
 leases his farm and is living a quiet, retired 
 life. In addition to his family residence, 
 he is also the owner of another dwelling in 
 the city of Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Coleman was married November 30, 
 1 861, in Mayfield township, to Mary R. 
 Mackey. daughter of Harrison and Mar}' 
 (Hall) Mackey. She is a native of Orange 
 county, New York, and came west with her 
 parents when ipiite young. Her father was 
 born in Ulster county. New York, and set- 
 tled in Mayfield township, in the spring 
 of 1839. locating on government land, 
 being farther back on the prairie than 
 any other family. Her father died August 
 22. 1S90. hut her mother died many years 
 before, her death occurring January 22, 
 1856, in Mayfield township. She was a 
 native of Sullivan county, New York, and 
 was the mother of three children — MaryR. , 
 Eliza J. and Julia A. The latter, who was the 
 wife of John Westlake, died April 8, 1869. 
 Eliza J. is the wife of J. E. Parker, of 
 Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Colcnian h;i\e one child, 
 Harrison M., born February 19, 1S63. He 
 grew to manhood in .Mayfield township, and 
 
 there married Katherine Ells, August 28, 
 1886 She is the daughter of George and 
 Elizabeth Ells. They ha\e two children — 
 Ruth and Clare. They reside on section i i , 
 Mayfield township, where he is engaged in 
 farming on the old farm of his grandfather, 
 Harrison Mackej-. 
 
 In politics Mr. Coleman is a Republican, 
 in the principles of which party he has un- 
 bounded faith. By his fellow-citizens he 
 was elected school director, and has also 
 held other local positions. He and his 
 wife are devoted members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, in the work of which 
 they take special interest. As a farmer, 
 Mr. Coleman has aided largely in the devel- 
 opment of the agricultural interests of De 
 Kalb county. As a citizen he is held in 
 the highest esteem, having many friends 
 scattered throughout the county. 
 
 JAMES LANE, who resides on section 13, 
 Shabbona township, has a fine farm of 
 one hundred and eighty-five acres, lying in 
 sections 13 and 24. He is a native of Eng- 
 land, born m Dartford, near London, No- 
 \ember 23, 1836, and is the son of Henry 
 and Mary (Lu.\ford) Lane, both "of whom 
 were also natives (jf England, where their 
 entire lives were passed. They were the 
 parents of eleven children, all of whom grew 
 to mature years. In his nati\e country 
 James Lane grew to manhood, his educa- 
 tional advantages being very limited. On 
 the 23d of May, 1858, he was married in 
 Kent, England, to Ann Maria Johnson, a 
 native of England, who was reared and ed- 
 ucated at Kent. One year later, with his 
 young bride, he took ship at the London 
 dock in a sailing vessel, the Uaniel Webster, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 209 
 
 for the United States, and were seven weeks 
 on the broad Atlantic, during which time 
 they encountered several severe storms, in 
 one of which the main mast of the vessel 
 was carried away. They arrived in New 
 York in May, 1S59, and immediately came 
 west to Illinois, locating in Somonauk, De 
 I-Calb county, where Mr. Lane had an aunt 
 residing. 
 
 On his arrival in Somonauk Mr. Lane 
 went to work on a farm, working by the 
 month for one year. He then rented a farm 
 and continued to rent until 1874, when he 
 purchased eighty acres on section 24, Shab- 
 bona township, located therson, and engaged 
 in fanning for himself. After residing there 
 some four or five years he purchased one 
 hundred and fifteen acres adjoining, which 
 was fairly well improved, and on which was 
 a dwelling house, which he remodeled, and 
 into which he moved with his family, and 
 has there since continued to reside. In the 
 twenty-four years that he has resided upon 
 that farm he has shown himself to be a 
 model farmer and has been very successful 
 in all his undertakings. In addition to gen- 
 eral farming he has been somewhat e.\ten- 
 sively .engaged in dairying and has some 
 good graded stock. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lane are the parents of 
 nine children, se\en of whom were born in 
 La Salle county and two in De Kalh county, 
 Illinois. Henry G. grew to manhood, mar- 
 ried and is now engaged in farming in Shab- 
 bona township. Edgar A. died in child- 
 hood. Maude M. is the wife of Louis Olm- 
 stead, a substantial farmer of Shabbona 
 township. Ella M. is the wife of J. Clap- 
 saddle, of Shabbona. Elmer E. is married 
 and engaged in farming in Shabbona town- 
 ship. .Arthur resides in Iowa. Charles f. 
 assists in carrying on the home farm. Os- 
 
 car E. now resides in Wisconsin. Freder- 
 ick, a young man, resides at home. 
 
 Mr. Lane is identified with the Repub- 
 lican party, with which he has been con- 
 nected since becoming a naturalized citizen. 
 He has never sought office, but has served 
 four j'ears as commissioner of highways, 
 and is treasurer of the commission. With 
 the exception of school director, that is the 
 only office that he has held. He and his 
 wife are active members of the Shabbona 
 Congregational church, in which he has 
 been a deacon for sixteen years. He is also 
 a worker and speaker in the Sunday school, 
 having a class of young ladies, which he 
 has instructed for four years. The first 
 years after the building of the railroad, he 
 served as superintendent of the schools. 
 Fraternally he is an Ancient Odd Fellow, 
 having been a member of the order in Eng- 
 land. For thirty-nine years he has been a 
 resident of Illinois, and while he came to 
 this country without means, by his industry 
 and economy, assisted by his good wife, he 
 has been fairly successful in life. 
 
 JOSEPH O. WALRAD, manager of the 
 EUwood farms in Afton township, is a 
 native of Otsego county, New York, born 
 January 2.S, 1834, and is the son of Liv- 
 ingston and Nancy \. (Ellwood) Wairatl, 
 who were also natives of Otsego county, 
 New York, and the parents of two children, 
 Joseph O., our subject, and James, who is 
 now deceased. The paternal grandfather. 
 Garret M. Walrad, was a soldier in the war 
 of 1812. Livingston Walrad, the father, 
 came to De Kalb county in 1846, and set- 
 tled near the present site of the city of 
 Sycamore, where he bought three hundred 
 and twenty acres of go\ernment land, but 
 
210 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 after nine years sold out and returned to 
 New York. 
 
 When his parents came to De Kalb 
 county, our subject was but twelve years of 
 age. His education, bej,'aii in the public 
 schools of New York, was completed in the 
 common schools of De Kalb county. In 
 1859 he made the overland journey to Cali- 
 fornia, experiencing many hardships in 
 going and losing nearly all that he had. 
 Soon after his arrival he was taken sick and 
 for six weeks was taken care of by a family 
 by the name of Wilson, who did as well by 
 him as could be done, making no charges 
 whatever for their time and trouble, but 
 doing all through kindness and with only 
 the desire to aid one of their fellowmen. 
 Regaining his health, he commenced work 
 and prospered exceedingly, clearing in a 
 comparativel\ short time some fifteen 
 thousand dollars, but lost about seven 
 thousand five hundred by loaning to friends. 
 Returning to Sycamore in 1884, he engaged 
 in farming and in 1887 took charge of the 
 lillwood stock farm as manager and super- 
 intendent. The farm comprises about seven 
 hundred and forty-four acres, and is de- 
 voted to stock and grain business, ten men 
 being given employment during the entire 
 year. 
 
 On the 1st of b'ebruary, 1865, Mr. Wal- 
 rad married Miss Libbie Helmer, a native 
 of Herkimer county, New York. They 
 have no children, but have an adopted 
 daughter, May. Fraternally he is a Mason 
 and religiously he is identified with the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, with which he 
 has been connected since he was sixteen 
 years of age. l"or ten years he has served 
 as class leader in the church, and has always 
 taken an active interest in church affairs. 
 In politics he is a Republican. In addition 
 
 to his regular business he is interested in 
 the building and loan association of De 
 Kalb, and in Calhoun county, Iowa, he has 
 one hundred and forty-five acres of well 
 improved land. 
 
 CHARLES W. GARNER, dealer in 
 drugs and groceries, is recognized as 
 one of the best business men of De Kalb. 
 He is a native of the city, born October 16, 
 1858, and is the son of John C. and Eliza 
 (Rolfe) Garner, both of whom were natives 
 of England, the former born in 1832 and 
 the latter in 1830. They were married in 
 the spring of 1855, and their voyage to this 
 country the same year was their wedding 
 trip. By trade he was a shoemaker, and 
 after his location in De Kalb, in 1855, 
 worked at it for twenty years in that city. 
 He was a superior workman, and his manu- 
 facture always gave excellent satisfaction. 
 In 1875, he abandoned his trade in a meas- 
 ure, and took charge of the shoe department 
 in the store of A. Chandler, where he was 
 an efficient employee for a number of years. 
 Mr. Chandler was succeeded by Tyndall cS; 
 Brown, and in the course of years Brown 
 bought out Tyndall's interest, and finally 
 C. A. Read bought out Brown. Still Mr. 
 Garner continued to fill his wellearned po- 
 sition in the store, enjoying the full confi- 
 dence of each employer. On May 20, 1886, 
 with his son, Charles W., he purchased 
 the stock of drugs and groceries of John H. 
 Lewis, and under the firm name of Garner & 
 Son, continued the business until his death, 
 which occurred January 10, 1898. He was 
 much respected for his personal merits and 
 social worth. For some time he served as 
 one of the members of the city council, an 
 office which he filled with honor and credit. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 211 
 
 He \\'as a Mason of hi^h standing and 
 reached the thirty-second degree. His wife 
 survives him. They were the parents of 
 four children, of whom Lizzie and Emily 
 are deceased, while John P. and Charles W. 
 are still living. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 and educated in De Kalb, and when eight- 
 een years of age he entered the store of 
 [ohn H. Lewis, where he proved himself in- 
 dispensible to his employer for many years. 
 In 1886, as already stated, in partnership 
 with his father, he purchased the store of 
 Mr. Lewis, and on the death of the father 
 succeeded alone to the business, which has 
 grown to considerable magnitude. In July, 
 1895, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Elva Beaupre, a nati\e of De Kalb, born 
 January 23. 1871, and a daughter of Charles 
 and Sarah Beaupre, of De Kalb. They 
 have now one child, Charles Wicks. Mr. 
 Garner has served his native city in the 
 office of city treasurer for two years. Fra- 
 ternally he is a Mason, and has reached 
 the position of Knight Templar, having 
 held every office in the \arious lodges, but 
 that of tyler and junior warden. 
 
 JAMES E. HARRINGTON, who is en- 
 gaged in the life insurance business, at 
 Sycamore, is a native of the city, born Au- 
 gust 13, 1866, and is the son of I^elson R. 
 and Sarah F. (Waterman) Harrington, the 
 former born January 7, 1844, and who fol- 
 lowed farming in Sycamore township for 
 many years, and then retired to Sycamore. 
 He was city marshal of Sycamore for vears, 
 and served four years in the Civil war, as a 
 member of Company F, Thirteenth Regi- 
 ment, Illinois VolurTteer Infantry. He was 
 a prominent member of the Independent 
 
 Order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army 
 of the Republic. His wife, Sarah Water- 
 man, was a daughter of Edward Waterman, 
 a native of Kent county, England, who 
 came to America in 1848, and lived in New 
 York for several years and then went to 
 Petersburg, \"irginia; here his death oc- 
 curred when about fifty years old. He 
 worked for a large contractor, building 
 plank roads in New York and \'irginia. 
 He was the son of Edward \\'aterman, Sr. , 
 also a native of Kent county, England, who 
 came to the United States in 1848, and died 
 in Buffalo, New York, when about eighty 
 years old. The paternal grandfather. Dr. 
 fames Harrington, who married a Miss 
 Walrod, was born in New York in 1806, 
 and died in i 892. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, when but a 
 \ear old, was taken by his parents to Sauk 
 Center, Minnesota, where he later attended 
 school until the age of thirteen years. He 
 then spent two \ears in .Ann .\rbor, Mich- 
 igan, where an uncle, Mark \\'. Harrington, 
 was professor of astronomy in the University 
 of Michigan. One year in the Sycamore 
 high school completed his school life. 
 From the age of fifteen he has made his 
 own way in the world. He clerked first in 
 a drug store in Sycamore for twelve years, 
 in the meantime taking a course in the Chi- 
 cago College of Pharmacy, from which he 
 was graduated in 1886. For three years 
 he was in the emplo\' of Sivwright, Irish 
 & Johnson. Since January i, 1898, he has 
 been the general agent for the New York 
 Life Insurance Company. 
 
 Mr. Harrington was married in Syca- 
 more, November 30, 1886, to Miss Nellie 
 Walker, born in Virgil township, Kane coun- 
 ty, Illinois, and daughter of John N. and 
 Hannah (Wilsonj Walker, the former ana- 
 
iti 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 live of Hamilton, Canada, born August 13, 
 1820, and who came to Illinois, locating in 
 Virgil township, Kane county, in 1841. 
 He was the son of John and Mary (Staun- 
 ton I Walker, and was married in Campton 
 township, Kane county. July 11, 1847, to 
 Hannah Wilson, born in Dunham, Darling- 
 ton county, Canada, and who came with 
 her parents to Illinois, in 1843, locating in 
 Campton township, Kane county. Her 
 father. John Wilson, was born in Pennsyl- 
 vania and went to Canada, where he mar- 
 ried Mary Pickel, a daughter of John and 
 Hannah (Smith) Pickel. John Wilson was 
 the son of James and Deborah (Bennett) 
 Wilson, the former a son of James Wilson, 
 Sr. , a native of Scotland, who ran away to 
 sea, Ijecaine captain of a vessel, and fol- 
 lowed the sea for many years. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Harrington three children have been 
 born: Joyce M., Grace O. and Frank. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Harrington is a Mason, 
 holding membership with the subordinate 
 lodge and chapter at Sycamore. He is also 
 a member of the Knights of Pythias, Im- 
 proved Order of Red Men, Knights of the 
 Globe and Sons of Veterans. In politics 
 he is a Republican, and is now serving as 
 alderman from the third ward. He is a 
 thoroughly progressive man, and has many 
 friends not only in Sycamore, but through- 
 out De Kalb county. • 
 
 FRANK E. GAMMON resides on section 
 8, Malta township, where he is engaged 
 in general farming. He was born on sec- 
 tion 7, of the same township, July 13, 1867, 
 and is the son of John G. and Jane A. (Ben- 
 nett) Gammon, both natives of England. 
 The former emigrated to this country about 
 1848, locating in I>uffalo, New ^'ork, where 
 
 an uncle and ;innt, Henry and Mary Gam- 
 mon, then resided. .About 1850, his uncle, 
 with his family, removed to De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, at which time he accompanied them, 
 and with whom he lived as a farmer boy, 
 until the breaking out of the Civil war, when 
 he showed his patriotism towards his adopted 
 country by being enrolled as one of her 
 defenders in Company K, Fifteenth Illinois 
 Cavalry, under Captain Ford. He served 
 his full term of service, participating in all 
 the battles in which his regiment was en- 
 gaged during the three 3ears. After being 
 honorably discharged, he re-enlisted in Han- 
 cock's Veteran Corps, with which he served 
 until the close of the war, when he was 
 again honorably discharged as corporal. 
 On receiving his discharge, James G. Gam- 
 mon returned to his native land, where he 
 secured his life companion in the person of 
 Miss Jane A. Bennett, whom he married 
 May 31, 1 866. They became the parents 
 of three children, all of whom are yet liv- 
 ing — Frank E., Henry B. and Jessie A. 
 The latter married Burton L. Kittle, a grain 
 broker in Chicago. Henry B. is a physician 
 and surgeon, who after having mastered the 
 common and advanced branches in the Cres- 
 ton schools, entered Michigan University at 
 Ann Arbor, from which institution he was 
 graduated. At the present writing (June, 
 1898) he is at the front in the Spanish- 
 American, war and has charge of a hospital 
 near Santiago. 
 
 Frank E. Gammon is the eldest of the 
 family. He grew to manhood in his native 
 township, and was educated in the schools 
 of Creston. With the exception of a short 
 time spent in a machine shop, he has always 
 confined himself to agricultural pursuits, 
 and has lived on his present farm for twelve 
 years. On May 18, 1 S90, he married Miss 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 2l' 
 
 Clara A. Foster, a native of Waverly, Iowa, 
 born December lo, i86g, and r danj:^hter of 
 John and Carrie Foster. Hy this union 
 three children have been born: Neil J., Alta 
 M. and Clifford. Mr. Gammon is a mem- 
 ber of the Masonic fraternity, holding mem- 
 bership with Creston Lodge, No. 320, of 
 which he is worshipful master. He is also 
 a member of the Modern \\'oodmen of Amer- 
 ica, No. 474, and of the Knights of Pythias. 
 Politically he is an out and out Republican. 
 
 THOMAS S. DALE is an enterprising 
 fanner residing on section 9, Squaw 
 Grove township, where he owns a valuable 
 and well impro\ed farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres. He is a native of England, 
 born in Durham county July 2, 1819, and 
 is the son of Thomas and Ann (Stoddard") 
 Dale, both of whom are natives of the same 
 county. In his native land the father grew 
 to manhood and was engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits. He emigrated to the United States 
 in 1852 and settled in Big Rock township; 
 Kane county, Illinois, where he purchased 
 a farm and spent the remainder of his life. 
 In his family were nine sons and six daugh- 
 ters, all of whom grew to mature years, 
 five now surviving. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in Durham county, and there received 
 a fair education. He was reared on a farm 
 but spent some of the early years of his life 
 in a grocery store, where he received a thor- 
 ough business training. He was married in 
 Jarrow, England, February 10, 1845, to 
 Ann McArdle, a native of South Shield, 
 Durham county, and a daughter of Thomas 
 and Rachell (Dixon) McArdle. In 1852, 
 with his wife and two children, he emigrated 
 to the United States, taking ship at Liver- 
 
 pool, and being five weeks on the Atlantic. 
 They arrived in safety in New York, took a 
 steamer at Dunkirk, New York, and came 
 by Detroit and Lakes to Chicago, Illinois, 
 where he secured employment in Cleaver's 
 Soap and Candle Factory, and made his 
 home for three years in that city. In 1855 
 he moved to Kane county, Illinois, and 
 purchased eighty acres of land in Big Rock 
 township on which he resided some five or 
 six years, then sold and in 1862 came to 
 De Kalb county, where he purchased one 
 hundred and sixty acres of improved land, 
 the farm on which he yet continues to re- 
 side. Many of the improvements now upon 
 the place are the work of his hands. He 
 has tiled the land well and cultivated it 
 closely, being very successful in his farming- 
 operations. He came to the county with 
 some means and by his own labor, enter- 
 prise and industry, has accumulated a com- 
 petency. His farm is located about two 
 and a half miles from Hinckley. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dale are the parents of 
 nine children, six of whom are living, as fol- 
 lows: James, married and now residing in 
 Calhoun county, Iowa, where he is engaged 
 in farming; Mary, wife of W. R. Owens, of 
 Calhoun county, Iowa; William, residing at 
 home, assisting in carrying on the home 
 farm; Ada, also residing at home; Jennie, 
 wife of C. W. Owens, residing in Calhoun 
 county, Iowa; and Stoddard, who remains at 
 home and assists in cultivating the farm. 
 The deceased are John, who died when 
 about one year old; Thomas, who grew to 
 mature years and died a single man; and 
 Anna, who died a young lady. 
 
 Politically Mr. Dale is independent, 
 casting his ballot as his conscience dictates 
 without regard to party ties. For some 
 years he served as school director, hut 
 
214 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RfiCORD. 
 
 would never accept other office. Both he 
 and his wife were reared in the P2piscopalian 
 faith. A re.sident of Illinois for forty-six 
 years and of l)e Kalb county for thirty-six 
 years, he is well known throughout its 
 length and breadth. In the many changes 
 that ha\e been made, he has given material 
 assistance, and has lived to see the day 
 when De Kalb county is ranked among the 
 best in the state. He is respected by all 
 who know him and is one of the best citi- 
 zens of his township and county. 
 
 HON. FKI^DERICK B. TOWNSEND, 
 mayor of the city of Sycamore, is a 
 well-known representative of the lousiness 
 and financial interests of De Kalb county. 
 He is a native of the county, born in the 
 township of Malta, July 30, 1858, and is 
 the son of Amos W. and Eleanor (Pierce) 
 Townsenci^ His father, who was the son 
 of Stephen and Ann (Denman) Townsend, 
 was a native of Sullivan county. New York, 
 and when nine years of age came to Illinois 
 with his parents, who located in the town- 
 ship of Mayficld, De Kalb county. Stephen 
 Townsend, the grandfather, was a native of 
 Sullivan county, New York, born June 30, 
 1807. His wife was also a native of that 
 county, born August 15, 1809. Stephen 
 Townsend was the son of Joshua and Phoebe 
 Townsend, who were likewise natives of 
 Sullivan county, New York, and who came 
 west in 1839 with their son. Both are 
 buried in the old cemetery at Maytield. 
 Stephen Townsend, who died some years 
 ago, is also buried in that cemeterj'. His 
 wife, Ann Townsend, is still living at Syca- 
 more at the age of eighty-nine years. They 
 had ten children, six of whom grew to ma- 
 turit\'. Eleanor, the wife of Luther lack- 
 
 man, resides in Oregon. Nancy, the wife 
 of Orrin West, living at Plainfield, Iowa. 
 Katy H., wifr of F. H. Brundage. died at 
 Malta, Illinois, in 1896. William H. is liv- 
 ing in Sycamore. Hattie E., also living in 
 Sycamore. Amos W., who was third in 
 order of birth, is the father of our subject. 
 Amos W. Townsend grew to manhood 
 in Mayfield township and was educated in 
 the common schools. He was reared to 
 farm life and engaged in stock farming in 
 Malta township after his marriage, and there 
 continued until 1876, when he engaged in 
 the banking business at Sycamore as a 
 member of the firm of Daniel Pierce & Co., 
 in which he continued until his death, Au- 
 gust 25, 1887. His wife, Eleanor Town- 
 send, is a daughter of Daniel and Jane 
 (Brundage) Pierce. She is a native of Sul- 
 livan county. New York, and came west 
 with her parents, who located at S}'camore 
 in 1855. For a number of years her father 
 was engaged in the real estate business, but 
 upon the failure of D. Hunt & Co. he com- 
 menced the banking business in 1866. under 
 the firm name of Pierce, Dean & Co. This 
 was afterward changed to Pierce & Dean 
 and later to Daniel Pierce & Co., the 
 present title of the firm. Daniel Pierce is 
 still living, but his wife died in 1876. He 
 is now eighty-four years of age and spends 
 his summers on a farm of three thousand 
 acres in Dickinson county, Iowa, and his 
 winters in Sycamore. To Daniel Pierce 
 and wife three children were born, one of 
 whom died in infancy. They are Eleanor, 
 mother of our subject, and Sarah, who was 
 the wtie of George P. Wild, died in 1S96. 
 The children of .Amos and Eleanor Town- 
 send were five in number, as follows: Fred- 
 erick B., our subject; Jennie, now the wife 
 of Charles A. Webster, lA Galesburg, Illi- 
 
HON. F. B. TOWNSEND. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 217 
 
 nois; Anna, who married F. E. Claycomb, 
 of Sycamore, died in 1S92; Georgia, wife of 
 John E. Yates, of Round Pond, Maine; and 
 Mary, at home. 
 
 The early life of our subject was spent 
 in Malta township on the stock farm of his 
 father, where he remained until seventeen 
 years of age. His primary education was 
 obtained in the district schools of Malta 
 township, after which he attended the high 
 school at Sycamore, and later entered Lom- 
 bard University, at Galesburg, which he at- 
 tended four years, pursuing the scientific 
 course. He then went to Eastman's Busi- 
 ness College, at Poughkeepsie, New York, 
 and took a full business course. Return- 
 ing home he entered the banking house of 
 Daniel Pierce & Company, with which he 
 has now been connected for seventeen years 
 and where he is now the managing partner. 
 
 Mr. Townsend was married February 
 18, 1890, at Sycamore, to Mary Boynton, 
 a native of Sycamore, and a daughter of 
 Charles O. and Lucetta P. (Stark) Boyn- 
 ton. She was educated at St. Mary's Sem- 
 inary, Knoxville, Illinois. By this union 
 two children have been born: Charles B. , 
 born January i, 1892, and Eleanor, born 
 Decembers, 1895. Religiously Mrs. Town- 
 send is a member of St. Peter's Episcopal 
 church. Sycamore, in which she takes an 
 active interest. 
 
 In politics Mr. Townsend is a Democrat, 
 the principles of which party were instilled 
 into him from his youth. By his fellow 
 citizens he has been honored with various 
 offices. He was first elected alderman of 
 the second ward in 1889, and was annually 
 re-elected until 1893. In the spring of 
 1894 he was elected mayor to fill the unex- 
 pired term of the late Dr. George W. Nes- 
 
 bitt. He was re-elected in 1895, and again 
 11 
 
 in 1897, and is now serving his third term. 
 In 1893 he became a member of the board of 
 education, in which position he is still serv- 
 ing. In 1892 he was presidential elector for 
 Grover Cleveland. Fraternally he is a 
 Mason, a member of the blue lodge, chap- 
 ter, and Sycamore Commandery, No. 15, 
 K. T., at Sycamore, and of Medinah Tem- 
 ple, A. A. O. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, 
 Chicago. 
 
 That Mr. Townsend is a very busy man 
 is shown by the fact that he has charge of 
 some twenty-hve farms in De Kalb county, 
 which belong to the Daniel Pierce and 
 Townsend estates, also some five thousand 
 acres in Iowa belonging to the Daniel Pierce 
 estate, together with large tracts of land on 
 the Red River of the North. The private 
 banking house of Daniel Pierce & Co., of 
 which Mr. Townsend is now the manager, 
 has been doing business for over thirty-one 
 years, and has the confidence of the public 
 to a high degree. The average deposits are 
 about three hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 For his years Mr. Townsend has shown 
 remarkable financial and executive ability, 
 and the large moneyed and landed interests 
 placed in his hands are managed with rare 
 skill. His popularity among the people is 
 evidenced by his being elected for the third 
 time as mayor in a Republican city, be be- 
 ing a Democrat in politics. He is a man of 
 social characteristics, winning in manner, 
 and one of the rising young men of De Kalb 
 county. 
 
 JOHN H. UPLINGER, dealer in hard- 
 ware, general merchandise, and farm- 
 ing implements, is one of Kingston's best 
 known and most highly respected citizens. 
 He has the largest hardware store in the vil- 
 
2l8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 lage, and has a large and extensive trade. He 
 was born in Butler township, Luzerne 
 county, Pennsylvania, July 15, 1852, and is 
 the son of John and Elizabeth (Wood) 
 Uplinger, both of whom were natives of the 
 same state. The father for some years en- 
 gaged in butchering, but finally gave it up 
 for the more quiet but less lucrative busi- 
 ness of farming. He came west with his 
 family in 1866, locating in Kingston town- 
 ship, where* he purchased three hundred 
 and .twenty acres of good improved land, 
 besides several other parcels of land, which 
 he disposed of from time to time. At the 
 time of his death, October 6, 1893, he was 
 the owner of two hundred acres of valuable^ 
 land. His wife's death occurred in July, 
 
 1897. 
 
 Of the family of thirteen children born 
 to John and Elizabeth Uplinger, our sub- 
 ject was si.xth in order of birth. He was 
 fourteen years of age when he came with 
 his parents to Kingston, Illinois. His edu- 
 cation, begun in the public schools of Penn- 
 sylvania, was completed in the schools of 
 Kingston. He lived at home with his par- 
 ents, assisting in the farm work, until he 
 reached his twenty-fourth year, at which 
 time he engaged in the hardware business in 
 Kingston, opening his place of business in 
 December, 1875. For twenty-three years 
 he has continued in that line, and while he 
 has been uniformly successful in his busi- 
 ness he has yet met with some losses. On 
 the 29th of January, 1886, he experienced a 
 serious loss by fire, losing nearly all his 
 stock, amounting to four thousand dollars. 
 In August of the same year he was re-estab- 
 lished again, and is now, as formerly, doing 
 an extensive business, and having the full 
 confidence of the community at large. 
 
 On the 28th of April, 1880, he was 
 
 joined in marriage with Miss M?ry McDole, 
 a native of Chemung county, New York, 
 born in 1855, and a daughter of John and 
 Catherine McDole, who were early settlers 
 of De Kalb count}'. Like his father before 
 him, Mr. U))linger is a stanch Democrat, 
 and served two terms as postmaster of 
 Kingston under President Cleveland. He 
 is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and 
 was raised to the sublime degree of Mas'.er 
 Mason, September 20, 1877. He is also a 
 member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows. 
 
 JAMES LEISHMAN. dentist, No. 235 
 Main street, De Kalb, Illinois. — There 
 was a time when the ingenious mechanic 
 with steady nerve, forceps and turnscrew 
 could hang out his sign and go to work un- 
 challenged. Now things have changed and 
 not only must the dentist have nerve and 
 muscle, but he must be a man of refinement 
 and culture, who by a course of study and 
 training has acquired a thorough knowledge 
 of dental surgery. No other profession has 
 made greater strides to the front than has 
 dentistry. Closely connected with the med- 
 ical profession, it is not a science to be ac- 
 quired simply by study, but its conditions 
 are ever changing, and the practice which 
 was in vogue in one age is obsolete in the 
 next; therefore, experience is a sure and true^ 
 road to higher attainments. We revere the 
 learned and experienced physician, but no 
 less the cultured and practical dentist. It 
 is, therefore, with pleasure that we record 
 the biography of James Leishman, one of 
 De Kalb's foremost dentists. 
 
 James Leishman was born in South 
 Grove township, De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 December 22, 1854, and is the son of James 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 219 
 
 and Margaret (Brown) Leishnian, both of 
 whom were natives of Scotland. The father 
 was a skilled mechanic, who, while j'et a 
 yoLuij; man, came to the United States, and 
 shortly after his arrival married Mrs. Mar- 
 garet Morton, lu'c Brown, and by this union 
 were born two children, James and David. 
 The mother died at the age of seventy-seven 
 years, Mr. Leishnian surviving her and dy- 
 ing at the age of eighty years. They were 
 both noble people, honest to a fault, and of 
 good repute in the neighborhood where they 
 resided. Members of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, they took an active interest 
 in all church and benevolent work. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 and educated at Sycamore, where he at- 
 tended the high school, and after completing 
 his course of stud}' he turned his attention 
 to dentistry, at which time he became a stu- 
 dent at Philadelphia, taking a course in den- 
 tal surgery. In 1S81 he returned to De Kalb 
 county and opened an office in the city of 
 De Kalb for the practice of his profession, 
 and where he has remained to the present 
 time. His ofBce is commodious and com- 
 fortable and supplied with all the modern 
 appliances known to the profession. 
 
 On December 2, 1S85, Dr. Leishnian 
 was joined by marriage with Miss Jessie M 
 Carter, a native of De Kalb, Illinois, and a 
 daughter of Orlando and Huldah (White) 
 Carter, the former a native of Chenango 
 county, New York, and the latter also of 
 New York. By this union one child has 
 been born, Walter Bruce, now attending 
 the public .schools of De Kalb. 
 
 Dr. Leishman is the carver of his own 
 fortune. He is one of that number who 
 have risen to a position of eminence in his 
 profession by virtue of intrinsic qualities 
 that are inherent in his nature and that are 
 
 wholly incompatible with failure. Early 
 disciplined in the rigid school of self-depend- 
 ence, unaided b}' those extraneous influ- 
 ences, which, while they smooth the path- 
 way and lighten the responsibilities of youth, 
 tend only to weaken the physical and moral 
 nature of man, he has pressed on to success 
 in his profession. He possesses social qual- 
 ities in an eminent degree, with good con- 
 versational powers, with a mixture of humor, 
 which makes him a genial companion, as 
 well as a warm-hearted and true friend, ever 
 ready to greet an acquaintance or entertain 
 a visitor. Fraternally he is a Mason and 
 also a member of the Modern Woodmen of 
 America. In educational matters he has 
 always been interested and is now serving 
 as a member of the school board 
 
 ORl'JIN M. NORTON, who resides on 
 section 2, Squaw Grove township, 
 where he owns and operates a farm of five 
 hundred and forty-five acres, came to Illi- 
 nois in 1836 and is therefore justly entitled 
 to the name of pioneer. He is a native of 
 Ohio, born in Geauga county, November . 
 27, 1825. His grandfather, Phineas Nor- 
 ton, was a native of Scotland, a pioneer of 
 Vermont and a soldier in the Revolutionary 
 war. His father, Robert Norton, was a 
 native of Vermont, born in 1785, and who, 
 as a young man, moved to Geauga county, 
 Ohio, where he cleared a tract of land and 
 engaged in active farm life. He there mar- 
 ried Louisa Monroe, a native of Connecti- 
 cut, her father, Joseph Monroe, being a 
 pioneer of Ohio. The Monroes are of 
 Scotch and English descent. 
 
 In 1836 Robert Norton removed with 
 his family to Kane county, Illinois, located 
 near the village of Big Rock, where he re- 
 
220 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sided for some j-ears, then came to De 
 Kalb county and purchased the farm where 
 our subject now resides, where his death 
 occurred in 1845, at the age of sixty-two 
 years. His wife survived him many 3'ears, 
 dying in 1878. They were the parents of 
 three children, our subject being the eldest. 
 Ora T. married I^obert Waudby and re- 
 sides in Sioux City, Iowa. Mary Jane mar- 
 ried David Harmon, of De Kalb county. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to Illi- 
 nois when eleven years of age, his boyhood 
 and youth being spent in Kane and De Kalb 
 counties. The education he received in the 
 pioneer schools was very meager, but he 
 has since become a well informed man by 
 reading and observation. He remained 
 with his father till the latter's death and 
 then took charge of the farm and business. 
 He was married in Kane county, Illinois, 
 December 25, 1853, to Miss Jemima Drake, 
 a native of Allegany county. New York, 
 and a daughter of Eda and Hannah Drake, 
 who were among the pioneers of Kane 
 county. After his marriage Mr. Norton 
 purchased one hundred and sixty acres 
 which he located with a land warrant. He 
 at once commenced the improvement of the 
 place, and as his means increased bought 
 more land until his farm comprised five 
 hundred and forty-five acres. His farm is 
 well equipped with all necessary outbuild- 
 ings and modern utensils, and on the place 
 is a neat and commodious residence. Al- 
 though he commenced life with very limited 
 means, he has been very successful and 
 ranks with the best farmers of his town- 
 ship. 
 
 Of the two children born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Norton, Alice died at the age of two 
 and a half years. Charles grew to man- 
 hood, married Jennie Crosby and has three 
 
 living children, Elmer, Carrie and Edna 
 Blanche. He is now engaged in farming 
 the old homestead. 
 
 From the organization of the party to 
 the present time, Mr. Norton has been an 
 ardent Republican, and has given earnest 
 support to every presidential nominee of the 
 party. Both he and his wife are members 
 of the Batavia Christian church, Mrs. Nor- 
 ton having been a member for about thirty- 
 five years. 
 
 When Mr. Norton came to Illinois, Chi- 
 cago was but an insignificant village, and 
 he has lived to see it take rank as the sec- 
 ond city in the union. The changes that 
 have been made in the sixty-two years of 
 his residence in Illinois can scarcely be con- 
 ceived. An almost unbroken wilderness at 
 the time of his arrival, the country is now 
 dotted with flourishing villages, and the 
 magnificent farms with their large dwelling 
 houses and barns indicate that the people 
 are indeed prosperous. The prosperity at- 
 tending others has in a measure been meted 
 out to him, and he is numbered to-day 
 among the leading citizens of Squaw Grove 
 township, with many friends throughout 
 I\ane and De Kalb counties. 
 
 RF. HAMPTON is a native of De Kalb 
 county, born in Paw Paw township, 
 February 3, 1852, and is the son of Hon. 
 Robert Hampton, whose sketch appears 
 elsewhere in this work. He now resides 
 upon a fine farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres on section 7, Paw Paw township, 
 which he owns and operates, in connection 
 with another farm of three hundred and 
 fifty acres. His boyhood and youth were 
 spent upon the old homestead in Paw Paw 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 221 
 
 township, and his primary education was 
 obtained in the district schools. From the 
 district school he entered the classical semi- 
 nary at East Paw Paw, in which he took a 
 thorough course, and later engaged in teach- 
 ing during the winter months, in which oc- 
 cupation he continued for some twelve 
 terms, while in the summer he assisted in 
 the farm work; 
 
 On the 9th of March, 1879, in Chicago, 
 Illinois, Mr. Hampton was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Lizzie Dienst, a nati\e of 
 Illinois, born in La Salle county, but reared 
 and educated in De Kalb county. Her fa- 
 ther, Casper Dienst, died when she was a 
 small child, and her mother a few months 
 later. She was then taken and reared to 
 womanhood by Wells W. Fay, of whom 
 mention is made elsewhere in this volume. 
 By this union there is one son, Robert 
 Wells, a bright child of two years. They 
 have also taken a child to rear. Golden 
 Hampton, who entered their household 
 when but four years of age, and is now a 
 student in the home school. 
 
 Soon after his marriage Mr. Hampton 
 removed to the farm where he now resides, 
 which he had purchased a few years before. 
 He has here almost continuously since been 
 engaged in general farming. In Septem- 
 ber, 1894, he purchased a mercantile busi- 
 ness at Rollo, in which he was actively en- 
 gaged for about three years, closing out in 
 August, 1897. In the spring of 1898, in 
 connection with his own place, he took 
 charge of the greater portion of his father's 
 farm, and in connection with general farm- 
 ing he is quite extensively engaged in stock 
 raising. For seven years he has been en- 
 gaged in breeeding and raising Polled Dur- 
 ham cattle. In his farming operations, Mr. 
 Hampton has been uniformly successful, and 
 
 has the reputation of being one of the best 
 farmers in the township. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hampton is a Repub- 
 lican, with which party he has been inden- 
 tified since attaining his majority. He was 
 elected and served as commissioner of 
 highwaj'S one term, and for ten years has 
 been township clerk and school treasurer. 
 His interest in the public schools has been 
 intensified by his experience as a teacher. 
 He and his wife are members of the Rollo 
 Congregational church, and in its work they 
 take special delight. Previous to the or- 
 ganization of the church at Rollo, he was 
 superintendent of the Sunday school at 
 East Paw Paw, and is now serving in the 
 same position in the church at Rollo, a po- 
 sition which he has satisfactorily filled for 
 several years. Fraternally he is a Master 
 Mason, holding membership with the lodge 
 at Paw Paw. Thoroughly progressive, he 
 is at all times willing to do all that he can 
 to advance the interests of his native county 
 and state. Few men are better known in 
 the southern portion of De Kalb county, 
 and none are more highly respected. 
 
 AR U D O L P H Y O U N G G R E N, of 
 Younggren Brothers, resides on section 
 8, Shabbona township, where they are en- 
 gaged in general farming and stock raising, 
 having a farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres in the home place, and another of 
 eighty acres in Milan township, both valua- 
 ble and well improved farms. They date 
 their residence in De Kalb county since 
 1854, and on the farm where they now re- 
 side since 1861. 
 
 A. Rudolph Younggren is a native of 
 Sweden, born in Jonkoping, January 20, 
 1852, while his brother, Gustavus M., first 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 saw the light of day on the Atlantic ocean, 
 September 5, 1854. Their father, Eman- 
 uel Yonnggren, was also a native of Sweden, 
 as was also their mother, Margaretha 
 (Sandman) Younggren. The family emi- 
 grated to the New World in 1S54, taking 
 ship at Christina for Ouebec, Canada, and 
 on arriving at that city they came direct to 
 De Kalb county, Illinois, and located first 
 in Shabbona Center. Emanuel Younggren 
 was a carpenter and joiner by trade, at 
 which he worked in his native country for a 
 time. For seven years previous to his 
 coming to America he worked in a match 
 factory at Jonkoping. On coming to De 
 Kalb county,' he worked at his trade of car- 
 penter and. joiner, in addition to looking 
 after the home farm. In 1S68 he purchased 
 one hundred and si.xty acres on section 8, 
 Shabbona township, on which he built a 
 neat residence and various outbuildings. 
 After his naturalization he was elected and 
 served in a number of offices of honor and 
 trust. By accident he lost his right hand, 
 and was thus compelled to give up carpen- 
 tering and much other work. He spent the 
 last years of his life on the farm, and there 
 died October 6, iSgi. His wife survived 
 him two years and passed away August 16, 
 1893. Their family comprised three sons 
 and one daughter. Charles W., the eldest 
 born, is engaged in fruit growing in Oregon. 
 A. Rudolph is the subject of this sketch. 
 G. M. is the partner of his brother in con- 
 ducting the farm and in stock raising. Jen- 
 nie and Melvina C. are deceased. 
 
 Tiie Younggren brothers were reared on 
 their present farm, which they helped to 
 develop, and were educated in the common 
 schools. After their father's death they 
 succeeded to the homestead, together with 
 the eighty-acre farm in Milan township, and 
 
 they are now considered as being among 
 the most enterprising and substantial farm- 
 ers of Shabbona township. In addition to 
 the above described farms, the\' !:ave re- 
 cently purchased one hundred and si.xty 
 acres of land in Coffej' county, Kansas. 
 They are also breeders of high-grade Dur- 
 ham cattle and Poland China hogs, and 
 own and keep for breeding purposes a pure- 
 bred French Canadian draft horse. Politic- 
 ally the brothers are stanch Republicans, 
 and A. Rudolph served two terms as com- 
 missioner of highways, and in 1897 was 
 elected a member of the county board of 
 supervisors, being chairman of the commit- 
 tee on printing, and a member of the com- 
 mittee of highways, and also of persona! 
 property. He joined the Odd Fellows lodge 
 at Lee, and was a member while that lodge 
 was in existence. He passed through all 
 the chairs and represented his lodge two 
 sessions in the grand lodge of the state. He 
 is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, 
 Knights of the Globe and Modern Wood- 
 men of America, and is now serving as ven- 
 erable consul of the Woodmen camp. He 
 is well known throughout the county, in 
 which he has resided for forty-four years, 
 and wherever known he is respected for his 
 integrity of character and personal worth. 
 
 GEORGE WILLIAM DUXTON, of the 
 firm of Carnes & Dunton, Sycamore, 
 Illinois, has won high rank in the legal pro- 
 fession and is regarded as one of the best 
 attorneys in De Kalb county. He is a na- 
 tive of Belvidere, Boone county, Illinois, 
 born August 6, 1854, and is the son of Will- 
 iam S. and Alvira (Baldwin) Dunton. His 
 father is a native of Dorset, Bennington 
 count)-, V^ermont, born August 31, 1813, 
 
GEORGE W. DUNTON. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 223 
 
 and is the son of William B. and Huldah 
 (Sykes) Dunton. William B. Dunton was 
 also a native of the same state. His father 
 was a surveyor and came from Connecticut 
 to Vermont, locating in Bennington county. 
 The Duntons were of English ancestry and 
 the head of this family came over from 
 England during Cromwell's time and settled 
 in Boston. 
 
 William S. Dunton, the father of our 
 
 ■subject, grew to manhood in his native 
 state and received a common school educa- 
 tion. He came to Illinois in 1846 and lo- 
 cated at Belvidere, Boone county, where he 
 has since continued to reside. He there 
 first engaged in the mercantile business and 
 at one time was engaged in the manu- 
 facture of plows, and also carried on farm- 
 ing. At the time of the organization of the 
 national banking system he became a di- 
 rector of the First National Bank of Belvi- 
 dere, and in 1866 was elected president of 
 the same and held that responsible position 
 for about twenty years, resigning on account 
 of failing eyesight, but accepting the posi- 
 tion of vice-president, which place he now 
 holds. He has also been a director of the 
 Second National Bank of Belvidere since 
 its organization about 1SS4. In politics he 
 IS a Republican. Physically he is heavily 
 built and of a naturally strong constitution. 
 He is a man of even temperament, upright 
 disposition and character. His wife was 
 the daughter of David Baldwin and was a 
 native of Dorset, Vermont. In religious 
 
 , belief she was a Universalist. They were 
 the parents of four children, as follows: 
 Wilbur, who died in childhood; Mary, now 
 the wife of Samuel Kerr, an attorney of 
 Chicago; Nellie, at home; and George W. , 
 our subject. William S. Dunton has one 
 brother, George B., who lives at Belvidere, 
 
 and two sisters, Adeline, who married David 
 Underbill, and Susan, who married Chauncy 
 Borland. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 Belvidere and after' receiving his primary 
 education in the public schools of that 
 place entered the State University of Iowa, 
 at Iowa City, in 1871, from which he was 
 graduated in the classical course in 1875. 
 He then entered the Union Law College of 
 Chicago in the fall of 1875 and was gradu- 
 ated from that institution in June, 1877. 
 Among the lecturers at that time in the col- 
 lege were V. B. Denslow, Harvey B. Hurd, 
 Judge Lyman Trumbull, Senator J. R. Doo- 
 little, James L. High and Judge Booth, to- 
 gether with Dr. N. S. Davis as lecturer on 
 medical jurisprudence. 
 
 In the fall of 1877 Mr. Dunton com- 
 menced practice in Sycamore, forming a 
 partnership with R. L. Devine, who was 
 then one of the leading members of the bar 
 of De Kalb county. His first few years in 
 practice was mostly in preparing cases and 
 drawing up pleadings for the causes. Type- 
 writers were not then in use, and as Mr. 
 Devine was a very busy man with an exten- 
 sive practice, this duty devolved upon the 
 junior partner. It was, however, a good 
 drill, and in after years in practice it has 
 lieen very useful to him. The partnership 
 with Mr. Devine was dissolved in 1880, and 
 Mr. Dunton continued alone until the fall of 
 i88g, when he formed his present partner- 
 ship with Duane J. Carnes. While in part- 
 nership with Mr. Devine they had a large 
 general practice, in which they were very 
 successful. While alone his practice was 
 chiefly in chancery and business litigation 
 and settling up of estates, in which he was 
 especially adapted and successful. 
 
 Mr. Dunton was united in marriage 
 
224 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 August 6, 1 88 5, with Miss Levina S. Den- 
 ton, a native of De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 and a dauD;hter of Solomon and Olive Den- 
 ton, both natives of Dutchess county, New 
 York. Her father, who was a farmer by 
 occupation, died in 1864, but her mother 
 is yet living. They had a family of seven 
 children, Rebecca, Julia, Mary, LaviniaS., 
 Gilbert H., Elizabeth and George, all of 
 whom are living except the latter. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Dunton two children have been 
 born, Martha A., born July 2, 1888, and 
 Mary O., born March 18, 1892. 
 
 In politics Mr. Dunton is a Republican. 
 He has been a member of the board of edu- 
 cation, of which he was president for a time. 
 In business he has been quite successful. 
 He is a stockholder and director in the 
 Sycamore National Bank. Mr. Dunton is 
 held as a sound student of law and a safe, 
 reliable counselor. His special forte is in 
 chancery cases and probate, in preparing 
 cases for trial, and drawing up pleadings. 
 He has been connected with some of the 
 most important cases in De Kalb county, 
 and with his partner forms one of the 
 strongest law firms in the county. He is a 
 man of pleasing address and very popular. 
 
 GOTTLIEB F. HUEBER is one of the 
 most substantial farmers in De Kalb 
 county, and resides in section 3, Malta 
 township. He was born in Wurtemberg, 
 Germanj', September 12, 1828, and is the 
 son of Jacob and Philopene (Colmer) 
 Hueber, both natives of Germany, where 
 their entire lives were passed, the former 
 dying in 1833 and the latter in 1865. They 
 were the parents of ten children, of whom 
 our subject was fourth in order of birth. 
 In his native land, Gottlieb F. Hueber 
 
 grew to manhood and received a fairly good 
 education. The news from the new world, 
 which reached the fatherland, was of such a 
 nature as to induce him to immigrate, and 
 in 1850 he came to this country with Jacob 
 Willrett, who has become wealthy and lives 
 in De Kalb county, locating first in Penn- 
 sylvania, where he remained nearly two 
 years. In 1S55 he came to Illinois and lo- 
 cated in Malta township, De Kalb county, 
 where he purchased eighty acres of land in 
 its primitive state. This he brought into 
 subjection by plowing, and beautified it by 
 the erection of commodious buildings. To 
 the first eighty acres he added another 
 eight}', upon which he. now resides. Later 
 he purchased a quarter-section on section i, 
 which was somewhat improved, but which 
 he improved still more by applying to it his 
 labor and genius. He afterwards pur- 
 chased another eighty acres on section 3, 
 which was also partially improved, and still 
 later bought one hundred and twenty acres, 
 which he has since sold to his son Fred- 
 erick, who now resides upon it. Lately he 
 purchased another eighty acres. 
 
 On the 31st of March, 1858, Mr. Hueber 
 was joined in wedlock with Miss Elizabeth 
 Heiderscheid, by whom he had twelve chil- 
 dren, of whom the following are yet living: 
 Elizabeth, Carrie W. , John WilUiam, Fred- 
 erick Jacob, George Emanuel. Laura Mar- 
 garet, Gottlieb David and William Nicholas. 
 Mrs. Hueber was born in Lu.xemberg, Ger- 
 many, February 20, 1829, and died March 
 22, 1898. 
 
 Mr. Hueber is a practical farmer in 
 every respect. His stock is well cared for 
 and of good blood, his buildings of modern 
 construction, his fields clean and neat, 
 while his fences are strong and secure. He 
 has no hobby in his farming, but devotes 
 
G. F. HUEBER. 
 
MRS. G. F. HUEBER. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 229 
 
 himself to a general line. He has been 
 very successful in life, and has an abun- 
 dance for the old age that is coming upon 
 him. Religiously he is a member of the 
 German Evangelical Association, of which 
 his wife was also a member. 
 
 GENERAL EVERELL FLETCHER 
 DUTTON. — Prominent among the 
 business men of Sycamore is the subject of 
 this sketch, who for many years has been 
 closely identified with the history of the 
 city, while his name is inseparably con- 
 nected with its financial records. The 
 banking interests are well represented by 
 him, for he is to-day at the head of the 
 Sycamore National Bank, the leading 
 moneyed institution of this place. He is a 
 man of keen discrimination and sound judg- 
 ment, and his executive ability and excellent 
 management have brought to the concern 
 with which he is connected a high degree of 
 success. The safe, conservative policy which 
 he inaugurated commends itself to the judg- 
 ment of all, and the success of the bank is 
 certainly due in a large measure to him, and 
 through it he has promoted the welfare of 
 the city. 
 
 General Button is a native of New 
 Hampshire, born in Sullivan county, Janu- 
 ary 4, 183S. His father, Hon. William P. 
 Dutton, was a native of Charleston, New 
 Hampshire, born August i, 18 17. He mar- 
 ried Lucinda J. Blood, also a native of the 
 same town and state, born January 28, 
 1818. They were married in 1835 and after 
 remaining in their native state for nine 
 years, where he engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits, they then resolved to come west. Ac- 
 cordingly, in 1844, they came to Illinois, 
 locating first at St. Charles, Kane county, 
 
 and later removing to Du Page county and 
 subsequently settling at Sycamore, De Kalb 
 county, where, until 1857, the elder Dutton 
 engaged in the mercantile trade, and was 
 also the landlord of the Sycamore House, 
 the leading hotel in the city. During the 
 administration of President Pierce he held 
 the office of postmaster at Sycamore. He 
 was reared in the Jackson school of politics, 
 and from his earliest manhood was plain 
 and outspoken in his political views. The 
 doctrines held by the abolitionists were very 
 distasteful to him, and during the agitation 
 of the freesoil (juestion he went to Kansas 
 to vigorously denounce those principles and 
 confidently expected to be confirmed in his 
 views, and that the report of his investiga- 
 tions there would undoubtedly strengthen 
 the party, giving prestige to those views. 
 
 Of one thing it could be said of William 
 P. Dutton, and that is that he was open to 
 conviction. When he saw with his own 
 eyes'the terrible and sad condition of the 
 people of that distracted country, he exper- 
 ienced a complete change of opinion, and 
 there openly and unhesitatingly declared 
 himself in favor of the free state idea, which 
 he had previously so vigorously condemned. 
 This course cost him 'his political position, 
 the postofflce at Sycamore. Being then at 
 liberty, he at once changed his residence, 
 removing to Kansas, settling on a farm in 
 Stanton, then Lykens county. Within a 
 year after his arrival he was elected treas- 
 urer of the county, and was later re-elected, 
 serving two terms. In 1859 he was chosen 
 a member of the constitutional convention, 
 which assembled at Wyandotte, and took 
 an active part in forming the constitution. 
 In i86[, when Kansas was admitted to the 
 union, he was elected sheriff of his county, 
 the name of which had then been changed 
 
2?0 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to Miami county. For the better perform- 
 ance of his duties he removed to Paola, the 
 county seat, which continued tobe his home 
 until 1873. In 1863, he was re-elected 
 sheriff and served his second term. During 
 the war he was a conspicuous figure in Kan- 
 sas affairs, and a strong supporter of the 
 government, serving on the staff of the gov- 
 ernor. In 1873, he returned to Illinois, 
 and until 1876 he devoted himself to agri- 
 cultural pursuits, when he returned to Pa- 
 ola, Kansas, where he resided until his 
 death in 188S. His wife died at Sycamore, 
 June 15, 1875. Besides our subject the 
 children born to William P. and Lucinda 
 J. Dutton, were Emma, who married Aaron 
 K. Stiles, of Chicago; and Charles E., of 
 Oakland, California. Everell Fletcher Dut- 
 ton was eight years of age when his parents 
 settled in Sycamore, and during the eleven 
 years preceding his father's removal to 
 Kansas, he assisted iu the store and post- 
 office and attended the public schools, Clos- 
 ing his studies with a year at Mt. Morris, 
 Illinois, and a similar period at Beloit, Wis- 
 consin. After the removal of the famil}* to 
 Kansas, he assisted his • father on the farm 
 until 1858, when he returned to Sycamore, 
 aad served as deputy "clerk under the Hon. 
 A. K. Styles, until April, 1861. 
 
 On the 1 8th of April, 1861, yoimg Dut- 
 ton responded to the call of President Lin- 
 coln for troops to aid in the suppression of 
 the rebellion, and was mustered into the 
 state service at Dixon, Illinois, May 10, and 
 into the United States service May 24. 
 His company was made a part of tfie Thir- 
 teenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Z. B. 
 Mayo was elected captain of the company, 
 which was known as Company F, and Mr. 
 Dutton was chosen first lieutenant. On the 
 1 6th of June the regiinent went to Case\'- 
 
 ville, Illinois, to look after the se- 
 cession element at that place, and, 
 July 6. mo\ed on to Rolla, Missouri. 
 In August, Lieutenant Dutton was promot- 
 ed to the command of his company, Cap- 
 tain Mayo having resigned. The regiment 
 remained at Rolla till the last of October, 
 doing, in addition to its regular military serv- 
 ice, cavalry duty, looking after guerrillas and 
 bushwhackers in and about that section of 
 the country. From Rolla they moved by 
 forced marches to Springfield, Missouri, 
 making the one hundred and twenty miles 
 in four days, and were placed in General 
 Fremont's command, under whom the reg- 
 iment remained until that general was su- 
 perseded. 
 
 The Thirteenth was ordered back to 
 Rolla, March 6, 1862, and was assigned to 
 the conmiand of General Curtis. It was 
 then sent to Pea Ridge, marching, at the 
 rate of twent\-five miles per day. During 
 this campaign the regiment suffered great 
 hardships, being compelled for daj-s to sub- 
 sist on parched corn and whortleberries. 
 Its campaign down the White River was 
 especially hazardous and severe, suffering 
 from cold and want of food, and then chang- 
 ing to intense heat with no water except 
 from the cypress swamps abounding with 
 reptiles and filth, many of the wells being 
 poisoned as the troops approached. After 
 three months experience of this character 
 the regiment reached Helena, July 14, with 
 half of its number sick. In August, Cap- 
 tain Dutton was sent home sick, and while 
 there was commissioned major of the One 
 Hundred and Fifth Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
 try, which was raised in De Kalb and Du 
 Page counties. On the 22d of September, 
 he was transferred to that command, by or- 
 der of the secretary of war, proceeding with 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 2.U 
 
 it a few days later to Louisville, Kentuck}', 
 where it was assigned to the army under 
 General Rosecrans, then in camp near 
 Bowling Green. 
 
 On the iith of November, the brigade 
 to which the One Hundred and Fifth was 
 attached was ordered to Scottsville, Ken- 
 tucky, and November 25th" marched to 
 Gallatin, Tennessee, where it went into 
 winter quarters. On the iith of December 
 the regiment was moved to Tunnel Hill 
 where it remained till February i, 1863, 
 when it rejoined its brigade at Gallatin, con- 
 tinuing there until the close of the spring. 
 During these six months of arduous cam- 
 paigning. Major Dutton had charge of the 
 scouts of the brigade, some two hundred and 
 fifty in number, and was almost constantly 
 in the saddle. June i, 1863, the regiment 
 proceeded to Lavergiie, and a month later to 
 Murfreesboro. Later it was ordered back to 
 Lavergne, and August 19 entered Fort 
 Negley, at Nashville, where it remained until 
 February, 1864. 
 
 While at Nashville, Major Dutton was 
 made a member of the board constituted by 
 the war department for the purpose of ex- 
 amining and assigning officers to the regi- 
 ments of colored men, remaining on that 
 duty till May 1st, when he rejoined his 
 regiment, which was then assigned to the 
 First Brigade, Third Division, Twentieth 
 Army Corps, commanded by General Joseph 
 Hooker, in which it served until the close of 
 the war. In the battle of Resaca, the One 
 Hundred and Fifth took a distinguished part, 
 and for its gallantry was especially compli- 
 mented. In the campaign through Georgia 
 .and the Carol inas, the regiment also won 
 the most favorable distinction for its gallan- 
 try and achievements, and in the war re- 
 ports had favorable mention. From July 13 
 
 to August 4, Major Dutton had command of 
 the regiment. Colonel Dustin being absent. 
 During this period the battle of Peach Tree 
 Creek was fought (July 20), in which the 
 One Hundred and Fifth washeavily engaged 
 and had the honor of capturing the flag of the 
 Twelfth Louisiana Reginient. The brigade 
 was then commanded by General Harrison, 
 afterwards president of the United States. 
 The record of the regiment during the entire" 
 .Atlanta campaign was specially brilliant, 
 taking part in the battles of Resaca, Cass- 
 ville, New Hope 'Church, Golgotha, Peach 
 Tree Creek and Atlanta. 
 
 Early in August, 1864, Major Dutton 
 was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and 
 soon afterwards to the colonelcy, his senior 
 officer. Col. Dustin, having been appointed 
 brigadier general. From Atlanta the One 
 Hundred and Fifth marched with Sherman 
 to the sea, and from Savannah through the 
 Carolinas to Goldsboro and Raleigh, thence 
 through Richmond to Washington, partici- 
 pating in the battles of Lawtonville, Smiths 
 Farm and Averysboro, the latter being 
 fought March 15, 1865. During this last 
 engagement, the One Hundred and Fifth 
 drove the enemy from its works and cap- 
 tured two twelve-pound guns, which Col. 
 Dutton and some of his men turned and 
 fired on the retreating enemy. 
 
 For gallantry and meritorious services 
 in the campaign in Georgia and the Caroli- 
 nas and for distinguished services at tha bat- 
 tle of Smiths Farm, North Carolina, Col. 
 Dutton was breveted brigadier general of 
 United States volunteers, with rank from 
 March 15, 1865. He was mustered out of 
 service at Washington, June 7, 1863, after 
 a continuous service of four years and two 
 months. Returning to Sycamore, in 1868, 
 he was elected clerk of the circuit court 
 
232 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of De Kalb county, in which capacity he 
 officiated for eight years. In the winter of 
 1877, during the session of the thirteenth 
 general assembly of Illinois, he was elected 
 clerk of the house. In 1878, he was 
 elected clerk of the northern grand divi- 
 sion of the Supreme Court of Illinois, which 
 position he held until December i, 1S84, 
 discharging the duties of the office in such a 
 inanner as to win the admiration of the 
 court and bar. 
 
 In 1883, General Dutton became asso- 
 ciated with the Sycamore' National Bank, 
 purchasing a large proportion of its stock, 
 and on the death of J. S. \\'aterman be- 
 came president, a position that he still 
 holds. Naturally conservative, by his in- 
 fluence he has added strength to the bank 
 and secured the confidence of the entire 
 community. Few banks have a better rep- 
 utation than the Sycamore National, which 
 has always been a successful institution and, 
 has gained in popularity under the wise ad- 
 ministration of General Dutton and his as- 
 sociates. In addition to his banking inter- 
 ests, the General has large real estate hold- 
 ings, and in addition to much farming land 
 in De I\alb county, he owns large tracts in 
 other northwestern states. Success has 
 crowned him in all his business interests. 
 
 General Dutton was united in marriage 
 at Sycamore, Illinois, December 31, 1863, 
 with Miss Rosina Adelpha Paine, a native 
 of Herkimer county, New York, and a 
 daughter of Harmon and Clarinda (Van 
 Horn) Paine, the former born at German 
 Flats, Herkimer county, New York, July 
 25, 1S22, and the latter at Springfield, New 
 York, February 26, 1824. Her parents 
 moved to Sycamore, in 1853, and for many 
 years her father was proprietor of Paine's 
 Hotel at that place. Of late years he has 
 
 been engaged in agricultural pursuits. The 
 great-grandfather of Mrs. Dutton, Thomas 
 Van Horn, was a soldier in the Revolution- 
 ary war with the rank of lieutenant. By 
 reason of this fact Mrs. Dutton has become 
 a member of the Daughters of the Revolu- 
 tion. To Mr. and Mrs. Dutton two sons 
 have been born. George Everell, who was 
 born May 8, 186S, graduated at Lombard 
 l'ni\ersity, Galesburg, Illinois, and is now 
 associated with his father in the banking 
 business at Sycamore. William Paine was 
 born April 25, 1872, and is at present finish- 
 ing his education at Harvard University. 
 
 Following in the footsteps of his father, 
 and strengthened by the lessons of the Civil 
 war, General Dutton has ever been an 
 earnest Republican, and has rendered valu- 
 able services to his party, which have been 
 duly appreciated. Religiously both he and 
 his wife affiliate with the Universalist 
 church, in the work of which they take an 
 active part. 
 
 JOHN KING, who for more than a third 
 of a century has been station agent at 
 Cortland, Illinois, is a native of Pemberton, 
 Burlington county. New Jersey, born No- 
 vember 28, 1834, and is the son of William 
 and Margaret (Pippit) King, both of whom 
 were natives of New Jersey, and were the 
 parents of seven children, three of whom 
 died in infancy and one, Isaiah, after reach- 
 ing maturity. He was a Methodist Episco- 
 pal minister and was secretary of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal conference in his native 
 state. The living are John, Elizabeth and 
 Margaret. The paternal grandfather, WiU- 
 iam King, was a native of England, and 
 emigrated to this country when quite young, 
 locating in New Jersey. The father was a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 233 
 
 carpenter by trade, and lived to be over 
 eighty years of age. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 his native town and county and educated 
 in its pubUc schools. He remained under 
 the parental roof until twenty-one years of 
 age, and then like many others came west 
 with a view of bettering his condition in life. 
 While yet in the east he learned the carpen- 
 ter's trade with his father, and in 1856 took 
 up his residence in Morrison, Whiteside 
 county, Illinois, where he worked at his 
 trade a few years, and then entered the em- 
 ploy of the Chicago & Northwestern Rail- 
 way Company as a clerk. In 1864 he took 
 the agency at Cortland. Illinois, where he 
 has since continued to reside in the faithful 
 discharge of his duties for a period of over 
 thirty-four years as station and express 
 agent. 
 
 In 1 866 Mr. King was united in marriage 
 with Miss Sarah A. Pierce, a native of Dela- 
 ware county, New York, and a daughter of 
 Isaac and Eunice (Judd) Pierce. By this 
 union there are three children: Millie, Mary 
 and Margaret. 
 
 In politics Mr. King is a gold Democrat, 
 believing in the principles advocated by the 
 old leaders of the party, and that honesty 
 in monetary matters should govern as well 
 as honesty in other things. He is now 
 president of the board of trustees of the vil- 
 lage, and treasurer of the school board. He 
 has also served as a member of the county 
 board of supervisors with credit to himself 
 and satisfaction to his constituents. He 
 and his family attend the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church. In addition to his other prop- 
 erty, he is the owner of one hundred and 
 thirty acres of land near the village of Cort- 
 land, which is under a high state of cultiva- 
 tion and which yields an abundant increase 
 
 for the toil and labor expended on it. So- 
 cially Mr. King atid his family are greatly 
 esteemed and highly honored in the com- 
 munity which has so long been their home. 
 
 EDWIN HAIT, the present efficient su- 
 pervisor of Franklin township, and a 
 heavy stock dealer of Kirkland, is a native 
 of the township, born December 2, 1853, 
 and is the son of Jonas and Emeline (Shat- 
 tuck) Hait, both natives of New York state, 
 and who were the parents of three children, 
 Mary, Edwin and Emma. Desiring to bet- 
 ter his condition in life, Jonas Hait came to 
 De Kalb county. Illinois, in 1836, and took 
 up a claim of three hundred and twenty 
 acres, in what is now Franklin and Kingston 
 townships, and which he purchased as soon 
 as the land came into market. He at once 
 set about the improvement of the place, and 
 in due time had a good, productive farm. 
 He was not, however, long to enjoy the fruits 
 of his labor, for he died in 1858, at the age of 
 forty-five years. He was a good man and 
 well respected in the community, and served 
 his township as supervisor for a number of 
 years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born on 
 the farm which his father located in 1836, 
 and there grew to manhood, and has spent 
 his entire life in farming and stock dealing. 
 His education was obtained in the district 
 schools, and the knowledge therein obtained 
 has been supplemented by reading and con- 
 tact with the world. On the 29th of De- 
 cember, 1875, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Ida J. Rote, also a native of 
 Franklin township, and a daughter of Hixon 
 Rote, a native of Pennsylvania and a pio- 
 ner of DeKalb county. By this union three 
 
234 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 children were born, two of whom died in 
 infancy. The living one is Morris. 
 
 In politics Mr. Hait is a Republican, and 
 has voted the party ticket since attaininj; 
 his majority. He has ever taken an active 
 interest in political affairs, and has been for 
 some years one of the leaders of the party 
 in Franklin township. He is at present a 
 member of the village board of Kirkland, as 
 well as supervisor of the township. For a 
 number of years he has served as school 
 director in the old I-acy district, and has 
 freely given of his time to advance the in- 
 terests of the public schools. He has one 
 hundred and si.xty acres oi fine land, which 
 was the old Hait homestead. For some 
 years he has been engaged in stock-dealing, 
 buying and shipping to the eastern markets, 
 and has built up a good trade. A very pop- 
 ular man, he has many friends throughout 
 the county. 
 
 WILLIAM W. WYLDE is a substantial 
 farmer residing in the village of Genoa. 
 He is a native of Somersetshire, England, 
 born February 28, 1841, and is the son of 
 William and Maria (Webb) Wylde, both of 
 whom were natives of the same country. 
 They emigrated to the United States in the 
 fall of 1843, and came directly west, locat- 
 ing in Spring township, Boone county, Illi- 
 nois, where they resided eight years. They 
 then moved into the city of Belvidere, where 
 the father died at the age of forty-four years. 
 He was the son of John W'ylde, who came 
 to America with him and who survived him 
 two years, dying in 1857, wdien about eighty- 
 one years of age. After the death of her 
 husband Mrs. Maria Wylde was again united 
 in marriage, her second union being with 
 George Harding. She is still living in Bel- 
 
 \idere, at the age of eighty-one years. She 
 does all her own house work, including 
 washing, ironing and baking, and each Sun- 
 day she walks one mile to church. 
 
 The subject of this sketch had limited 
 school privileges, and at the age of twelve 
 years assumed his own support. He worked 
 as a farm hand until twenty-one years of 
 age, having been placed with a man who 
 promised to care for him the nine years un- 
 til he attained his majoritj' and give him in 
 the end three hundred and fifty dollars. The 
 man failed, and he got nothing for all his 
 years of labor-. .At the age of twenty- one 
 he commenced life anew and worked by the 
 month for two years, saved his money and 
 purchased a farm of one hundred acres near 
 Genoa, on which he lived until removing to 
 the village in 1891. He was always eco- 
 nomical and a good manager, and in due time 
 had saved enough to buy another farm of 
 one hundred and si.xty acres lying some forty 
 rods from his first farm. He now rents the 
 larger farm, but personally attends to the 
 cultivation of the smaller one. For some 
 time he has been engaged 111 dairy farming, 
 keeping from thirty to thirty-live head of 
 milch cows. On his two farms he has made 
 many improvements, built a dwelling on 
 each, together with two barns, and has also 
 drained them with thirty thousand feet of 
 tile. Frequently he has planted orchards, but 
 has never met with succes.". in the raising of 
 fruit. 
 
 Mr. Wylde has been twice married, his 
 first union being with Miss Martha Thomp- 
 son, a native of McHenry county, Illinois, 
 who died in 1892, at the age of fort)' two 
 \ears. On the 2nd of Januar\', 1896, he 
 married Mrs. Cornelia Bunnell, wido.v of 
 Sherman Bunnell, by whom she had one 
 daughter, Hazel Blanche. Mrs. Wylde was 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 235 
 
 born in Genoa township, and is a daughter 
 of David and Mary fBabcock) Davis, the 
 latter being a daughter of William H. and 
 Cornelia (Hogcboom) Babcock. William 
 Babcock was the son of Abram and Susan 
 (Lee) Babcock, the latter being a relati\e 
 of General Robert E. Lee. Cornelia Hoge- 
 boom was the daughter of Andrew and Julia 
 (Distant) Hogeboom, who were among the 
 first settlers of Hampshire township, Kane 
 county, Illinois. David Davis was the son 
 of Alfred C. Davis. By trade he was a car- 
 penter and builder, and died in 1880, at the 
 age of fort}' years. To our subject and 
 wife a son has been born, Donovan Oscar. 
 In the spring of 1898, Mr. Wylde began 
 the erection of one of the largest and finest 
 residences in Genoa. It is of pleasing ar- 
 chitecture, well arranged, light and airy, 
 and has eleven large rooms. In politics 
 Mr. Wylde is a Republican, and has served 
 as supervisor of his township and in minor 
 township offices. He is a spiritualist in 
 belief, being a medium and having the un- 
 known power to heal, a power which he 
 cannot e.xplain, but merely knows it e.xists. 
 
 JOHN GREEN, one of De Kalb county's 
 representative and thriving fanners, 
 owns and operates a farm of three hundred 
 and twenty acres, located on sections 4 and 
 5, Shabbona township. He was born March 
 30, 1857, in Monroe county. New York, and 
 is the son of Peter and Catherine (Ivies) 
 Green, whose family comprised three chil- 
 dren: William E. , John and Elizabeth. 
 
 Moved by a desire to better his condi- 
 tion, and learning the prospects held out in 
 the west, where the same effort as was ex- 
 erted in Monroe count}'. New York, would 
 shortly result in ownership of choice land in 
 
 Illinois, Peter Green brought his family to 
 De Kalb county. Illinois, in 1864, and pur- 
 chased one hundred and sixty acres of par- 
 tiall)' improved land. He immediately set 
 about further improving his property bv the 
 erection of buildings, setting out orchards 
 and Shade trees, tiling the land, and con- 
 tinued to cultivate the place until 1881, 
 when he moved to the village of Shabbona, 
 and lived a retired life until his death, July 
 21, 1890, leaving a vvidow, who survived 
 him several years and who died December 
 2r, 1896. 
 
 John Green came west vvitli his parents 
 to De Kalb county, Illinois, in the spring 
 of 1S64, and has since been identified with 
 its growth and prosperity. He was but 
 seven years of age on his arrival here and 
 grew to manhood in the old homestead, and 
 received his education in the district school 
 in the neighborhood. After his school days 
 were over he took up the pursuit of farm- 
 ing, working with and aiding his father in 
 the many duties and responsibilities their 
 avocation exacted. 
 
 Mr. Green was married September 13, 
 1 88 1, to Miss Catherine Erbes, daughter of 
 George Erbes, a prominent and highly re- 
 spected farmer living a few miles west of 
 the town of Lee, Lee county, Illinois. By 
 this union they became the parents of a 
 happy family of five bright children, all of 
 whom are attending school in the neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 Mr. Green has always been identified 
 with the Republican party, advocating its 
 principles, and voting the party ticket, na- 
 tional, state and county. He has never held 
 nor sought office, his private affairs and re- 
 sponsibilities being of such nature as to 
 claim his whole attention. • In educational 
 affairs the growth and development of the 
 
236 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 public school system have always received 
 his sympathy and support, and his efforts 
 in this direction take form in the discharge 
 of the duties of school director, an office 
 which he now holds. 
 
 Since coming to De Kalb county, a boy 
 of seven years, Mr. Green has witnessed 
 the progress of events which year by year 
 have taken place, resulting in a complete 
 transformation. Where existed the raw 
 prairies are now the fertile fields; the rude 
 cabin has given way to homes of statelier 
 aspect and proportions, and wild nature ex- 
 hibits in every detail the civilizing influences 
 which individual effort and industry have 
 resulted in making the state of Illinois fore- 
 most among the agricultural states of the 
 Union. A combination of effort has ef- 
 fected these changes, and like other enter- 
 prising and industrious men, |ohn Green 
 has contributed his full share. He has but 
 lately added by purchase one hundred and 
 sixty acres of the old homestead, and his 
 interests consist of three hundred and 
 twenty acres of De Kalb county's most fer- 
 tile land. He is one of the county's popu- 
 lar and esteemed citizens, his integrity, in- 
 dustry and well regulated habits inviting 
 and fostering the respect and confidence of 
 those who know him. 
 
 AHRAM ELLWOOD was for some 
 years one of Sycamore's best known 
 citizens, one whose life record is a com- 
 mendable one. Only those lives are worth 
 recording that have been potential factors 
 in the public progress, in promoting the 
 general welfare, or advancing the educa- 
 tional or moral interests of the community. 
 Abram Ellwood was ever faithful to his 
 duties of citizenship, and by the successful 
 
 conduct of his business interests not only 
 promoted his individual success, but also 
 promoted the general prosperity. In his 
 life's span of forty-seven years, he accomp- 
 lished much and left behind an honorable 
 record worth}' of perpetuation. He was a 
 man of the highest respectability, and those 
 who were most intimately associated with 
 him speak in unqualified terms of his 
 sterling integrity, his honor in business 
 affairs and his fidelity to all the duties of 
 public and private life. 
 
 Mr. Ellwood was born in Scotia, 
 Schenectady count\'. New York, March 26, 
 1S50, and was the son of Reuben and 
 Eleanor (Vedder) Ellwood, the former a 
 native of Minden, Montgomery county. 
 New York, and the latter of Schenectady. 
 Reuben Ellwood, the father, was for years 
 one of the leading manufacturers of De 
 Kalb county, was well known throughout 
 the state and nation, and for two terms 
 served his district as a member of the United 
 States house of representatives. His death 
 occurred July i, 1885, while his wife sur- 
 vived him about ten years. 
 
 In the public schools of Sycamore 
 Abram Ellwood 'received his primary educa- 
 tion. He then attended a military college 
 at Poughkeepsie, New York, where he re- 
 mained until the age of sixteen years, when 
 he began life for himself, at once display- 
 ing that energy, independence and self- 
 reliance that burned out the fires of his 
 life many years before his time. Being a 
 sturdy youth, he secures a position as brake- 
 man on the railroad, and was thus employed 
 two years, then went south and assumed a 
 more responsible position, that of con- 
 tractor on the New Orleans, Mobile and 
 Texas Railroad, afterward serving as pas- 
 senger conductor on this line. Notwith- 
 
ABRAM ELLWOOD. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 239 
 
 standing that he was but eighteen years old, 
 he displayed executive abilit}' far beyond 
 his years. He was next on the Milwaukee 
 & Northern Railroad as constructor, with 
 headquarters at Green Bay, Wisconsin. 
 Later he was United States mail agent, on 
 the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, 
 from which he was transferred to the Chi- 
 cago & Northwestern Railway, between 
 Chicago and Cedar Rapids. His last run in 
 the mail service was between Chicago and 
 Cincinnati. 
 
 On the 3d of January, 1876, Mr. Eliwood 
 was united in marriage at Manchester, New 
 Hampshire, with Miss Emma L. Garvin, a 
 native of Chichester, New Hampshire, and 
 a daughter of Jesse and Eunice (Leavitt) 
 Garvin, the former a native of Garvin Falls, 
 New Hampshire, and the latter of Chiches- 
 ter, in the same state, and the daughter of 
 Jonathan Leavitt. To this union there 
 were five children, four of whom are now 
 living, — Mildred G., Sallie E., E. Eleanor 
 and A. Leonard. Reuben, Jr., died at the 
 age of three and a half years. 
 
 In the fall of 1877, our subject became 
 associated with his father in the manufact- 
 uring business in Sycamore, under the firm 
 name of the R. Eliwood Manufacturing 
 Company. This connection was continued 
 until the fall of 1880, when he engaged in 
 the manufacture of wire fence stretchers, 
 which he successfully conducted for four 
 years. In December, 1884, that business 
 was consolidated with the R. Eliwood Man- 
 ufacturing Company, and he was made 
 manager for the entire business. After the 
 death of the father he purchased the entire 
 stock and plant and continued the business 
 under the firm name of the Abram Eliwood 
 Company. He perfected many of the ma- 
 chines in his plant, and succeeded in build- 
 12 
 
 ing up a very extensive trade, and employed 
 a large number of men. His success at- 
 tracted the attention of the citizens of other 
 places, and he was offered a bonus of thirty- 
 five thousand dollars if he would remove the 
 plant to De Kalb. This offer he accepted, 
 and in 1892 removed to De Kalb, looking 
 after the erection of buildings from his own 
 plans, which made one of the most com- 
 plete manufacturing concerns in the country. 
 In the fall of 1896 Mr. Eliwood formed 
 a stock company, in order that he might 
 relieve himself of much of the hard work 
 that was gradually breaking him down. He 
 was a man of wonderful energj', who did 
 honestly everything that he undertook, and 
 the excessive mental strain required in the 
 prosecution of his business hastened, if not 
 entirely induced, his death. A short time 
 prior to his death, he took up quarters at 
 the sanitarium, Battle Creek, Michigan, but 
 it was of no avail, the disease being too far 
 advanced. He died No\'ember 11, 1897, 
 while yet in the prime of life and usefulness. 
 a martyr to self-imposed duty. From a 
 small beginning he had developed the busi- 
 ness to one of large proportions, employing 
 from seventy-five to one hundred men, to 
 whom he ever showed the greatest kindness 
 and consideration. Politically he was a 
 Republican, but never a partisan. Because 
 of his business ability, rather than his pol- 
 itical training, he was called upon to serve 
 as alderman of the city, and also as its 
 mayor, serving in the latter position from 
 1889 to 1 891. A friend of education, he 
 served for some years as a member of the 
 school board to the entire satisfaction of 
 the people. Before his death he became a 
 communicant of the Congregational church, 
 and was faithful to the last, dying in the 
 full assurance of faith and in the hope 
 
240 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of a resurrection and a reunion of loved ones 
 beyond tfie grave. Mrs. Elhvood and her 
 two oldest children are also members of the 
 same church. Fraternally, Mr. Ellwood 
 was a Mason of high standing. 
 
 SAMUEL PETERSON, contractor and 
 builder, residing in De Kalb, is a na- 
 tive of Sweden, born in 1855, and is the 
 son of John and Mary Peterson, both na- 
 tives of the same country, who emigrated 
 to the United States in 1869, locating in 
 De Kalb township, De Ivalb county, Illi- 
 nois, where some of their relatives had 
 previously located. John Peterson was a 
 cooper by trade, and followed that occupa- 
 tion during his entire residence in De Kalb. 
 His death occurred in 1892, his wife pre- 
 ceding him to their heavenly home some 
 twenty-one years, dying in 1871. Their 
 family consisted of eight children, five of 
 whom are yet living. 
 
 Samuel Peterson, our subject, was four- 
 teen years of age when he came with his 
 parents to this country. For about five 
 years after his arrival he worked on various 
 farms. His father and a brother being 
 mechanics, he associated himself with them 
 and soon learned the carpenter's trade, 
 which he has followed continuously to the 
 piesent time. He is a first-class workman, 
 and has done much of the best work in De 
 Kalb for the past twenty years. He keeps 
 under his supervision twenty men, repre- 
 senting the various trades employed in the 
 construction and completion of dwellings. 
 In 1896 he erected thirty-one houses in De 
 Kalb, a greater number than was ever built 
 by one man in any previous year. 
 
 In 1883 Mr. Peterson married Miss 
 Christine Peterson, a native of Sweden, 
 
 born July 7, 1862, and the daughter of 
 John Peterson, also a native of Sweden, 
 who removed to this country about 1869. 
 By this union si.\ children were born: Edna 
 G., August I, 1884; Roy M., October 7, 
 1886; Earl R., October 10, 1889; Irving, 
 August 4, 1891; Ruth L., July 19, 1894; 
 and Anna M., September 16, 1897. 
 
 By his industry and gentlemanly de- 
 portment, Mr. Peterson has endeared him- 
 self to the people of De Kalb and built for 
 himself not only an e.xtensive business, but 
 a name that will last. He has been fortu- 
 nate in his business ventures and is the 
 owner of a number of lots in the city, on 
 which he has built neat and comfortable 
 residences, and has now thirty-one buildings 
 under his care, with a monthly revenue 
 from this source of o\er three hundred 
 dollars. The estimation in which he is 
 held by the people is shown by his elec- 
 tion as alderman for the fourth year, an 
 office he fills with credit to himself and 
 honor to those whom he represents. Like 
 every clear-headed man, who looks into the 
 future and plans for emergencies which 
 cannot be averted, he has for several years 
 carried for himself and wife heavy insur- 
 ance policies. He is a member of the Swe- 
 dish Lutheran church, of which body his 
 wife is also a member. 
 
 EDWARD B. POWERS, a leading and 
 influential farmer, residing on section 
 33, Paw Paw township, owns and cultivates 
 a farm of two hundred acres in the home 
 place, and one hundred and sixty in another 
 farm. He was born in La Salle county, 
 Illinois, September 16, 1S41. His father, 
 Norman H. Powers, and his grandfather 
 Powers were natives of Vermont. The 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 241 
 
 latter was a hunter of repute, with a family 
 of seventeen children. He removed from 
 Vermont with his family, to New York, in 
 an early day, and there Norman Powers 
 grew to manhood. Early in the thirties, 
 when a young man, he went west, and set- 
 tled in La Salle county, Illinois, and later 
 returned east, and in Canada married 
 Catherine Hart, a native of Scotland, and 
 a daughter of James Hart, also a native of 
 Scotland, who was for many years a veteri- 
 nary surgeon in the English army, and who 
 settled in Canada after leaving the service. 
 Immediately after his marriage, Norman 
 Powers returned with his bride to La Salle 
 county and located in what is now Earl 
 township, where he improved a farm, which 
 he later sold, and purchased the place where 
 his son now resides. He entered this land 
 with a soldier's warrant, and it comprised 
 one hundred and sixty acres in its native 
 state. There was not a house in sight when 
 he purchased the place. He bought an old 
 frame house, which he moved on the tract, 
 and there resided while erecting a more 
 comfortable residence. All the lumber used 
 in the house, he hauled from Chicago. 
 As soon as located, he at once commenced 
 the improvement of the farm, the first year 
 putting in a crop of five acres of corn. At 
 that time wild game, geese, ducks and 
 prairie chickens, were in abundance, and 
 they ate up almost the entire crop. In the 
 spring of 1852, he started with an ox team, 
 in company with four men, for California, 
 making the overland trip, and spent about 
 two years in getting out ship timbers; while 
 there he was fairly successful, but was glad 
 to return to his Illinois farm. He returned 
 by way of the Isthmus of Panama, to New 
 York, and from there by rail to his home. 
 After his return he was elected supervisor 
 
 of his township, and held several other mi- 
 nor official positions. In 1 86 1, he enlisted 
 in Company I, Fourth Illinois Cavalry, and 
 with his regiment went to the front. At 
 the battle of Pittsburg Landing he was 
 wounded by a piece of shell, and perma- 
 nently disabled. He was therefore dis- 
 charged, returned home, and later gave up 
 the farm and removed to Earlville, Illinois, 
 where he resided some three or four years, 
 then went to Scranton, Iowa, and died at 
 the residence of a daughter, June 7, 1882. 
 His wife survived him a number of years 
 and passed awa}' April 6, 1896. They were 
 the parents of two sons and three daughters, 
 Edward B., our subject being the first born. 
 Christie is the wife of Hon. H. M. Board- 
 man, whose sketch appears elsowhere in 
 this work. Susan A. is the wife of J. E. 
 Moss, of Scranton, Iowa. Elizabeth died 
 in April, 1861, at the age of twelve years. 
 Horace E. is a lawyer by profession and is 
 engaged in practice at Scranton, Iowa. 
 
 Edward B. Powers grew to manhood on 
 the home farm, where he received very 
 limited educational advantages. After his 
 father was discharged and returned home 
 from the army, he enlisted, August 15, 1862, 
 joining his father's old company and regi- 
 ment. His father returned home on Sat- 
 urday night, and on the following Tuesday 
 he enlisted and joined the regiment at Tren- 
 ton, Tennessee. With his regiment he en- 
 gaged in scouting duty, and in the fall of 
 1862, at Chestnut Bluffs, Tennessee, he was 
 taken prisoner by the enemy and held for 
 about eighteen hours, when he was paroled 
 and returned to his regiment. After his ex- 
 change, he served until the close of the war, 
 and was discharged at Springfield, Illinois, 
 in July, 1865. When he enlisted he left the 
 harvest field with the wheat uncut and the 
 
54^ 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 reaper in the field, where it remained until 
 the next spring, when it was pulled out in 
 order to plant a new crop. The war senti- 
 ment in his neighborhood at that time was 
 very strong, and nearly every able-bodied 
 mad enlisted. 
 
 After his discharge, Mr. Powers returned 
 home and worked for various farmers until 
 the fall of 1867, when he purchased a farm 
 of one hundred and sixty acres, on section 
 28, Paw Paw township, a partially improved 
 place. On the first of December, 1867, in 
 De Kalb county, he married Miss Nancy A. 
 Weddell, born in Paw Paw township, and a 
 daughter of W. B. Weddell, one of the 
 early settlers of the county. By this union 
 there were three children. Katie C. grew 
 to mature years and died single at the age 
 of twenty-one years. Agnes G. also grew 
 to womanhood, and died when nineteen 
 years old. Beth A. is a student of the home 
 schools. 
 
 After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Pow- 
 ers began their domestic life on a farm, 
 which he purchased but a short time pre- 
 vious, and there resided for eight years, 
 and then returned to the old home farm. 
 Since removing to the old homestead he 
 has made many improvements on the two 
 farms, including over seventeen miles of 
 tiling. In addition to general farming he 
 has been engaged in breeding and dealing 
 in Shorthorn cattle, and annually feeds and 
 ships several car loads of cattle and hogs. 
 
 Politically Mr. Powers is a Republican, 
 and cast his first presidential ballot for U. 
 S. Grant in 1868. He has ever taken an 
 active interest in local politics, and has 
 served two years as assessor of his township, 
 and for twenty years has been school trustee 
 and director, and clerk of his school district 
 for the same length of time. He and his 
 
 wife are members of the Congregational 
 church at Rolla, and are highly esteemed 
 for their real worth. Fraternally he is a 
 member of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
 lic. A life-long resident of La Salle and 
 De Kalb counties, he has witnessed their 
 growth and development, and has worked 
 with others for the accomplishment of the 
 general good of his county and country. 
 
 ALBERT S. KINSLOE, the present 
 efficient county clerk of De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, is a veteran of the war for 
 the union, with a record of nearly four years 
 of faithful service. He was born in Hunting- 
 don county, Pennsylvania, in December, 
 1840, and is the son of Dr. Lemuel and Isa- 
 bella (Thompson) Kinsloe. His father was 
 a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1808, 
 and was a son of James Kinsloe, who was a 
 native of Scotland. Dr. Kinsloe was a 
 practicing physician, and came west in the 
 spring of 1854, locating at Ross' Grove, De 
 Kalb county. He died in 1870. In politics 
 he was a Republican, and religiously a mem- 
 ber of the Associate Reformed (Presbyterian) 
 church. He was a man of medium height, 
 mild disposition, firm in character and strict 
 in his religious views. His wife was born 
 at Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania, and was of 
 Irish ancestry. She was a member of the 
 same church as her husband. Her death 
 occurred in 1872. They were the parents 
 of four children — Albert S., our subject; 
 Allen G., deceased; Clara T., deceased; 
 and Harris E., residing at Corsicanna, 
 Texas: 
 
 The subject of this sketch resided in 
 Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, until 
 about five years of age when his parents 
 removed to Juniata county, in the same 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 243 
 
 state. On the removal of his parents to 
 De Kalb county, IlHnois, he accompanied 
 them and was educated in the public schools, 
 finishing his school life in the academy at 
 East Paw Paw, Illinois. He was living 
 with his parents at Earlville, Illinois, and 
 engaged in clerking, at the commencement 
 of the Civil war and enlisted April 26, 
 1 86 1, as a member of Company D, Twenty- 
 third Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was 
 mustered into the service at Chicago, and 
 with his regimenfin June following went to 
 Ouincy, Illinois, thence to Jefferson Bar- 
 racks, near St. Louis, Missouri, and later to 
 Jefferson City, in the same state. The next 
 move was to Lexington, Missouri, where 
 the regiment was captured by General 
 Price. Being sick at the time, Mr. Kinsloe 
 was not taken prisoner. The regiment was 
 released on parole and was sent to Benton 
 Barracks, Missouri, where it was discharged 
 by order of General Fremont October 8, 
 1861. 
 
 On being discharged Mr. Kinsloe re- 
 turned to Earlville and on November 26, 
 1 861, re-enlisted in Company D, Fifty-third 
 Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which 
 was recruited at Earlville, and of which he 
 was elected and commissioned second 
 lieutenant. The regiment first went into 
 camp at Ottawa, Illinois, and from there it 
 was sent to Camp Douglas, near Chicago, 
 where it remained until early in the spring 
 of 1862, when it was sent to Cairo and from 
 there to Savannah, Tennessee. From 
 Savannah they moved to Pittsburg Landing, 
 reaching there the second day of the battle. 
 From Pittsburg Landing they marched to 
 Corinth and from there to Memphis, where 
 the regiment was engaged in maneuvering 
 about that section, and doing scout duty for 
 some time. On the way to Memphis they 
 
 stopped at Grand Junction, Tennessee, 
 Holly Springs, La Grange, Moscow and 
 Germantown, arriving at Memphis in July, 
 1862. 
 
 On the sixth of September, 1862, the 
 regiment left Memphis and marched to Bol- 
 ivar. October 5th, 1S62, they were en- 
 gaged in fighting Price between Bolivar and 
 Corinth, and were with Grant on his march 
 down through Mississippi to Oxford, that 
 state, and after the surrender at Holly 
 Springs they fell back with Grant's army 
 and went to Memphis. Later they went 
 down the river to Young's Point, opposite 
 Vicksburg, then up the Yazoo to Snyder's 
 Bluff, from where they marched to a posi- 
 tion on the left of the lines in rear of 
 Vicksburg, and were there engaged until the 
 surrender, July 4, 1863. Our subject next 
 took part in following General Johnston, 
 and participated in the fight at Jackson, 
 July 12, 1863. After this, his command re- 
 turned to Vicksburg and from there went to 
 Natchez, but again returned to Vicksburg 
 when it entered on and took part in the 
 Meridian campaign. 
 
 Subsequently returning to Vicksburg, 
 the regiment veteranized, and the men were 
 granted furloughs to visit their homes. At 
 the expiration of the furlough the regiment 
 re-united at St. Louis and there took trans- 
 ports for Clifton, Tennessee, from there 
 they marched across the country by way of 
 Huntsville, Georgia, striking the Georgia 
 Central Railroad at Kingston. Their next 
 march was south to Allatoona, where they 
 halted until the army moving on Atlanta 
 crossed the Chatahoochie river. Lieutenant 
 Kinsloe took part in all the battles in which 
 his regiment was engaged until the fall of 
 Atlanta. His regiment was on the left 
 where the brave McPherson fell, 
 
244 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 After the fall of Atlanta, Lieutenant 
 Kinsloe was detailed on the staff of General 
 Potts, as acting assistant adjutant-general. 
 First Brigade, Fourth Division, Seventeenth 
 Army Corps, in which capacity he served 
 until he was mustered out March 31, 1865. 
 Enlisting as a private, he was promoted to 
 second lieutenant.to take rank from January 
 I, 1862; to first lieutenant, to take rank 
 from August 6, 1863, and to captain, Janu- 
 ary 31, 1865. Returning to his home in 
 Earlville, Captain Kinsloe engaged in the 
 grocery business for a time, then went to 
 Neponset, Bureau county, Illinois, and re- 
 mained there until the fall of 1868, when 
 he removed to Malta, Illinois, where he 
 lived until 1892, when he took up his resi- 
 dence in Sycamore. When he went to Malta, 
 Captain Kinsloe went into the produce busi- 
 ness, and was also agent of the American 
 Express Company. In 1873 he was ap- 
 pointed postmaster at Malta, which position 
 he held for thirteen years. While residing 
 there he was a member of the board of 
 education for twelve years, a part of which 
 time he was president of the board. In 
 1886, he was elected county treasurer, and 
 served the full term of four years. In 1890, 
 he was elected county clerk, and re-elected 
 in 1894, and at this writing has received the 
 nomination for the third time. 
 
 Mr. Kinsloe was united in marriage De- 
 cember 29, 1865, to Miss Caroline W'. Cook, 
 daughter of Nelson and Lucretia (Ives) 
 Cook, both of whom were natives of Con- 
 necticut, where she was also born. Their 
 children were George H., Lola, Lucretia, 
 Delos, Caroline, Friend M., Artie, Eliza, 
 Adelbert and Lyman, all of whom are yet 
 living. To Mr. and Mrs. Kinsloe one child 
 was born, Nora B., now the wife of C. P. 
 Underwood, living at Dapberry, Nebraska. 
 
 They are the parents of the following chil- 
 dren: Homer, Carrie, Hazel, Edna, Ruth 
 and Nancy. Of the number Carrie is de- 
 ceased. 
 
 Religiously Mrs. Kinsloe is a member of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically 
 Captain Kinsloe is a Republican, and frater- 
 nally is a member of the Masons, Knights of 
 Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
 and the Grand Army of the Republic. He 
 has served several terms as commander of 
 his post. He has ever taken an active part 
 in political matters, and has served fre- 
 quently as delegate to the various conven- 
 tions of his party, and in June, 1898, was a 
 delegate to the state convention. He has 
 ever been and is now one of the most popu- 
 lar officials in De Kalb county. At the 
 county convention in 1S94, and also in 1898, 
 he received the nomination by acclamation. 
 He is always at his post of duty, accommo- 
 dating to all, and efficient in the discharge 
 of his responsible duties. He is a man of 
 warm heart, sympathetic and popular with 
 all who know him. 
 
 HENRY N. PERKINS, who is living a 
 retired life in Genoa, is a well-known 
 citizen of the place and of De Kalb county. 
 He was born in Columbia county, New 
 York, August 12, 1833. His father, Hora- 
 tio N. Perkins, was born in Grotton, Con- 
 necticut, November 13, 1808, and re- 
 moved to Columbia county. New York, 
 where he married Eliza Wallace, a native of 
 that county and a daughter of William and 
 Betsy (Stacey) Wallace, her father being a 
 soldier in the war of 181 2. Her mother 
 spent the last years of her life in Genoa, 
 with her daughter, and died at the age of 
 sixty-seven years. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 245 
 
 In 1837, Horatio N. Perkins moved witii 
 his family to De Kalb county, Illinois, and 
 located in Genoa, where our subject was 
 reared. When he came to Genoa he had 
 the foresight to secure a large amount of 
 land which he believed would some day be 
 very valuable. At the time of his death he 
 had nearly five hundred acres of as fine land 
 as any in the township, leaving an estate to 
 the amount of more than fifty thousand 
 dollars. He died in 1888, at the age of 
 seventy-nine years. In 1843, he built the 
 Pacific Hotel in Genoa, which has been in 
 existence from that time to the present. He 
 continued to operate the hotel until 1854, 
 wiien he retired to his farm, where he re- 
 mained until about 1872, when he returned 
 to Genoa, and there resided during the re- 
 mainder o; his life. He was the son of 
 James Perkins, a farmer who lived and died 
 in New York state, his death occurring at 
 the age of ninety-three years. 
 
 Henry N. Perkins was but four years of 
 age when he came with his parents to Ge- 
 noa. His education was obtained in the 
 old log schoolhouse, near the present site 
 of the village, with the addition of two 
 terms atMt. Morris Academy. He remained 
 with his father until the age of twenty-two 
 years, when he began farming for himself 
 in Genoa township, on a tract of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres deeded him by his 
 father. In 1866 he sold the farm and went 
 into the mercantile business at Genoa, 
 keeping a general store. In that line he 
 continued until 1882, when he sold, and for 
 two years lived a retired life. In 1884 he 
 opened a hardware store, in partnership 
 with his son, but in 1888 retired, leaving 
 his son sole proprietor. 
 
 Mr. Perkins was married February 28, 
 J 85 5, to Margaret Stiles, born in Feeleys- 
 
 burg, Canada, and who died in Genoa, 
 March 26, 1880. They became the parents 
 of five children, one of whom died in early 
 childhood. Horatio A. is now engaged in 
 the hardware business at Genoa and is an 
 enterprising business man, at present serv- 
 ing as township clerk. He married Sarah 
 Holroyd, a daughter of Stephen Holroyd, 
 and they have now two children, a son and 
 a daughter. Marian married Charles Stott, 
 of Des Plaines, Illinois, and they have one 
 daughter. Mary married Frank E. White, 
 who is operating our subject's farm in Mar- 
 tin count}', Minnesota. They have five 
 children. Jennie married Newton Stanley, 
 who is engaged in farming in Riley town- 
 ship, McHenry county, Illinois. They have 
 three children. Since retiring from the 
 mercantile business, Mr. Perkins has given 
 personal supervision to his farm of two hun- 
 dred and forty acres, lying partly in the vil- 
 lage of Genoa. He has twenty acres of 
 timber land on the Kishwaukee river, near 
 Genoa. In addition he has a farm of three 
 hundred and twenty acres in Martin county, 
 Minnesota, on which his daughter lives. 
 The farm is well improved, having a com- 
 fortable house, good barns and outbuildings, 
 and is well drained. Since coming into 
 possession of his present farm in Genoa, 
 Mr. Perkins has rebuilt the house, making 
 additions to it, improved and repaired the 
 barns, and has laid three miles of tiling. 
 He has also sunk a deep well and erected a 
 good windmill, and in all has a very valu- 
 able place. In politics he is a Republican, 
 and for many years was a member of the 
 village board, serving five terms as presi- 
 dent of the board. For ten years he was a 
 member of the county board of supervisors, 
 and has served as town clerk, and held 
 other minor offices. During the Civil war 
 
246 
 
 THE BIOGR.^PHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he was a member of the Union League. As 
 a citizen he is thorough!)' representative of 
 the business interests of his adopted town 
 and county. 
 
 JOHN McGIRR, a leading and influential 
 farmer of Afton township, De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, is a native of the township, 
 born August 7, 1S57, and is the son of 
 John and Mary (Powers) McGirr, both na- 
 tives of Ireland, the father from county 
 Dublin, and the mother from county Water- 
 ford, who were the parents of twelve chil- 
 dren, six of whom are deceased. The 
 living are Dennis, Jolm, Rose, Patrick, 
 Theresa and Ella. In 1850 John McGirr, 
 Sr. , came to America, and first settled in 
 St. Charles, Kane county, Illinois, where 
 he remained until 1853, when he came to 
 De Kalb county, and purchased a farm of 
 one hundred and si.xty acres of government 
 land, which he improved and to which he 
 added from time to time imtil he had six 
 hundred and fifteen acres of valuable farm- 
 ing lands. He was an industrious and en- 
 terprising man, and was quite successful in 
 all his business undertakings. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 in his native township, and educated in its 
 public schools. His entire life has been 
 spent in farming, with the exception of 
 about three years in the stock and grain 
 business at Cortland and DeKalb. In 1881 
 he made his first purchase of land, buying 
 two hundred acres where he now resides. 
 To this he has since added eighty acres, 
 and also has one hundred and sixty acres 
 in Milan township, making his farming 
 lands comprise four hundred and forty 
 acres, all of which is improved and under 
 9. high state of cultivation. 
 
 On the 14th of \ovember. 1882, Mr. 
 McGirr married Hannah Redman, a native 
 of Pennsylvania, born in 1859, and the 
 daughter of Murt Redman, who came to De 
 Kalb county in 1871, and b}' this union 
 there were four children born — three are 
 living: Murt D., Lewis and Elizabeth, all of 
 whom yet remain under the parental roof. 
 One child, J. F. , is deceased. Religiously 
 Mr. McGirr and his family are connected with 
 the Roman Catholic church. Politically he 
 is a Democrat, having voted that party 
 ticket since attaining his majority. He was 
 elected road commissioner in 1891 , re-elected 
 in 1894 and in 1897. That he makes an 
 efficient officer is shown by his continued 
 re-election. He has also served as a mem- 
 ber of the board of school trustees with 
 satisfaction to his fellow-citizens. Frater- 
 nally he is a member of the Modern Wood- 
 men of America. In a social way he is 
 greatly esteemed and has many friends 
 throughout De Kalb county. 
 
 THOMAS RENWICK, who owns and 
 operates a fine farm on section 2, 
 South Grove township, is a native of Dum- 
 fries county, Scotland, born April 29, 1834, 
 and is the son of Walter and Mary (Weil) 
 Renwick, the former a native of Scotland 
 and the latter of England. They were the 
 parents of sixteen children, of whom our 
 subject was fourteenth in order of birth. The 
 family came from Scotland to America in 
 1835, ^nd located first in Canada, where the 
 father engaged in farrning until 1845, when 
 he came to Illinois, located first in Kane 
 county and later coming to Cortland town- 
 ship, De Kalb count}', and from there to 
 Pierce township. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was in his 
 
JOHN McGIRR. 
 
MRS. JOHN McGIRR. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 251 
 
 infancy when he accompanied his parents 
 to Canada, and was but eleven j-ears of age 
 when he came with them to Illinois. His 
 education was obtained principally in the 
 common schools of this state. He started 
 in life for himself at the age of eighteen 
 years, working on a farm by the month at 
 ten dollars. On the 9th day of March, 
 1864, he married Lucy A. Ramsey, a native 
 of South Grove township, De Kalb county, 
 and a daughter of George Ramsey, who 
 was born in Pennsylvania, and a farmer by 
 occupation who came to Illinois in 1838, 
 first locating in Monroe township. Ogle 
 county, Illinois, where she was born. By 
 this union three children have been born: 
 Bessie, Lucy O., and Thomas [. 
 
 Starting in life without a cent and re- 
 ceiving no aid from any source, Mr. Ren- 
 wick has made a success and has now seven 
 hundred and twenty acres of as fine land 
 as there is in De Kalb county, all being 
 well improved, with good buildings and 
 properly drained. In politics he is an 
 ardent Republican and has held the ofSce 
 of road commissioner. As a man he enjoys 
 the utmost confidence and respect of all 
 who know him. 
 
 PETER MILLER is one of the substan- 
 tial farmers of De Kalb county, and re- 
 sides upon section 24, Shabbona township, 
 but is now living retired. For fifty-three 
 j'ears he has been a resident of the county, 
 arriving here June 7, 1845. He is a native 
 of Columbia county. New York, born Feb- 
 ruary 21, 1 8 16, and is the son of Simeon 
 Miller, who was a farmer of Columbia 
 county, and who served as a soldier during 
 the war of 18 12. He married Betsy Bedell, 
 with whom he later moved to Cayuga coun- 
 
 ty, New York, where his death occurred in 
 1S24. His wife survived him a number of 
 years, and reared their family of six sons 
 and si.x daughters, of whom our subject and 
 his brother Robert are the only survivors. 
 Robert Miller is a' retired farmer and now 
 living near Milledgeville, Iowa. The Miller 
 family are of German ancestry, the first of 
 the family settling in New York in the pio- 
 neer days of that state. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to mature 
 years in Cayuga county, New York, his boy- 
 hood and youth being spent on a farm, his 
 education being received in the common 
 schools, which he attended but a few weeks 
 during the winter months. He was mar- 
 ried in the town of Victory, Cayuga county. 
 New York. February 25, 1841, to Elizabeth 
 Ouilhot, a native of Cayuga county, and 
 a daughter of Henry and Hannah (Van 
 Allen) Ouilhot, and a sister of Peter V. 
 Ouilhot, whose sketch appears in this work. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Miller 
 commenced their domestic life in the village 
 of Victory, where he engaged in the hotel 
 business for about three years. He then 
 came west to Illinois, and took up a claim 
 of one hundred and sixty acres in Shabbona 
 township, De Kalb county, after which he 
 returned to his home in New York. In 
 1845 he came with his family to the county, 
 by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo, thence 
 across the lakes to Chicago, and by teams to 
 Shabbona. On the place was a small log 
 house, in which they lived for a few years 
 while opening up the farm. The country 
 was then all new, and for the first two years 
 they experienced all the hardships and pri- 
 vations of pioneer life. In 1856, the old 
 log house gave place to a neat and substan- 
 tial residence and as the years went by, 
 barns and other outbuildings were erected, 
 
252 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and the place was transformed into the sub- 
 stantial farm which is seen to-day. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Miller have had five chil- 
 dren, of whom two are now living. Two of 
 their children died in infancy, and one, 
 Peter V., at the age of about ten years. 
 The living are Mary Elizabeth and Minard 
 S. The former is now the wife of Dr. 
 Stewart, of Chicago. Minard S. grew to 
 manhood in his native township, and at 
 Kansas City, Missouri, June 30, 188 r, mar- 
 ried Clara E. Adams, a native of Illinois, 
 born at Normal, and a daughter of R. P. 
 Adams, of Illinois, who was a soldier in the 
 Civil war, serving through the entire service. 
 After his discharge he joined his wife in 
 Warren county, Indiana, where they resided 
 some years, then removed to Kansas, final!}' 
 locating at Dodge City, in that state. Mrs. 
 Miller was educated in Indiana, and later 
 was for two years a teacher in Dodge City, 
 Kansas. Minard S. Miller and wife com- 
 menced their domestic life on the farm 
 where they now reside. However, he was 
 for two years engaged in the livery business 
 in Rochelle, Illinois. They have two chil- 
 dren, Flossie May and Francis Peter. 
 
 In early manhood our subject was iden- 
 tified with the Democratic party, but for 
 reason of his liberty loving principles, he 
 became identified with the Republican party. 
 Office holding has never been to his taste, 
 and he has invariably declined when any 
 office was tendered him. With the growth 
 and prosperity of De Kalb county, he has 
 been identified for more than half a century. 
 He is well known, especially throughout the 
 southern section of the county, and has 
 many friends who have the utmost confi- 
 dence in him as a man and citizen, and who 
 will be pleased to read this sketch in the 
 biographical record of the county. 
 
 CHARLES H. CROSBY, deceased, was 
 for years a representative of the busi- 
 ness and commercial interests of Sycamore. 
 He was born in Belvidere, Illinois, February 
 27, 1844, and was the son of Frederick and 
 Parmelia (Sweet) Crosby, the former a na- 
 tive of New York state and a miller by 
 trade, who came west at an early daj' and 
 located at Belvidere, Illinois. His death 
 occurred November 20, 1846, having been 
 born at Dudley, Massachusetts, May 30, 
 1815, son of Nathaniel Crosby. He was 
 the grandson of Rev. Pearson Crosby and 
 great-grandson of Stephen Crosby. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native city, and received his edu- 
 cation in its public schools. In his j'outh 
 he began clerking in a store in Belvidere, 
 where he received a good bnsiness training. 
 In 1872 he came to Sycamore, where he en- 
 gaged in business for himself in the line of 
 men's furnishing goods, in which he contin- 
 ued until his death, April 3, 1893. Previous 
 to his leaving Belvidere in October, 1S70, 
 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
 E. \N'ing, a native of Cortland, New York, 
 and second in a family of seven children 
 bqrn to Joseph and Sarah (Johnson) Wing, 
 the latter being a daughter of Samuel John- 
 son and a native of New York. Joseph 
 Wing was likewise a native of New York; 
 his father was David Wing, who married 
 Desire Vincent. They became the parents 
 of seven children. They are descended 
 from John \\'ing, who first came to Boston 
 in 1632, from England, and later settled at 
 Lynn in the early colonial period. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Crosby two children were born: 
 Grace A. and Harold. The latter died De- 
 cember 8, 1893. The former is yet living, 
 and resides with her mother in Sycamore. 
 Mrs. Crosb\' and her dauijhter are members 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 253 
 
 of the Congregation;)! church, in which they 
 are actively interested. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Crosby was a member 
 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
 and politically was a Republican. For sev- 
 eral years he served as city clerk of Syca- 
 more. A man of good business ability, en- 
 terprising in all things, the community lost 
 an e.xcellent business man, and the wife and 
 daughter a loving husband and father. 
 
 CHARLES E. DOANE, after a third of 
 a century of hard labor upon the farm, 
 is row living a retired life in the village of 
 Malta. He was born in De Kalb, St. Law- 
 rence county. New York, July 13, 1838, and 
 is the son of Chauncey and Asenath (White) 
 Doane, the former a native of Connecticut, 
 and the latter of Massachusetts. By occupa- 
 tion Chauncey Uoane was a farmer, and 
 confined himself to agricultural pursuits dur- 
 ing his entire life. About 1820, he re- 
 moved from Connecticut to New York, 
 where he purchased about six hundred acres 
 of land, all of which was in timber and which 
 he cleared up during his life. The wood 
 he burned, and the ashes he sold for chemi- 
 cal purposes. In this way he paid for his 
 land and its clearing. He was a man of 
 much push and energy, honest and upright 
 to a fault, but a man that always wanted 
 what belonged to him. He was born in 
 '799. ^nd had just reached his majority 
 when he removed from his native state to 
 New York. His death occurred in the 
 latter state in 1864, while his wife survived 
 him some eleven years, dying in 1875, at 
 the age of seventy-five years. Their family 
 consisted of twelve children, seven of whom 
 are living, three now residing in the village 
 of Malta, De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 
 Charles E. Doane is the seventh in 
 order of birth in the family of his parents. 
 He was reared and educated at De Kalb, 
 St. Lawrence county, New York, and 
 remained at home until twenty-one years of 
 age, when he came to De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, and located in South Grove town- 
 ship, where he purchased one hundred and 
 si.xty acres of wild prairie land, upon which 
 he erected buildings and made other im- 
 provements, which materially advanced its 
 value. This farm he operated as a general 
 farmer up to 1897, when he purchased 
 several lots in Malta, upon one of which he 
 resides in a comfortable home. 
 
 On the 6th of January, 1861, Mr. Doane 
 was united in marriage with Miss Harriet 
 Monroe, a native of New York, born in 1 842, 
 and a daughter of Thomas and Catherine 
 Monroe, the former a native of Canada 
 and the latter of New York. By this union 
 there are six children, of whom Cora May, 
 Byron C. , Kittie and Emma are deceased. 
 The living are Malcolm M. and Carrie. The 
 former married Miss Eliza Hallet, and oper- 
 ates the old homestead. Carrie married 
 Jacob Willrett, and they reside in Malta 
 township. The father of Mrs. Doane died 
 in early life, while his wife still survives him 
 and is now living at the age of seventy- 
 seven years. 
 
 Politically Mr. Doane is a Democrat, 
 and a firm beliver in the principles of the 
 party. He has been honored with many of 
 the township offices, the duties of which he 
 has faithfully discharged. 
 
 GEORGE OLMSTEAD is a retired 
 farmer and carpenter residing on sec- 
 tion 21, Genoa township. He was born at 
 Davenport, Delaware county, New York, 
 
254 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 December 7, 1S33, and is the son of John 
 Olmstead, who lived and died in that 
 county, at the age of fift3'-eight years. He 
 was also a farmer and followed shoemaking 
 to a limited extent. He was a son of Anson 
 and Charity (Merrill) Olmstead, who were 
 natives of England. John Olmstead mar- 
 ried Sarah A. Cook, who died at the age of 
 eighty-two years. They became the par- 
 ents of eleven children, of whom our sub- 
 ject was third in order of birth. Sarah A. 
 Cook was a daughter of John and Sarah 
 (Utter) Cook, who attained the ages of 
 eighty-five and ninety-five, respectively. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 his native county, where he remained until 
 April, 1855. He attended a few terms of 
 school during the winter months, in country 
 districts, until the age of thirteen years, 
 since which time he has daily done a man's 
 labor, and notwithstanding his many years 
 of arduous toil he is still hale and hearty. 
 At the age of thirteen he began working out 
 on farms, doing a man's work in hay or 
 grain fields, but receiving only a boy's pay 
 — three dollars and a half a month. He 
 continued in farm work by the month until 
 he came west in 1S55. From his New 
 York home he came direct to Genoa, Illinois, 
 and worked at carpenter wcrk until 1857. 
 He then rented a farm, and continued rent- 
 ing some eight or nine years, and then pur- 
 chased a farm of forty acres in Genoa town- 
 ship. He later sold this and moved to Liv- 
 ingston county, Illinois, where he resided 
 si.x years, having purchased a farm of 
 eighty acres of raw prairie land, which he 
 very much improved. Mr. Olmstead was 
 married in Genoa township, to Miss Mary B. 
 Bartholomew, a native of Northumberland 
 county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of 
 John and Jerusha (Evart) Bartholomew. By 
 
 this union five children were born, three of 
 whom are living. Henry died at the age of 
 one month. Eugene Herbert married Etta 
 Wooster, by whom he has two children. 
 John married Clara Love, and they have two 
 children. Lucy and Catherine were twins, the 
 latter now being deceased. Lucy married 
 Leonard Durham, and they have one child. 
 On the 1 2th of September, 1S72, Mr. 
 Olmstead sold his Livingston county farm, 
 and October 17, of the same year, pur- 
 chased a part of his present farm, to which 
 he removed and where he has since contin- 
 ued to reside. He added to his original 
 purchase, until he has now a farm of one 
 hiuidred and sixty-five acres, as fine a body 
 of land as one would wish to see. Since 
 1886 he has retired from farming, leasing 
 the farm to his son, and giving his entire 
 attention to his trade, that of carpentering. 
 In politics he is a Republican. For forty- 
 seven years he has been an active and con- 
 sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, having a love for the Master's cause. 
 
 TOHN LAWRENCE is a retired farmer 
 vJ residing in the city of Sycamore, Illi- 
 nois. He is a native of England, born in 
 the village of Thurnhaiii, near Lancaster, 
 July 10, 1830. Until twelve years of age 
 he attended school, provided l^y the benev- 
 olence of a daughter of Squire Dalton, a 
 gentleman of large landed estates, who, but 
 for his Catholic faith, would have held the 
 title of nobility. The school was above the 
 usual grade in those days, was free to all re- 
 siding in that vicinity, and was supported 
 entirely by means furnished by this benev- 
 olent young lady after her father's death. 
 Robert Lawrence, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was also a native of Thurnham, Eng- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 255 
 
 land, and was a common laborer, who for 
 many years was employed on canal boats 
 running from Galasemdock to Kendall, a 
 business at which our subject also worked 
 from the time he was old enough to work, 
 until coming to America in 1850. Robert 
 Lawrence spent his entire life in his native 
 shire and died about 1865 at the age of 
 seventy-five years. He was a lifelong mem- 
 ber of the established Church of England 
 and married Jane Thronton. a native of the 
 same village, who died when about fifty 
 3'ears old. To them were born nine chil- 
 dren, three of whom came to America. Ed- 
 ward is now living in Elgin. William re- 
 tired to Elgin to spend the remainder of his 
 life in ease, but died in Burlington, Illinois, 
 while visiting his old farm. John is the 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 The three sons, leaving the mother coun- 
 try, sailed from Liverpool, March 17, 1850, 
 on the vessel Centurian, and were thirty- 
 three days on the voyage, encountered one 
 severe storm and landed in New York. The 
 three brothers came directly west, and, lo- 
 cating at St. Charles, Illinois, engaged in 
 whatever work they could find to do for two 
 years. Our subject worked for the railroad 
 company around the depot, was for a time 
 helper to masons, building in the town, and 
 with his brothers leased a quarry, where 
 they worked when not otherwise employed, 
 thus losing no time and having stone ready 
 for delivery when purchasers came. During 
 this time Mr. Lawrence often worked for 
 eighty-seven and a half cents a day, board- 
 ing himself. He later took a trip south, 
 seeking work and prospecting for some good 
 place in which to locate. Finding none, 
 however, he returned to St. Charles and on 
 the 31st of August, 1853, was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Ann Marshall, born in Clif- 
 
 ton, Nottinghamshire, England, October 
 II, 1S28, and who came to America with 
 two of her brothers, John and Thomas, in 
 1 85 I, the three taking up their residence in 
 St. Charles. In 1848 her brothers, Will- 
 iam and George, came to America, and in 
 1852 her parents and youngest sister fol- 
 lowed. Mrs. Lawrence is the daughter of 
 William and' Mary (Bingham) Marshall, the 
 latter born in Saxelby, Lincolnshire, Eng- 
 land, and who died at the age of ninety 
 years. She was a daughter of George and 
 Jane (Job) Bingham. The former served 
 for some years in the British army and died 
 at the age of seventy-five years. The lat- 
 ter died when about forty years old. Will- 
 iam Marshall was born in Dunham, Notting- 
 hamshire. England, in 1789, and died in 
 1876. He was the son of George Marshall, 
 a teacher and highly educated man, who 
 died in England, when about seventy-five 
 years old. The name of his wife is not 
 definitely known, but probably was Miss 
 Newbold. Of their eleven children, eight 
 came to America. 
 
 To our subject and wife eight children 
 have been born. Jennie married Alexan- 
 der Evans. Clara is deceased. William is 
 also deceased. Thomas resides in Chicago, 
 where he is engaged in the commission busi- 
 ness. John M., who married Mary Mosher, 
 lives in Chicago and they have three chil- 
 dren, Rupert, George and Ruth. Emma 
 married Charles Wall, a grocer residing in 
 Chicago. They have two children, Ray- 
 mond and Willard. George married Mer- 
 tie Rowe and they reside in Galesville, \\'is- 
 consin. They have one daughter. Hazel. 
 Clara May died in infancy. 
 
 Inmiediately after his marriage Mr. 
 Lawrence purchased a farm at Charter 
 Grove, Sycamore township, De Kalb coun- 
 
>S6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ty, on which he resided for seven years. 
 He then sold out and purchased three hun- 
 dred and twenty acres on sections 1 6 and 1 7, 
 Burlington township, Kane county, Illinois, 
 which was his home until May, 1886, when 
 he retired from active life, moved to Syca- 
 more, and with his good wife is getting the 
 best out of the world in the evening of life. 
 Both are hale and hearty, giving promise of 
 many more years of useful life. In politics 
 he is a Republican, and while residing in 
 Kane county served as road master, school 
 director and trustee. Religiously he and 
 his wife are members of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church. As a farmer he was pro- 
 gressive, thrifty and energetic, and alwa3's 
 had his farm under a high state of cultiva- 
 tion. 
 
 BROWN & BROWN, bankers of Genoa, 
 Illinois, are well known throughout De 
 Kalb and adjoining counties, being among 
 the live business men of the place. They 
 are sons of Jeremiah Libby Brown, who for 
 many years was one of the most prominent 
 citi;;ens of Genoa township, a native of 
 Scarborough, Maine, born April 17, 1805. 
 He was the son of Benjamin Brown, who 
 was probably a native of Scotland. Jere- 
 miah L. Brown married Ruth Libby, and in 
 1837 came to De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 where later his death occurred. 
 
 Jeremiah L. Brown, the father of our 
 subject, attended the common schools of his 
 native state during the winter terms until 
 the age of eighteen years. He then ran 
 away to sea on a whaling vessel, and was 
 gone three years, during which time he 
 never heard a word from home. Soon after 
 his return, he removed with his parents to 
 the town of Hope, Hamilton county. New 
 
 York, and on the 17th of August, 1830, 
 married Judith Richardson, of Johnstown, 
 New York, who died March 4, 1S48. By 
 that union seven children were born — Julia 
 A., James P., Judith, Esther E., Abigail J., 
 Ruth S. and Jeremiah W. Of these Julia 
 A. and Ruth S. are deceased. The second 
 union of Jeremiah L. Brown was solemnized 
 May 2, 1850, when he married Eliza A. 
 Jackman, born May 26, 1825, a daughter 
 of Abner and Mary Jackman, of Sycamore 
 township. By this last union were born 
 Emma R., Dillon S., Charles A. and Liz- 
 zie M. 
 
 By way of the canal and lakes, Jeremiah 
 L. Brown came west in 1836, and settled 
 first in Peoria, Peoria county, Illinois, but 
 returned east and in 1837 again came west, 
 driving through by team from New York, 
 coming direct to Genoa township, De Kalb 
 county, reaching Genoa at sunset, Septem- 
 ber 20, 1837. By trade he was a shoemaker, 
 which occupation he followed in the east, 
 but on coming to De Kalb county took up 
 land on section 30, Genoa township, and 
 there followed agricultural pursuits. He 
 became a successful farmer and soon ac- 
 quired over a section of land. Three j'ears 
 before his arrival white men had hardly set 
 foot in De Kalb county. The country was 
 in its native wildness and Indians roamed at 
 will over its prairies and through the timber, 
 engaged in their regular hunting expeditions. 
 In local affairs Mr. Brown became quite 
 prominent and was kept in office by his 
 neighbors the greater part of the time. He 
 was a man of superior education, and be- 
 cause of that fact his services were in de- 
 mand. For many terms he served as one 
 of the county board of supervisors. In 
 early life he was an Abolitionist, and when 
 the Republican party was formed attached 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 !S7 
 
 himself to it and became an earnest advo- 
 cate of its principles until his death, Janu- 
 ary 5, 1S82. Well known and highly re- 
 spected, his death left a void in the county. 
 
 Dillon S. Brown, senior member of the 
 banking house of Brown & Brown, Genoa, 
 was born May 12, 1852, on the old home 
 farm in Genoa township, where he grew to 
 manhood. His primary education was ob- 
 tained in the schools of Genoa and Syca- 
 more, after which he entered the Illinois 
 State University, at Champaign, from which 
 he graduated in 1875, in a class of thirty- 
 seven persons. He then attended McGill 
 Veterinary College, at Montreal, Canada, 
 from which he was graduated in 1877. 
 After following his profession in Sycamore 
 some two or three years, he formed a part- 
 nership with H. H. Slater, in the general 
 mercantile business at Genoa. After the 
 e.xpiration of one year he withdrew from 
 that firm, and forming a partnership with 
 his brother, Charles A., began the bank- 
 ing business in Genoa, in which line he has 
 since continued with gratifying success. 
 
 Dillon S. Brown was married May 16, 
 1878, to Miss Emily E. Pond, a native of 
 Pennsylvania, and daughter of Americus H. 
 Pond, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere 
 in this work. By this union five children 
 have been born, two of whom died in in- 
 fancy, and Claude in early childhood. The 
 living are Earl and liaird, pupils of the 
 ■ Genoa schools. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Brown is a member of 
 the Masonic order, and in politics he is a 
 thorough Republican, believing in protection 
 and reciprocity. For some years he was a 
 member of the village board of trustees and 
 for a time was president of the same. He 
 was also a member of the board of education 
 of Genoa, giving of his time to advance the 
 
 educational interests of the place. At 
 present he is a member of the county board 
 of supervisors, an office which he has filled 
 in a most satisfactory manner. 
 
 Charles A. Brown, junior member of the 
 firm of Brown & Brown, was born on the 
 home farm in Genoa township, January 12, 
 1858. His education was obtained in the 
 common schools and in the high schools at 
 Genoa, from which he was graduated in 
 1 88 1 after pursuing a four-years course. He 
 then went to Chicago, where he studied one 
 term in Bryant & Stratton's Commercial 
 College, and then returned home and en- 
 gaged in farming a few months until the 
 banking firm of Brown & Brown was 
 formed, since which time he has given 
 almost his undivided attention to his bank- 
 ing interests. 
 
 Charles A. Brown was married in June, 
 1889, to Miss Ada M. Olmstead, a native 
 of Genoa township, and a daughter of A. 
 H. and Rebecca J. (Eichler) Olmstead. By 
 this union three children have been born: 
 Loyal, Gladys and Lorine. Fraternally 
 Mr. Brown is a member of Genoa Lodge, 
 A. F. & A. M., in which he has served as 
 secretary and worshipful master, and which 
 he has represented in the grand lodge of the 
 state. In politics he is a Republican. The 
 only offices which he has held have been that 
 of township treasurer and village trustee. 
 
 While there is much truth in the stricture 
 made upon the modern scrambler for the al- 
 mighty dollar who seeks to accumulate vast 
 fortunes by selfish and unscrupulous means, 
 there is nothing more worthy of praise than 
 the quiet and steady pursuit of some honest 
 calling, which enables men to acquire a 
 home and competence. The firm of Brown 
 & Brown is one to whose energy and fore- 
 sight the village of Genoa and northern De 
 
!58 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Kalb county is indebted for many improve- 
 ments. Wiiile they are prosperous busi- 
 ness men, and have given close attention to 
 their private affairs, they have never for- 
 gotten or ignored that bond of common 
 interest which should unite the people of 
 every community, and they have ever been 
 ready to promote progress in every line. 
 
 ^XriLLIAM HUBBARD, after more than 
 V V half a century of honest toil on a 
 farm in De Kalb township, is now living a 
 retired life in the city of De Kalb, Illinois. 
 He is a native of Cortland, Cortland coun- 
 ty, New York, born April 21, 1823, and is 
 the son of Joel and Clarinda Hubbard, na- 
 tives of Massachusetts and Connecticut re- 
 spectively. Joel Hubbard was a shoemaker 
 by trade, and a man of some note in his na- 
 tive county. He was born September 5, 
 1788, and died in Michigan, March 25, 
 1838. His wife was born November 14, 
 1785, and died in New York, March 28, 
 1827. Their family consisted of eight chil- 
 dren: Palmira, born October 3, 1S09; 
 Forona, March 23, 181 i ; Lanson, June 22, 
 181 3; Henry, May 18, 181 5; Alfred, March 
 22, I 817; Fanny, May 4, 1820; William, as 
 above stated; and Ansel, November 7, 
 1825. Of these Fanny died February 15, 
 1822. 
 
 William Hubbard is seventh in order of 
 birth, and was only four years of age when 
 his mother died, and but fifteen years old 
 when he came to De Kalb county in 1838, 
 locating in De Kalb township. W'ith an 
 elder brother he walked from Michigan to 
 De I\alb, Illinois, but remained one sum- 
 mer at Sugar Grove, Illinois. His edu- 
 cation, begun in the common schools of the 
 east, was completed in the district schools 
 
 of De Kalb county, which he attended for 
 two years after his arrival. Soon after 
 leaving school he made a purchase of nine- 
 ty acres of land from the government 
 which he reclaimed and beautified, making 
 of it one of the most productive farnjs in 
 De Kalb township. This land he retained 
 for about fifty-tive years, the best, hap- 
 piest and most profitable days of his life. 
 
 On the 26th of May, 1850, he married 
 Miss Nancy Churchill, daughter of David 
 and Anna Churchill, by whom he has had 
 three children, two yet li\ing: Joel W., born 
 March 9, 1851; and Elma A., October 28, 
 1852. Edgar, born June 14, 1854, died 
 June 9, 1880. Mrs. Hubbard was born in 
 Geneseo county. New York, January 25, 
 1824. Her parents, David and Anna 
 Churchill, were natives of Vermont, the 
 former dying at the age of seventy-four 
 years and the latter when forty-four years 
 old. 
 
 In 1S97, Mr. Hubbard sold his farm and 
 removed to the city of De Kalb, that he 
 might spend his remaining days in ease and 
 comfort. He is worthy of the rest, and no 
 man stands higher in the estimation of his 
 fellow citizens. 
 
 FORREST REEVES HAMMOND is a 
 well-known farmer residing in Sycamore, 
 Illinois. The Hammond family is one of the 
 oldest of colonial families and took part in 
 the stirring times during the early settlement 
 remote from the coast. Our subject is de- 
 scended from one of three brothers from 
 England, who settled on what was known 
 as Canaan Mountain, Pennsylvania. Some 
 of the family settled in Tioga county and 
 others in Chemung county, New York. Dur- 
 ing the Indian wars prior to the Revolution 
 
THJ-: BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 !59 
 
 the Hammonds were great sufferers. Sev- 
 eral of them were taken prisoners at the 
 time of the Wyoming massacre. One of 
 them, Laban Hammond, a great uncle of 
 our subject, with fourteen others, was placed 
 in a circle to be executed by an Indian queen. 
 After the first one was tomahawked the un- 
 cle sprang up, l)eat his way through the 
 crowd and escaped, while the others were 
 all killed. In March of the following year 
 with two others he was again captured. 
 While an old Indian whc) was guarding the 
 prisoners was replenishing the fire Laban 
 killed fi\e of his captors and then struck 
 another across the neck while on his knees, 
 leaving him, as he supposed, dead. He 
 made good his escape the second time. 
 Years afterwards, seeing an Indian with a 
 stiff neck and head bent down, he asked him 
 how it happened and the laconic reply re- 
 ceived was: "Yankee, Wyoming." He 
 thought best not to inform tiie Indian that 
 he was the Yankee. 
 
 Our subjecfs great-grandparents, Oliver 
 and Mary Hammond, were born near the 
 middle of the eighteenth century, tiie former 
 December 25, 1759, and the latter May 4, 
 1 761. The first named died at the age of 
 forty-five, while the latter attained the good 
 old age of seventy-nine years. They were 
 pioneers in the wilds of Pennsylvania, suf- 
 ferred terrors from Indian depredations on 
 the frontier and passed through the stirring 
 scenes of the Revolution. 
 
 Lebbeus Hammond, the grandfather of 
 our subject, was born December 6, 1786, 
 married Cynthia P. Matthewson, who was 
 born July 25, 1786. An interesting anecdote 
 is related of her courage, as part of the 
 family traditions. ^^'hen she was only 
 eleven years of age a man near her father's 
 house cut his leg with an adze and was 
 
 13 
 
 bleeding to death. There was a surgeon 
 across the river, the bridge was washed away 
 and the river was higher than it was ever 
 known. No man would volunteer to go for 
 the doctor. Her father said that he knew 
 Cynthia would do it and asked her if she 
 would undertake to cross the river. .She 
 replied that she would if he would let her 
 ride " Pomp," her favorite horse. Permis- 
 sion was granted and her father cautioned 
 her in returning to ride up stream to a cer- 
 tain point, where she would find a safe land- 
 ing on the west bank. On reaching the 
 doctor's and stating her errand he refused 
 to cross the river with her, remarking, "Let 
 the man die; I will not cross in such a 
 flood." She ridiculed him, asking hini if he 
 could not do what she had done. He finally 
 consented to go and started into the stream 
 near by. She told him her father's direc- 
 tions, rnde in front, the doctor follow- 
 ing, and both safelj- landed. The doctor 
 arrived in time to save the man's life. 
 When asked if she was not afraid, she re- 
 plied that she was not, as she knew that 
 Pomp could stay on top of the water and 
 she could stay on top of him. 
 
 Our subject's father, also named Lebbeus 
 Hammond, was born June 8, 1830, at 
 Palmyra, Wayne county, Ne\^• York, and 
 came west in the spring of 1854, and died 
 April 25, 1855. He married Mary Reeves, 
 who died about 1867 at the age of thirty- 
 four years, leaving two children, Cynthia 
 Philuria and Forrest Reeves. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born in 
 Sycamore townshp a few weeks after the 
 arrival of the family. His mother died 
 when he was but twelve years of age, and 
 having remarried after the death of her first 
 husband, he lived with his stepfather and re- 
 ceived his education in the district school. 
 
26o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 supplemented by one jear in the schools of 
 Syianiore. At the af;e of twenty-one he 
 came into possession of his father's farm of 
 onehundred and twenty-two and a half acres, 
 on sections 16. 21 and 22, to which lie later 
 added twenty-eight and a half acres, making 
 him a fine tract of one hundred and fifty-one 
 acres. For some years he has been en- 
 gaged in dairy farming, usually keeping 
 about forty head of milch cows. In Decem- 
 ber, 1890, he removed to Sycamore but 
 still gives his personal attenticjn to the farm. 
 
 On the 17th of May, 1879, Mr. Ham- 
 mond was united in marriage at Sycamore, 
 with Miss S. Frances Hamilton, who was 
 born in De Kalb township between the 
 cities of Sycamore and De Kalb, and is a 
 daughter of Oscar and Catilina (Johnson) 
 Hamilton. By this union three children 
 have been born: Elmer D., F-,loyd I. and 
 Harry H. 
 
 In politics Mr. Hammond is a Republic- 
 an, and while residing in the country served 
 as school director. Fraternally he is a 
 member of Sycamore Lodge, Order of For- 
 esters. 
 
 CHARLES H. MORDOFF, M. I)., of 
 Genoa, Illinois, is a well known and 
 successful physician and surgeon who has 
 been in active practice in that village for 
 about seventeen years. He traces his an- 
 Destry back to James Mordoff, Sr., a native 
 of Scotland, who came to America prior to 
 the Revolutionary war, and settled in King- 
 ston, Canada, where he died June 17, 1789. 
 His wife lived to be one hundred and seven- 
 teen years old. Their son, also named 
 James, born in Kingston, Canada, May 12, 
 1762, died at the age of fifty-nine years, 
 eight months and twenty days. About 
 
 1790 he moved from Canada to New York, 
 where his last days were spent. He was a 
 man of good education, and it was said of 
 him that he was "neither priest nor law- 
 yer, but a learned man." He married 
 Lois Charters, who was born December 17, 
 1790, and who died at the age of ninety- 
 seven years, in western New York. Their 
 son, James Mordoff, Jr., one of twelve chil- 
 dren, was born in New York, .-Vpril 24. 
 1795. He married Polly Dunn, and came 
 west in May, 1845, locating in Boone 
 county, Illinois. 
 
 George J. Mordoff, the son of James 
 Mordoff, Jr., was fifth in a family of si.x 
 children. He was born in Portage, Wyom- 
 ing county. New York, March 26. 1831, and 
 came west with his parents in 1845, com- 
 ing overland by wagons. It was a long, 
 weary trip, and all were well pleased on 
 their arrival in Boone county. With his 
 parents he continued to reside until after he 
 attained his majority. He was married in 
 Belvidere, Illinois, May 2, 1854, to Miss 
 Sarah Whitman, a native of Chautauqua 
 county. New '^'ork, born in September, 
 1832. Her father, Charles Whitman, was 
 born in Bennington, Vermont, January 4, 
 1800. At the age of twenty-five he went 
 to New York, where, in 1824, at Fort Miller, 
 he married Mary Ann Jakeway, a daughter 
 of Charles Jakeway. In 1836. they came 
 w^est and located in Boone county, Illinois. 
 George J. Mordoff continued to reside in 
 Boone county until 1884, when he removed 
 to Genoa, to make his home with our sub- 
 ject. He was a well-known veterinary sur- 
 geon, and for many years practiced his pro- 
 fession in Boone and De Kalb counties. 
 
 Charles H. Mordoff is the only child 
 born to George J. and Sarah (Whitman) 
 Mordoff. He was born near Belvidere, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 261 
 
 Boone county, Illinois, July 22, 1856. 
 After attending the district school he entered 
 the high school at Bel\-idere, from which he 
 was graduated in the spring of i<S73. He 
 early showed a decided taste for the medical 
 profession and at the age of twelve years, in 
 an irregular way, he began reading medi- 
 cine. After his graduation from the high 
 school for two years he read medicine 
 with Dr. F. S. \\'hitman, of Belvidere, and 
 later entered the Chicago Homeopathic 
 Medical College, from which he was gradu- 
 ated in i<S8i. On the 31st of January, 
 1882, he located in Cenoa, where he has 
 since remained, liaving built np a large 
 practice which extends for many miles 
 around. In politics he is a Republican and 
 fraternally a member of Genoa I^odge, No. 
 768, I. O. O. F. ; Ellwood Encampment, 
 No. 173, of Sycamore; Canton Truman, No. 
 2, of Sycamore; and Sarah Rebecca, No. 
 134, of Sycamore; Maple I^eaf Lodge, No. 
 283, K. of P., of Genoa; Genoa Camp 
 No. 163, M. W. A.; Royal Neighbors, of 
 Genoa; and of the Oriental Order of the 
 Magi, of Chicago. Formerly he was a mem- 
 ber of the I^nights of the Globe. Profes- 
 sionally he is a member of the Illinois Home- 
 pathic Medical Society and the American 
 Institute of Homeopath)'. As a citizen he 
 stands high in the estimation of the people. 
 
 JOHN MILLER, who is now living a re- 
 tired life in the village of Fairdale, is a 
 native of Oneida county. New York, born 
 February 9, 1818, and is the son of John 
 and Mary (Crill) Miller, both natives of Her- 
 kimer county. New York. They were the 
 parents of twelve children, as follows: 
 Thomas, Mary, Catherine, John, Daniel, 
 Margaret, Elizabeth, James, Henry, Nancy, 
 
 Julia A. and Chester A. The paternal 
 grandfather, John Miller, who was a native 
 of Germany, came to America prior to 
 the Revolutionary war, and was a soldier 
 in that war. The maternal grandfather, 
 Thomas Crill, was also a native of German}', 
 who came to .\merica before the Re\ohition- 
 ary war, and assisted m the struggle for in- 
 dependence. 
 
 In his native countx' ami state the sub- 
 ject of this sketch grew to manhood, and 
 received a limited education in the schools 
 of that early day. In 1844 he came to Illi- 
 nois, located in Ogle cmintx, where he hrst 
 purchased eight)' acres of government land, 
 to which he later added another eight)' acres. 
 That tract he improved until it was one of 
 the best in Ogle count)'. On the 1 8th of 
 November, 1847, he married Mary E. War- 
 ren, a native of Delaware, and the\' com- 
 menced their domestic life on the farm 
 which he had purchased some three years 
 previously. They there continued to reside, 
 a period of forty-two years, when Mrs. Mil- 
 ler was called to her reward, her death oc- 
 curring June 9, 1889, at the age of sixty-five 
 years. 
 
 After the death of his wife, Mr. Miller 
 sold his farm and moved to Fairdale, where 
 he is now living a retired life. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Christian church, of which body 
 his wife was also a member. In politics he 
 is a Republican, and while in Ogle county 
 held the office of road commissioner and 
 school director. 
 
 Elizabeth McBride, the sister of Mr. 
 Miller, who is now acting as his housekeeper, 
 was also born in Oneida county. New York, 
 .April 25, 1824. In 1846 she came with her 
 parents to Ogle county, Illinois, and in 185 i 
 married James McBride, a native of New 
 York state, by whom she had seven children, 
 
262 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 five of whom are living, George, Elizabeth, 
 Alice, Grant and C'lra The deceased are 
 Leona and Lucy F. Her liusliand died in 
 Iowa in 1874, at the age t f sixty 3 ears. 
 
 MD. SHIPMAN, of the firm of Bradt& 
 Shipman, of De Kalb, Illinois, is one 
 of the leading business men of that city. 
 He is a native of Cortland county, New 
 York, and was born on the nth of June, 
 1848. He is the son of Dr. J. A. and Azu- 
 bah (Hunter) Shipman, both of whom werp 
 born in New York state. 
 
 Dr. J. A. Shipman was a skilled physi- 
 cian and a man whose influence for good 
 was felt not only within the large circle of 
 his own patronage, but all through his ac- 
 quaintances far and near. In 1853 he re- 
 moved to Bureau county, Illinois, where he 
 successfully practiced his profession. In 
 1868 he moved to De Ivalb, Illinois, from 
 which place he removed in 1873, to Henry 
 county, from Henry county to Prairie City, 
 Illinois. Here he resided for the remainder 
 of his days, respected as a citizen, trusted 
 as a physician, and honored as a gentleman 
 of the highest order. Dr. Shipman passed 
 to his reward March 6, 1885, at the age of 
 seventy-three years, while his wife's demise 
 had occurred many years before when they 
 were residents of De Kalb. She was fifty- 
 two years of age at the time of her death. 
 Their family consisted of five children, two 
 of whom are now living, Mrs. Mattie Mack- 
 lin of this city, and M. D., the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 M. D. Shipman is second in order of 
 birth. He received his early schooling in 
 the district schools of Bureau county and 
 high school of De Kalb, and subsequently 
 attended the Northwestern Universit\- at 
 
 Evanston, Illinois. At the conclusion of his 
 school days in 1872, he became associated 
 with C. E. l^riidt )n the m mufactnre and 
 sale of gloves at whoK sale. Their factory is 
 on Si.xth near Main street, De Kalb. The 
 same firm is also extensively e gaged in tlie 
 manufacture of delivery wagons and patent 
 glove fasteners, at Gloversville, New York, 
 nnder the firm name of Shipman, Bradt & 
 Co., which business has grown to a great 
 extent. Mr. Siiipman has the entire confi- 
 dence of the citizens of De Kalb. He has 
 been elected to the presidency of the board 
 of education, and is president of the Elec- 
 tric Light Company of De Kalb. He is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 of which he is a worthy trustee. 
 
 On the 20th of December, 1882, Mr. 
 Shipman was united in marriage with Miss 
 Jennie B. Bradt, daughter of A. and Amy 
 A. Bradt, a sketch of whom appears else- 
 where in this work. To this union has been 
 born three children: Andrew, born in 1883: 
 Louise, in i 885 ; and Orville, in 1888. Mr. 
 Shipman has descended from a noble line 
 of ancestors, whose skill, loyalty and patri- 
 otism has been handed down to posteril}' by 
 the pen of the historian. His grandfather, 
 Daniel Shipman, was the father of five phj'- 
 sicians of wide influence and practice in New 
 York and Illinois. Daniel Shipman was an 
 early settler of Saybrook, an(i was a Pres- 
 byterian minister of the old school. He was 
 especially distinguished for his industry and 
 strict integrity. His wife, the grandmother 
 of our subject, was Sarah Eastman, a daugh- 
 ter of Dr. Azariah Eastman, an eminent 
 physician of his day, and who creditably 
 bore the arnmr of his profession for nearl\- 
 seventy years. Dr. ERStman was a lineal 
 descendant of the Franklins, and a relation 
 of the illustrious statesman and philosopher. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 263 
 
 Three of Daniel Shipman's brothers and 
 granduncles of our subject, were actively 
 engaged in the Revolutionary war, and at 
 one time were taken prisoners by the 
 British and held as such in a prison ship 
 at Brooklyn, New York. They were early 
 settlers in Connecticut, and were of Eng- 
 lish descent. The Hunters on the mother's 
 side were of Scotch e.xtraction, a people 
 noted for their nobleness of character. 
 
 A CHARLES DOANE, marble dealer of 
 Sycamore, is a native of De Kalb 
 county, born in South Grove township, 
 August 2, 1855, and resided in that town- 
 ship until the age of twelve years, when he 
 moved with his parents to Malta. He re- 
 ceived a good common-school education, 
 with instruction in some of the higher 
 branches, and for some years taught school 
 during the winter months and worked at his 
 trade of carpenter during the summer. He 
 is the son of Joseph E. and Margaret (Mur- 
 phy) Doane, the former a native of St. 
 Lawrence county. New York, born Decem- 
 ber 18, 1835, 3iid the latter a native of Ire- 
 land, who came to America with her parents 
 at the age of two years. Joseph E. Doane 
 came west in 1854, and settled in South 
 Grove township, De Kalb county, Illinois. 
 He was by trade a carpenter and an exct4- 
 lent and energetic workman, alwa\s com- 
 manding higher wages than others. On 
 coming to De Kalb county he purchased a 
 farm in South Grove township, aid later 
 purchased his prusent farm of three hun- 
 dred and thirty-four and a half acres adjoin- 
 ing the village of Malta. To Joseph E. 
 Doane and wife seven children were born: 
 Virginia L. , ntnv the wife of Rev. Cass 
 Davis, of Sterling, Illinois; A. Charles, our 
 
 subject; Leslie A., who is farming in Wis- 
 consin; William D., who is mining in Col- 
 orado; Dorothy M., a fine vocalist, who re- 
 sides at home; Seymour G., who is rail- 
 roading in Wyoming; and Agnes K., wife of 
 W. I. Collins, of Malta. 
 
 In the spring of 1879, our subject went 
 to Colorado, and located eighteen miles 
 north of Leadville, where he remained three 
 and a half years, prospecting and mining. 
 This not proving profitable, he returned to 
 Illinois in the fall of i 882, and taught school 
 during the winter of 1882-83. I" the spring 
 of 1883 he went to Dakota, but not being 
 satisfied, he returned to Malta, where he 
 worked at carpentering and farming for five 
 years. From Malta he went to Chicago, 
 where he worked five months in a factory, 
 then for four years at his trade. In August, 
 1896, he came to Sycamore and engaged 
 in the marble business. He knew nothing 
 whatever of that line of trade, but soon ad- 
 justed himself to it, and has now a thorough 
 understanding of the business. With char- 
 acteristic energy he soon built up a large 
 trade, which is constantly increasing. His 
 greatest endeavor has been to make his 
 reputation for reliable work and material, 
 and a name equal to that of his father for 
 probit}' and honesty. 
 
 Mr. Doane has been twice married, — 
 first in 1886, with Miss Jennie Earl, who 
 d ed within a y ar after th.;ir marriage. 
 His second uuiju wis with Miss Jeannette 
 Morey. the weJding ceremony being cele- 
 brate d in Malta township in 1888. She is 
 the daughter of Ariel S. and Elizabeth (Van 
 Vlack) Morey. The former is a native of 
 Herkimer county, New York, born May 24, 
 1840, and who came west when a boy with 
 his parents. Smith and Jeannette (Smith) 
 Morey. Smith Morey was the son of Jesse 
 
264 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Morey. Mrs. Elizabeth Morey is the daugh- 
 ter of William and Maria (Oliver) \'an 
 Vlack. Ariel Morey and wife are the par- 
 ents of five children, of whom Mrs. Doane 
 is second in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Doane have two sons, Harr}' and Milo, now 
 attendmg the home school. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Doane are members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of 
 which they are actively engaged. Frater- 
 nally he is a member of the Modern Wood- 
 men of America and Home Forum, while 
 Mrs. Doane is a member of the Daughters 
 of the Globe and Home Forum. Mr. 
 Doane comes of a musical family, and is 
 himself a nujsician of more than ordinary 
 abilitw For four years he was the leader 
 of the Malta band, and under his leadership 
 the band had an e.vcellent reputation 
 throughout northern Illinois. 
 
 RICHARD B. PROCTOR, an enterpris- 
 ing farmer of Franklin township, is a 
 native of Kno.v county, Ohio, born Sep- 
 tember 29, 1827, and is the son of Thomas 
 and Eliza (Norton) Proctor, the former a 
 native of New York and the latter of Penn- 
 sylvania. They were the parents of four 
 children, Elizabeth, Mary A., Richard B. 
 and Watie Jane, all of whom are deceased 
 save our subject. The paternal grandfa- 
 ther, Richard Proctor, was a native of 
 England prior to the Revolutionary war, 
 and settled in Pennsylvania. In an early 
 day Thomas Proctor, the father, removed 
 from his Pennsylvania home to Kno.\ coun- 
 ty. Ohio, and there engaged in farming. He, 
 however, lived but a short time after his 
 arri\al, and died November 11, 1829, at 
 tlic age of thirty-five years. His widow 
 later married Dr. Andrew Shephard, a native 
 
 of New York, and in 1836 they came to Illi- 
 nois and located in Ogle county. Three 
 vears later they removed to De Kalb county, 
 and purchased one hundred and sixty acres 
 of government land, the farm on which our 
 subject now resides. Both the Doctor and 
 his wife died upon that farm. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to Illi- 
 nois with his mother and stepfather, and 
 with them continued to reside. He was 
 reared upon the farm and received his edu- 
 cation in the common district school. On 
 the 12th of March, 1856, he was united in 
 marriage with Miss Sarah C. Lyon, and by 
 this union there are twelve children, three 
 of whom died in infancy. The living are 
 Lizzie, Willis, .\da, .Arthur, Clara, Ernest, 
 Clark, Ralph and Glenn. Of these, Ada 
 married Rev. Dr. John Butcher, a nati\'e of 
 England, and with him spent ten years in 
 India, where he was engaged in missionarj- 
 work. The Doctor is a highly educated 
 man, a fine worker, and is now located at 
 Palatine, Illinois. Clark is a ph\ sician lo- 
 cated in Des Moines, Iowa. Willis is a 
 professor in the college at Kirksville, Mis- 
 souri. Clara is also a physician, and is a 
 graduate of the Albion, Michigan, College; 
 is now at Kirks\ille, Missouri. Ralph is on 
 the home farm, while Glenn is attending 
 school. 
 
 The maternal grandfather, Isaac Nor- 
 ton, Jr., was a native of Long Island, New 
 York, and was a tailor by trade. His fa- 
 ther. Rev. Isaac Norton, Sr., was a native 
 of England, who came to .America before 
 the Revolution, and during that struggle 
 was a chaplain in the army. He was also 
 chaplain in the halls of congress at Phila- 
 delphia. Religiously he was a Baptist. 
 His death occurred at the age of ninety- 
 two vears. Rev. Isaac Norton, Jr., was 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 265 
 
 also a Baptist minister, and died at Byron, 
 Illinois, at the age of eighty-seven years. 
 Two uncles of our subject, Isaac and Bart- 
 lett Norton, were soldiers in the war of 
 1812. Few families have a better record 
 for patriotism than that of the Nortons. 
 
 In politics Mr. Proctor is a Prohibition- 
 ist, believing firmly m the principles of that 
 party. For thirteen years he served as 
 school trustee. A member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, he takes an active interest 
 in the work, giving of his time and means to 
 advance the cause of religion and morality- 
 He has been a very successful farmer, and 
 has now four hundred and seventeen acres 
 of well improved land. No man in Frank- 
 lin township is held in higher esteem. 
 
 GEORGE E. SISLEY, postmaster of 
 Genoa and editor of the Genoa Issue, 
 was born in Chicago, Illinois, April 3, 1865, 
 and is the son of William and Anna (Ly- 
 man) Sisley, both natives of New York, 
 and who were the parents of four children 
 as follows; William L., a merchant of 
 Hampshire, Illinois; Lyman A., a mining 
 broker, in Butte, Montana; Emma L. , 
 wife of Charles H. Backus, of Hampshire, 
 Illinois; and George E. , our subject. The 
 mother died in Hampshire about 1887. 
 
 George E. Sisley removed with his par- 
 ents to Geneva, when quite young, and 
 there grew to manho )d, receiving his edu- 
 cation in the public schools of that city. 
 Entering the office of the Geneva Repub'ican 
 he spent four years in learning the printer's 
 trade. He then went to Elgin, Illinois, 
 where he remained one year, working at 
 his trade, and from there went to Hamp- 
 shire, Illinois, and started the Hampshire 
 Register, with which he was connected until 
 
 i8go. In that year he went to Port Town- 
 send, Washington, where he remained a 
 year and a half. Returning east, he was 
 employed at his trade in Chicago during 
 the World's Fair. In March, 1894, he 
 came to Genoa and purchased the Genoa 
 Issue, of which he has since been editor 
 and publisher. 
 
 Mr. Sisley was married June 25, 1891, 
 at Hampshire, Illinois, with Miss Gertrude 
 Schoonmaker, daughter of Michael J. and 
 Florence (Webb) Schoonmaker, the former 
 a naiive of Fairdale, Oswego countv. New 
 York, born October 24, 1836, and who died 
 May 5, 1897. He was the son of Michael 
 and Kate (Van Alstine) Schoonmaker, and 
 came west about 1856, locating first at 
 Marengo, Illinois. In his youth he learned 
 the carpenter's trade, which occupation he 
 followed until his death. He lived a few 
 years in various towns in Iowa and Illinois, 
 removing to Hampshire, Illinois, in 1874, 
 where the remainder of 'his life was spent. 
 During the Civil war he ser\ed as a mem- 
 ber of Compan)' K, Fifteenth Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry. He was married July 4, 
 1866, in Marengo, Illinois, to Miss Flor- 
 ence Webb, born in Forrest, New York, 
 and a daughter of Frederick and Catherine 
 (Mead) Webb, the latter a daughter of 
 Amos and Phebe (Ashley) Mead. By trade 
 Frederick Webb was a carpenter, and came 
 west and settled in Marengo, Illinois, where 
 his death occurred at the age of seventy- 
 three years. He was a son of Bliss and 
 Flora Webb. Of the eight children born 
 to Michael J. and Florence Schoonmaker, 
 Mrs. Sisley is second in order of b rth. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Sisley one son has been 
 born, George Raymond. 
 
 Mr. Sislev is very fond of athletic 
 sports, and he is an enthusiastic wheel- 
 
266 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 man. Fraternally he is a member of Ge- 
 noa Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and of Syca- 
 more Chapter, K. A. M. He is also a 
 member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows and Modern Woodmen of America. 
 x\s a citi/en he is thoroughl)' ali\e to the 
 best interests of his adopted city and coun- 
 ty, and through the columns of his paper 
 advocates every measure for the public 
 good. In politics he is a thorough Repub- 
 lican and as a reward for services ren- 
 dered his party, was appointed postmaster 
 of Genoa in November, if^yj. He was 
 also city treasurer in i8yO. 
 
 HARRISON MACKEV, for many years 
 one of the leading citizens of Mayfield 
 township, residing on section ii, where he 
 had a fine farm of over fi\e hundred acres 
 of land, was a native of New York, born in 
 Ulster county, April 22, 181 3, and was the 
 son of Levi and Rebecca 1 Scott) Mackey, 
 also natives of New York, who there spent 
 their entire lives. The Mackeys are of 
 German ancestry, the first of the name set- 
 tling in New York at a very early day. Levi 
 and Rebecca Mackey were the parents of 
 eight children — John, Julia A., Griffin, Gil- 
 man, Harriet, Harrison, Thorn .M. and 
 Mary |. The father died about iSq.S and 
 the mother in June, 1838. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained at 
 home until about fifteen years of age, when 
 he went to Orange county, New York, for 
 the purpose of learning the blacksmith's 
 trade. After serving an apprenticeship of 
 about four years, he went to New Jersey 
 and worked as a journeyman about one 
 year, and then spent several months in his 
 native county, returning to Orange county, 
 where he commenced business for himself 
 
 at his trade and continued for six years. 
 The great west was now being rapidly set- 
 tled, and, like many others, he determined 
 to seek his fortune in the Prairie state. In 
 the spring of 1839 he came to Mayheld 
 township and located upon section 1 1 , where 
 he opened up a farm and there spent the 
 remainder of his life. 
 
 .\lr. Macke}' was first married in Orange 
 county. New York, about 1834, to Miss 
 Mary Hall, a native of Sullivan county. New 
 York, and by this union there were three 
 children: [ulia A. was the wife of ]. O. 
 Westlake. She died April 8, 1869. Mary 
 R. married H. H. Coleman, and they reside 
 in Sycamore. Eliza ]. married J. E. Parker, 
 and they also live in Sycamore. Mrs. Mackey 
 died in Mayfield township January 22, 1856, 
 and Mr. Macke}' was again married in New 
 York state, June 18, 1857, to Mrs. Eliza 
 (Bondj Westlake, widow of Benjamin West- 
 lake, who died in Orange county, New York, 
 November 18, 1853. I^y her former mar- 
 riage she became the mother of seven chil- 
 dren — David B., Milton G., Hannah E., 
 Mary .A. , Charlotte W. , John O. and Morris 
 H. Milton (i. died when nearly twenty-one 
 years of age. Mrs. Mackey was born in 
 Orange county. New Y'ork, December i, 
 181 I, and died in Maytield township, l)e 
 Kalb county, Illinois, Jul}- 8, 1888, and was 
 buried in the cemetery at Sycamore. She 
 was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, of which her husband was an at- 
 tendant. 
 
 In addition to general farming, in which 
 he was quite successful, Mr. Mackey en- 
 gaged in dairying for a time and also in 
 stock raising. He became quite prominent 
 in the affairs of the township and held many 
 local offices. Politically, he was thoroughly 
 independent, voting for the one he consid- 
 
HARRISON MACKEY. 
 
MRS. MARY HALL MACKEY. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 271 
 
 ered the best man, regardless of party. A 
 pioneer of the county, he was instrumental 
 in its growth and development and did all 
 that he could to advance its material inter- 
 est. As a citizen he was thoroughly pro- 
 gressive, and as a neighbor he was kind and 
 obliging, ever ready to render a favor. His 
 death occurred upon the old home farm 
 August 22, 1890, and his remains were laid 
 to rest in the old family graveyard in May- 
 tield township. 
 
 CHARLES E. BRADT, a well known 
 business man of De Kalb, Illinois, and 
 a member of the firm of Bradt & Shipman, 
 glove manufacturers, has spent almost his 
 entire life in De Kalb county. He is a na- 
 tive of Gloversville, Fulton county, New 
 York, born January 27, 1852, and is the 
 son of Andrew and Amy A. (Sweet) Bradt, 
 both of whom were born in the town of 
 Ephratah, Fulton county, New York, the 
 former May 15, 1824, and the latter Janu- 
 ary 20, 1828. They became the parents of 
 nine children, five of whom are deceased. 
 The living are Charles E., Jennie S., 
 Samuel E. and Laura Luella. 
 
 Andrew Bradt is the son of Anthony J. 
 and Hannah (Peek) Bradt, both natives of 
 the state of New York. He was reared on 
 a farm, educated in the district schools and 
 at the age of seventeen commenced teaching 
 in his native township, a profession he fol- 
 lowed for several winters while during the 
 summer seasons he worked upon the farm. 
 His marriage with Miss Amy Ann Sweet was 
 celebrated January 31, 1.S48. Eight years 
 later he came west and purchased one hun- 
 dred and forty acres of land in sections 23 
 and 24, De Kalb township, where he en- 
 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. For several 
 winters he engaged in selling gloves and 
 mittens to dealers in northern Illinois, pur- 
 chasing his stock from the manufactories at 
 Gloversville and Johnston, New York. In 
 1870, in company with his son, he started a 
 glove factory in De Kalb but two years later 
 disposed of his interest. He was the first man 
 to introduce glove making northwest of Chi- 
 cago and the first to sell them in the same 
 territory. A local preacher in the Method- 
 ist Episcopal church, he has been instru- 
 mental in building it up in De Kalb. He is 
 a man of sterling worth, well known and 
 highly honored by^all. 
 
 Charles E. Bradt, our subject, grew to 
 manhood in De Kalb county, and received 
 his primary education in the district schools. 
 He later attended the Northwestern Univer- 
 sity, at Evanston, Illinois, where he com- 
 pleted his school life. After leaving school 
 he succeeded his father in business, and in 
 1872 formed a co-partnership with M. D. 
 Shipman, which relation still continues. 
 For more than a quarter of a century they 
 have been engaged in the manufacture of 
 gloves and have a e.xtensive business 
 throughout the Northwest, employing'at 
 certain seasons several traveling salesmen. 
 With Mr. Shipman, he is also engaged in 
 the manufacture of delivery wagons, under 
 the firm name of Shipman & Bradt. This 
 business has grown to quite extensive pro- 
 portions and has been fairly profitable in 
 their hands. 
 
 On the 4th of September, 1885, Mr. 
 Bradt was united in marriage with Miss 
 Alice K. Hopkins, a native of De Kalb 
 county and a daughter of Thomas M. and 
 Julia A. (Hawken) Hopkins, the former a 
 native of Washington county. New York, 
 and the latter of St. Louis, Missouri. Her 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 father was for many years a well known 
 attorney in De Kalb, but is now deceased. 
 Mr. Bradt is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church of De Kalb, and is one of 
 the official board. He i.s quite active in 
 church work, and is a firm believer in the 
 Christian religion. Fraternally he is a Mason, 
 a member of the blue lodge at De Kalb, 
 of the Knight Templars at Sycamore, and the 
 Mystic Shrine at Chicago. Politically he is 
 a Republican, and has been a member of 
 the city council, taking an active interest in 
 its proceedings, and working for the best 
 interests of the city which has so long been 
 his home. He has also served as a mem- 
 ber of the school board, taking great inter- 
 est in educational affairs. As a citizen he 
 is thoroughly progressive, ready at all times 
 to (Jo his full share in advancing the mater- 
 ial interests of his city and county. 
 
 CHARLES C. POND, who is engaged in 
 the insurance business at Sycamore, 
 traces his ancestry back to earl)' colonial 
 days. The first known of the family in 
 America was Samuel Pond, of Windsor, Con- 
 necticut. His son, Samuel, the earliest an- 
 cestor of our subject positively known, is 
 supposed from a number of corroborating 
 circumstances to be the second of his chil- 
 dren. The latter had a son born in 1679, 
 whom he also named Samuel. The next in 
 line was Philip, born in 1706, whose son, 
 Daniel, born in 1726, was known as the pa- 
 triarch because of his large family of seven- 
 teen children, the greater number of whom 
 grew to maturity. He moved with his en- 
 tire family to Poultney, Vermont, when that 
 region was a wilderness, and there acquired 
 a fine estate. Pond Hill, near the place, be- 
 ing named in his honor. William Pond, the 
 
 son of Daniel, born in 1763, married Ruth 
 Wood. He served in the Revolutionary 
 war, and died in 1838. Harry Pond, son 
 of William, was born in Lenox, Berkshire 
 county, Massachusetts, in 1798, and re- 
 moved with his father's family to Poultney, 
 Vermont, where he died. He married Lo- 
 vina HoUembeak, a native of Ticonderoga 
 county. New York. Their son, Americus 
 H. Pond, was born in Crawford count}', 
 Pennsylvania, January 30, 1831, and finished 
 his education in Grand River Institute in 
 Ashtabula county, Ohio. 
 
 In 1 85 1, Americus H. Pond came west 
 and located m Genoa township, where he 
 began life for himself. During the first win- 
 ter he taught school for eighteen dollars per 
 month, a sum that seems paltry to teachers 
 of to-day. For a number of years he rented 
 land, it seeming almost impossible for him 
 to get a substantial start in life. He bought 
 his first land in 1859, a tract of one hundred 
 and twenty acres, which he sold in 1865 
 and bought his present farm, which now 
 consists of nearly three hundred acres of the 
 finest land in northern Illinois. He is a 
 man of whom all speak in the highest terms 
 of praise, and has frequently been urged to 
 represent his district in the house or state 
 senate, but prefers to be a private citizen. 
 He married Amy HoUembeak, a daughter 
 of Ruloff and Electa (Ames) HoUembeak. 
 The weddii g ceremony was performed Jan- 
 uary 34, 1852. Ruloff HoUembeak was the 
 son of Abram HoUembeak, whose father was 
 one of three brothers who came from Hol- 
 land in colonial days. 
 
 Charles C. Pond is the oldest son of 
 Americus H. and Amy Pond, and was born 
 in Sycamore township, De Kalb county, Illi- 
 nois, December 24, 1856. His parents re- 
 moved to Genoa township, three years later, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 273 
 
 where he was reared and attended the dis- 
 trict schools, which was followed by a course 
 in the Sycamore schools, and one year in 
 Rock River Seminary at Mt. Morris, Illinois. 
 After completing his studies he taught school 
 for five winters, working on a farm the re- 
 maining seasons of the year. 
 
 On the 30th of September, 1880, Mr. 
 Pond was united in marriage with Miss 
 Rosetta Harned, a native of Mayfield town- 
 ship, De Kalb county, and a daughter of 
 Edmund B. Harned, born in Smithtown, 
 Suffolk county, Long Island, July 13, 1829. 
 He was the son of Hosea Harned, also a 
 native of Smithtown, Long Island, born in 
 1798, and who married Rosetta Brown, a 
 native of the same place, born in 1799. 
 Jacob Harned, the father of Hosea, was 
 born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and soon 
 after the Revolutionar}' war settled on a 
 tract of one thousand acres of land, on 
 Long Island, where his family was born. 
 He died there in 1824, when about seventy- 
 five years old. The name was originally 
 Harne, but the spelling was changed by the 
 addition of the letter d. Hosea Harned, in 
 1832, moved with his family to Ohio, by 
 way of the Hudson river, from Sandy Hook 
 to Tro}', thence by canal to Buffalo, and 
 lake to Ohio. He settled in Geauga county, 
 but in 1 85 I came to Illinois. 
 
 Edmund B. Harned married Susan Siv- 
 wright, a native of Nova Scotia, born Jan- 
 uary 6, 1833, and a daughter of James M. 
 Sivwright, born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, 
 in 1778, and who died at the age of seven- 
 ty-four years. He emigrated to the States 
 ill 1844, and located in Mayfield township, 
 De Kalb count}', Illinois. He was the son 
 of James Sivwright, a native of Scotland, 
 born near .-Vburdeen, and who served in the 
 }3ritish army against the Americans and was 
 
 in the battle of Bunker Hill. He remained 
 in America after the war, and married 
 Susan Dalrymple, a native of northern Ire- 
 land, whose family were origmally from 
 France. She died at the age of one hun- 
 dred and five years. James M. Sivwright 
 married Prudence Eaton, a native of Nova 
 Scotia, born in 1806, and a daughter of 
 David and Eunice (Wells) Eaton. 
 
 Soon after his marriage, Mr. Pond re- 
 moved to Sycamore, where he engaged in 
 the jewelry business for six years, having as 
 partners at different times, Messrs. Bacon, 
 Warren and Meeker. In the spring of 1888 
 he sold his jewelry stock, and in the fall of 
 the same year began a successful career in 
 the insurance business. For about eight 
 years he was a special agent adjusting 
 claims through Illinois and Iowa, at the 
 same time conducting a local office in Syca- 
 uKjre. On the istday of May, 1898, here- 
 tired from the adjusting business, and has 
 since given his entire time to the Sycamore 
 office, representing many of the most sub- 
 stantial fire insurance companies doing busi- 
 ness in this state. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Pond two children 
 have been born, Ethel C. and Amy S. 
 Mrs. Pond is a devoted member of the Con- 
 gregational church. Fraternally he is a 
 Mason and holds membership with the 
 blue lodge, chapter and commandery at 
 Sycamore. He is also a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America. In politics 
 he is a Republican. 
 
 EDWARD M. DELANA, of Cortland, 
 Illinois, is a business man of recognized 
 ability, and the owner of four large cream- 
 eries, which use the product of many farm- 
 ers and which turn out a large amount of 
 
!74 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 butter and cheese that finds a read}' sale in 
 Chicago and other markets. He is a na- 
 tive of St. Charles, Kane county, Illinois, 
 born July 20, 1850, and is the son of Pat- 
 rick and Henrietta (Keegan) Delana, both 
 nati\es of Ireland, and who were the par- 
 ents of five children, one of whom, Thom- 
 as, is now deceased. The living are Mary, 
 [aniesH., William and Edward M. The 
 father came to the United States from Ire- 
 land at an early day and located first in the 
 village of St. Charles, Illinois, and after- 
 wards removed to a farm where our subject 
 was born and reared, receiving his educa- 
 tion in the common schools. 
 
 In his youth Mr. Delana learned the but- 
 ter and cheese trade, with which he has 
 since been connected and in which he has 
 been quite successful. In June, 1S87. he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Ella 
 Keenan, a native of De Kalb county, by 
 whom he has had two children, Edward and 
 George. 
 
 The family are members of the Catho- 
 lic church, and in politics he is a Democrat. 
 He has served as school director and 
 trustee. He is a man that is esteemed, 
 not alone b\' the friends and neighbors 
 around him, but also by his employees in 
 the various factories, and the public in gen- 
 eral. 
 
 RE V. W I L L I A M HUTCHINSON 
 SMITH, pastor of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, Genoa, Illinois, was born 
 four miles from Rome, in the town of West- 
 ern, Oneida county. New York, June 16, 
 1829, and is the son of Edward B. Smith, 
 born in Whitestown. Chautauqua county. 
 New York, and the grandson oi William 
 Smith, who married L)dia Cleghorn. (^n 
 
 the 26th of October, 1825, Edward B. 
 Smith married Harriet Hutchinson, born 
 May 7, 1804, and a daughter of Dr. Zenas 
 Hutchinson, who was president of the first 
 medical society formed in New York and 
 whoremoved from that state toConnecticut. 
 He was born November 21, 1770, at Leba- 
 non, Connecticut, and was the son of Paul 
 and Susanna (Sprague) Hutchinson. The 
 wife of Dr. Zenas Hutchinson was Fannie 
 Smith, born in Scotland, September 17, 
 1780, and a daughter of Tyler Smith. 
 
 The subject of this sketch lived in his 
 native county, until 1850, in the meantime 
 attending the district schools, and later 
 spending two years in the Rome Academy. 
 He then taught school one term and in March, 
 1850, came west to Hillsdale county, Mich- 
 igan, where he remained about si.\ months 
 and from there went to Branch county, 
 south of Coldwater, and later spent eighteen 
 months at Adrian and the same length of 
 time at Allegan, Michigan. While at Ad- 
 rian, on the 4th of May, 1853, he married 
 Mary Elizabeth St. John, a native of Pal- 
 myra, New York, and daughter of Rev. 
 Marshall St. John, of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church, a native of Vermont, who died 
 in 1852 at the age of forty-five years. His 
 wife uas Mary Catherine Brodock, a native 
 of Pennsylvania. Of their four children 
 Mrs. Smith was first in order of birth. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Smith ten children have been 
 born. Willard Marshall is an attorney re- 
 siding in La Salle, Illinois. Ida Z. at home. 
 Seymour E. resides at Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania. Charles Anderson died at the age 
 of one year. Cornelia E. is a teacher in 
 the public schools of Richmond, Illinois. 
 Harriet H. is a teacher at .'\ustin, Illinois. 
 Morris S. is with Barnarfi tS: Co., Chicago. 
 He married Nellie Keifer, and the\' have 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ^75 
 
 two children, Paul and Ruth. Albert G. 
 married Gertrude Lytle, and they reside at 
 Palatine, Illinois. Grace C. married Frank 
 T. Parsons, and their children are Winfield 
 and Donald. They reside at Williams' Bay, 
 Wisconsin. Frank A. married Nellie Julian 
 and they have one child, Kenneth. 
 
 In the fall of 1855, Mr. Smith went to 
 Aurora, where he worked at the carpenter's 
 trade for a short time and then secured rail- 
 road work at Galesburg, but retained his 
 home in Aurora for two years. In the fall 
 of 1S57 he went to Lee county, Illinois, on 
 a farm near Mulligan's Grove, and taught 
 school at West Brooklyn. In 1858 he was 
 licensed as a minister in the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, and in the fall of 1859, joined 
 the Rock River conference. He was first 
 stationed at Polo, Illinois, and from there 
 went to- Fulton City. In the fall of 1862, 
 he became captain of the Seventy-fifth Illi- 
 nois Volunteer Infantry, the regiment being 
 assigned to the Army of the Cumberland. 
 It was in various engagements, first at Nash- 
 ville, with General Porter, and then at Stone 
 River, Lookout Mountain, Chickamagua, on 
 the march from Chattanooga to Blue Springs, 
 in the battle of Dalton, and also at Buz- 
 zard's Roost. Having contracted a severe 
 cold, he was discharged after eighteen 
 months' service and returned to his home. 
 
 By the Rock River conference he was 
 assigned to Di.xon, Illinois, and later sent 
 to Aurora, where betook charge of Jennings 
 Seminary. Leaving that institution he ac- 
 cepted a charge at Newark, Kendall coun- 
 ty, and the following year was at Sandwich. 
 In the fall of 1866 he went to Polo, Illinois, 
 during which time he erected the church 
 building at that place, and was then three 
 3'ears at Sterling. From there he went to 
 La Salle, where he remained two years, in 
 
 the meantime building a house of worship. 
 .After being at Mendota two years he was 
 elected presiding elder and served four years. 
 He was ne.xt assigned the church at De 
 Kalb, where he remained one year, and was 
 then sent to Rockford for three years. From 
 Rockford he went to Marengo for two years, 
 after which he was at Paw Paw two years, 
 Hinckley two years, Richmond and Hebron 
 two years, and Palatine four years, erect- 
 ting a tine church at the latter place. 
 In the fall of 1896 he was assigned 
 to Genoa, where he still remains. Mr. 
 Smith has line architectural talent and 
 has furnished plans for the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church at Oregon, Illinois, and Platt- 
 ville, Wisconsin, which plans were copied 
 by the church at Waterloo, Dakota. In 
 politics Mr. Smith is a Republican, and fra- 
 ternally is a member of the G. A. R. post at 
 Rockford, and Rock River Lodge, No. 612, 
 at Sterling, Illinois. As a minister of the 
 gospel he has been very successful and in- 
 strumental in bringing many souls into the 
 kingdom of Christ. 
 
 JOEL W. CL.ARK, proprietor of the 
 Malta Hotel, Malta, Illinois, was born 
 in Clarksburg, Massachusetts, January 9. 
 1837, and is the son of Benjamin W. and 
 Lovina (Ketchum) Clark, both also natives 
 of Clarksburg, Massachusetts, the former 
 being the son of Saley Clark, of the same 
 place. The Clarks were numbered among 
 the first settlers in Massachusetts, and were 
 prominent farmers in that part of the state 
 in which they lived. They are of English 
 extraction. Saley Clark in particular was 
 a man of wide influence, the very town in 
 which he was born taking its name from 
 him. He served in the state legislature of 
 
27b 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Massachusetts where his abihty was recog- 
 nized by all. 
 
 Benjamin W. Clark removed with his 
 family to Illinois about 1858, locating in 
 DuPage county, where the family remained 
 a short time, when they removed to De 
 Kalb county, where the father died in 1863, 
 at the age of fifty-two years, his wife sur- 
 viving him many years, dying in 1890. at 
 the age of seventy-four years. They were 
 both members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and were lo\'al to the Master's 
 cause. They were the parents of fi\e 
 children, of whom four are yet living. 
 He also served in the legislature of Massa- 
 chusetts. 
 
 Joel W. Clark spent his boyhood in his 
 native town and county, and in its pub- 
 lic schools received his education. He re- 
 mained at home until fifteen years of age, 
 at which time he came west to DuPage 
 counts', Illinnis. where his uncle, Levi 
 Ketchum, then resided, and with whom he 
 lived three years. This was previous to 
 the removal of his parents. It was in 
 1856, during the Fremont and Buchanan 
 campaign, that he removed to De Kalb 
 county, where he remained until 1865, and 
 then went to Lee county, where he pur- 
 chased eighty acres of land, to which he 
 soon added an additional seventy acres, all 
 of which was in a good state of cultivation. 
 On that farm he resided until March, 1898, 
 when, in partnership with his nephew, L. 
 Clark, he took possession of the Malta 
 Hotel, buying out William Vanarchdale. 
 Mr. Clark repaired and remodeled the house, 
 putting in new furniture and renovating it 
 from garret to cellar, making it neat and 
 comfortable, one in which the traveling 
 jMiblic can take delight. 
 
 Mr. Clark has been twice married, his 
 
 first union being \vitli Miss .Maria Ki'tchimi, 
 daughter of Jesse and Sarah Ketchum, and 
 they were united January- 9, 185S. She 
 was born in DuPage county. By this union 
 there were three children: Orian L. , born 
 July 19, i860, died September 26, 1861; 
 Walter C. , born |une 22, 1867, died March 
 5, 1872; Lulu M.. born July 24, 1878, is yet 
 living. On the 22d of March, 1895, he was 
 joined in marriage with Miss Lizzie [ohn- 
 ston, daughter of John and Ann Johnston, 
 and by this union there is one child, Helen 
 Lovina, born Februar)' 2, 1896. Mrs. 
 Clark comes of a long-lived race, her 
 grandparents now living at the advanced 
 age of one hundred and five years in the 
 north of Ireland are hale and heartw 
 
 HENRY WORE, a veteran of the war 
 for the Union, who for three years 
 served his adopted country faithfully, as a 
 member of the One Hundred and Fifth 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, now resides 
 upon a fine farm of four hundred and forty- 
 six acres of well-improved land in section 
 25, Franklin township. He is a native of 
 Norfolk, England, born Februarv 3, 1837, 
 and is the son of William and Mary Worf, 
 both of whom were also natives of Norfolk, 
 England. They were the parents of eleven 
 children, George, William, John, James, 
 Abraham, Henry, Isaac, Charles, Maria, 
 Sophia and Sarah. Of these all are de- 
 ceased save William, Abraham, Henry and 
 Sophia. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of our subject 
 was spent in his natix'e land, where he re- 
 ceived a very limited education. With a 
 desire to better his condition in life, he con- 
 cluded to try his fortunes in the new world, 
 and in 1S56 left his nati\e land and came 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 27? 
 
 direct to Kirkland, De Kalb countj-, Illinois. 
 On his arrival he secured work on various 
 farms and continued to be thus employed 
 by the m^nth for about six years, in the 
 meantime attendmg the public schools dur- 
 ing the winter, thus receiving a pretty fair 
 education. His adopted country was now 
 in the midst of a struggle for its life, and 
 his sympathies being with the down-trodden 
 and oppressed, he enlisted at Kingston, Illi- 
 nois, August 2, 1862, in Company C, One 
 Hundred and Fifth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, a regiment that has a proud record 
 for service in the war. With his regiment 
 he was in the battles of Resaca, Atlanta, 
 Mt. Hickory, Bentonville and various minor 
 engagements. After the Atlanta campaign, 
 his regiment was with Sherman on the 
 march to the sea. and at the conclusion of 
 the war was in the grand review at Wash- 
 ington. It was discharged June 6, 1865, at 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 After receiving his discharge, Mr. Worf 
 returned to De Kalb county, and again 
 worked by the month, and saving his hard 
 earnings, in 1882, he purchased two hun- 
 dred and six acres of land in Kingston town- 
 ship, which he sold. His present farm 
 comprises two hundred and forty acres, 
 which is highly improved and one of the 
 best in Franklin township. 
 
 On the 14th of October, 1S79, Mr. 
 Worf was united in marriage with Miss 
 Susan Zubler, a native of Pennsylvania, 
 and by this union there are three children, 
 Bessie, Charles and Alta. Their home life 
 is a happy one. Mr. Worf still maintains 
 his interest in his war record, and is now a 
 member of Barnes Post, G. .\. R. He 
 is also a member of the Masonic frater- 
 nity, holding membership in the blue 
 lodge at Kingston, and in the command- 
 
 ery at Sycamore. In politics he is an 
 ardent Republican, having given his support 
 to that party since his arrival in this coun- 
 try. He landed here during the first presi- 
 dential campaign of that party, and identi- 
 fying himself with it. has continued to vote 
 the party ticket. While it took him some 
 years to obtain his first real start in life, 
 since acquiring his first tract of land he has 
 been verj' successful, and is now numbered 
 among the well-to-do and wide-awake farm- 
 ers of De Kalb countw 
 
 QAMUEL (}UIST, contractor and builder, 
 O S3'camore, Illinois, forms one of that 
 large number of citizens of Sweden who 
 are among the most desirable emigrants that 
 make up our cosmopolitan population. Ever 
 since the first settlement made b\' the 
 Swedes in Delaware, they have been a 
 worthy factor in western civilization. Being 
 thrifty and energetic, the}' soon become in 
 sympathy with Am.erican institutions, and 
 are true patriots, willing to do all they can 
 in defense of their adopted country. 
 
 Samuel Ouist was born near the town 
 of Svvengungen, Sweden, October 8, 1850, 
 and is the son of Swenig and Annette (An- 
 derson) Ouist, both of whom were natives 
 of the same country, the father being born 
 in 181 I. He came to America a few years 
 after our subject, with whom he now makes 
 his home. Swenig and Annette Ouist were 
 the parents of four sons and four daughters. 
 The paternal grandfather was Gus Nelson, 
 who after service in the army in a war with 
 Germany was given the surname of Ouist, 
 which has since been the family name. 
 
 In his native country our subject grew 
 to manhood and attended the parochial 
 schools between the ages of se\en and four- 
 
>;8 
 
 TTir: I5IOGRAPIIICAL RECORD 
 
 teen, at which time he was contirmcil in the 
 Lutheran church. From fifteen to twenty- 
 one he worked on his father's farm. As 
 soon as he arrived at maturity he deter- 
 mined to emi;.jrate to America, and there- 
 fore sailed from Gothbur^, Sweden, for 
 Hull, England, crossed to Eiverpool and 
 sailed for New York, landing; in that city 
 the later fiart of April, 1871. From Xew 
 York he came directly west and secured 
 work for five months on a farm in Cook 
 cOLUits', Illinois. Soon afterwards he went 
 to Chicago to learn the trade of car- 
 penter, and there worked for three years. 
 He then came to Sycamore, Illinois, and 
 for nine years worked for Jacob Deiley, 
 and then entered into partnership with him, 
 which was continued for two years and then 
 dissolved. For the succeeding two j'ears he 
 was in partnership with his brother, ]ohn 
 Lunquist, and W'illiam .Anderson. He then 
 bought Mr. Anderson's interest, but re- 
 mained two years longer in partnership with 
 his other partner. In 1894 that copartner- 
 ship was dissolved, since which time our 
 subject has carried on the business alone. 
 Since 1875 Mr. Ouist has been constantly 
 engaged at his trade, and on the greater 
 number of fine buildings in Sycamore he 
 was either employed or acted as contractor 
 and builder. He has now a well eciuipped 
 shop with steam power, circular and band 
 saws, and turning lathes, molding machines, 
 etc. He is prepared to do the finest inside 
 and outside work, and employs from fifteen 
 to thirty men. 
 
 On the 3d of July, 1877, Mr. Ouist was 
 united in marriage at Sycamore, with Miss 
 Ida Boline, born in Smolen, Sweden, and 
 who came to America in 1869 with her two 
 brothers, sailing from Copenhagen in .Au- 
 gust, by way of Hull and Liverpool, Eng- 
 
 land, t').N\-\\ \'(irk. She is the daughter 
 of Swen M. Boline, who married Guenella 
 Peterson, a daughter of Pierre and Dorthea 
 (Anderson) Peterson. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. ()uist li\e in a beautiful 
 hotne erected by himself, on corner of Lo- 
 cust and Ottawa streets in the fall of 1886. 
 They are both members of the Swedish 
 Lutheran church, and in politics he is a 
 Republican, and fraternally a member of 
 the Modern Woodmen of .\merica. As a 
 citizen he is enter[)rising and stands high 
 in the estimation of his fellow citizens. 
 
 JOHN F. SHOOP is one of the enter- 
 prising farmers of Malta township, and 
 resides on section 22, where he has a highly 
 productive farm. He was born in Pierce 
 township, De Kalb county, Illinois, Feb- 
 ruary 6, 1857, and is the son of Solomon 
 and Catherine (Eberly) Shoop, both natives 
 of Pennsylvania, but of German descent. 
 They were married in Pennsylvania, where 
 they resided for a number of years and 
 where the husband and father engaged in 
 tilling the soil, the family being held in high 
 esteem by their fellow citizens. In 1S48 
 thev removed west, locating in Pierce town- 
 ship, De Kalb county, Illinois, where he 
 purchased one hundred and sixty acres of 
 land in its natural state. This land he 
 improved by the erection of substantial 
 liuiliiings and outhouses and in due time 
 had as good a farm as was in the township. 
 To his first purchase he added one hundred 
 and sixty acres in addition, which he dis- 
 posed of in a few years, but retained his 
 original farm. Solomon and Catherine 
 Shoop were members of the German Evan- 
 gelical church, and stood well in the esteem 
 of the community, dying at a ripe old age. 
 
JOHN F. SHOOP. 
 
MRS. J. F. SHOOP. 
 
THli BIOGRAPHICAL RECORIJ 
 
 J 8 3 
 
 the former at Pierceville, De Kalb county, 
 in March, 1886, and the latter at Hincklej-, 
 Pebruary 28, 1892. The\- were the par- 
 ents of twelve children, nine of whom grew 
 to maturity, and eight of the number now 
 living. 
 
 John F. Shoop was seventh in order of 
 birth and grew to manhood on the old farm 
 in Pierce township, receiving his education 
 in the schools of Pierceville. He remained 
 at home until he reached his majority, 
 when he engaged in farming at various 
 points in the count)'. He was married in 
 October, 1882, to Miss Margaret Wende- 
 berg, who was l^orn at Pierceville, Illinois, 
 December 10, i860, and the daughter of 
 George and Elizabeth Wendeberg. By 
 this union one son has been born, Elmer J., 
 April 14, 1887. 
 
 In 1882 Mr. Shoop removed to Malta 
 township, where he rented land for one 
 year, and then purchased eighty acres of 
 improved land on which he resided six 
 years and which he worked in a profitable 
 manner. Having a chance to sell and 
 make a good profit on his investment he 
 disposed of that farm and purchased a larger 
 one adjacent to the \illage of Malta, con- 
 taining one hundred and sixty-three and 
 a half acres, on which he now resides. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Shoop are active members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church in which 
 he has held the office of trustee and steward 
 very acceptably for a number of years. 
 They are both alive to every christian work 
 and never hesitate to do their dut\' in ad- 
 vancing the Master's cause. A good farm- 
 er, a loyal citizen and an obliging neighbor, 
 Mr. Shoop has been honored with several 
 township offices, which he has conscien- 
 tiously filled to his own credit and the peo- 
 ple's good. 
 
 14 
 
 HERMAN G. LOSSMAN, a dairyman 
 residing on De Kalb axenue, Syca- 
 more, was born in .\nrlam, province of 
 Pomerania, Germany, January 1 I, 1852, and 
 is the son of Adolph Lossman, also a native 
 of Pomerania, Germany. From the age of 
 six years, imtil fourteen years old, he at- 
 tended the public schools in his native vil- 
 lage, and then went to sea and foi- sixteen 
 years was a sailor on the ocean and sailed 
 all over the known globe in every continent, 
 visiting almost evi;ry conntr_\', including 
 China, Japan, the Indies, Africa, North and 
 South .\merica, the Mediterranean coast, 
 White Sea, in .Arctic waters, and in Iceland. 
 During this time he ser\-ed his three j'ears 
 in the German na\\-, acquitting himself 
 with credit. In 1882 he (]uit the sea and 
 worked one year with his father on a small 
 boat on the Peene river in Germany. In 
 1883 he left his native land for America, 
 and in due time landed at New York, from 
 which place he came to Sycamore, where a 
 brother and an uncle had previously located. 
 For twelve years he worked in the canning 
 factory at Sycamore, five years of which 
 time he was employed as foreman. Resign- 
 ing his position in the factory, he established 
 his present business as milk dealer, pur- 
 chasing from the farmers and retailing 
 throughout the city. He began in a small 
 way, but by his fair dealing his business 
 rapidly increased, and he now runs two 
 wagons, disposing of eighty gallons of milk 
 per day. 
 
 Mr. Lossman was married in Anclam, 
 Province of Pomerania, Germany, March 
 24, 1882, to Miss Bertha Arndt, who was 
 also born in that village and a daughter of 
 John and Mary (Arndt) Arndt, both of whom 
 spent their entire lives in the old country. 
 Of the five children born to our subject rind 
 
lU 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 wife, William, who is his father's helper in 
 the milk business, was born in Germany. 
 Frank, George, Anna and Emma were born 
 in Sycamore. Mr. and Mrs. Lossman were 
 reared in the Lutheran faith, but are now 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
 at Sycamore. Fraternally he is a member 
 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
 and Modern Woodmen of America. In pol- 
 itics he is a Republican. Thrifty, enter- 
 prising and energetic, he has been fairly 
 successful since coming to Sycamore, and 
 now owns a neat residence at the west end 
 of De Kalb avenue, with a good outfit of 
 wagons, horses, etc., necessary for the 
 transaction of his business. 
 
 MALCOLM McMURCHV, the present 
 supervisor of South Grove township, 
 is a fairly well known citizen of the county 
 and is a practical farmer, one who has made 
 a success of his chosen vocation. He was 
 born in Kane county, Illinois, November 3, 
 1850, and is the son of Malcolm and Jean- 
 nette (Renwick) McMurchy, both of whom 
 were natives of Scotland and who were the 
 parents of six children, as follows: Daniel, 
 Walter, John, Malcolm, Mary and Agnes. 
 Malcolm McMurchy, Sr. , was reared in 
 his native land and there learned the car- 
 penter's trade, an occupation which he fol- 
 lowed e.xclusively while yet residing in his 
 native land. In an early day he crossed 
 the ocean to Canada, and in 1845 came to 
 Kane count}' and there worked at his trade. 
 On the 29th of March, 1842, he married 
 Jeannette Renwick, a daughter of Walter 
 Renwick, both of whom were natives of 
 Scotland. William Renwick, the paternal 
 great-grandfather of our subject, was a na- 
 tive of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and was 
 
 also a fanner by occupation. He emigrated 
 
 to America with his familv and in De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, engaged in farming, a vo- 
 cation at which he continued until his death 
 at the age of eighty years. Malcolm Mc- 
 Murchy, Sr. , came to De Kalb counly iii 
 1850, and located on his farm where our 
 subject now resides in 1863, and there died. 
 February 14, 1 865, at the age of sixty years. 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood on his father's farm and has made farm- 
 ing his life work. He received a common- 
 school education and by reading and obser- 
 vation has since become a well-informed 
 man. He has a farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres, the old McMurchy homestead, 
 which he has well improved and kept under 
 the highest state of cultivation. He is quite 
 prominent in his township and for three 
 terms served as road commissioner, and in 
 the spring of 1 898 was elected supervisor of 
 his township. In politics he is a thorough 
 Republican and has voted with that part)- 
 since attaining his majority. Fraternally 
 he is a Mason, holding membership with 
 the lodge at Creston. 
 
 JAMES M. ORPUT, wagon-maker and 
 tank-builder, Malta, Illinois, was the 
 first man to transact business in the village 
 and one of its first settlers, building the 
 first house in Malta in September, 1856. 
 He is a native of Homer township, Loraine 
 county, Ohio, born December 8, 1824, and 
 is the son of Richard and Reliefie (Hatch) 
 Orput, the former a native of Virginia and 
 the latter of New York. They removed to 
 Illinois in 1837, arriving' in De Kalb county 
 October 8 and stopping over night on the 
 prairie between what is now Sycamore and 
 South Grove. Thev lost the trail and dark- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 28; 
 
 ness set in and were obliged to wait for the 
 coming day. In their company was a man 
 who had been there the year previous, and 
 when dayhght came he recognized Orput 
 Grove a short distance away, it having been 
 purchased the previous year by Mr. Orput 
 but had not been occupied. With his fam- 
 ily he settled at Orput Grove, but two years 
 later returned to Ohio, for the benefit of his 
 health and there died about 1840. His 
 family remained at the Grove until 1850 
 when the sons began to separate and pro- 
 vide for themselves. 
 
 On leaving home our subject learned the 
 wheelwright and carpenter's trade, and in 
 1852 he married Miss Almira Krill, a daugh- 
 ter of James and Susan Krill, by whom he 
 had three children, Charles, Frank and 
 Nelson. In the spring of 1856 he removed 
 to Malta and engaged in the grain business. 
 At this time he was the owner of eight hun- 
 dred and sixty acres of land in I)e Kalb 
 county, some of which he worked in addi- 
 tion to carrying on the grain business. 
 About this time his wife became seriously 
 ill with an incurable malady which was a 
 heavy expense to him. In i S60 his three 
 children were stricken and died, two of 
 them, Charles and Frank, within nine davs 
 of each other, while Nelson died si.\ months 
 months previousl}'. His wife followed 
 December 28, 1861, aged twenty-six j'ears. 
 
 While engaged in the grain business the 
 Civil war broke out, causing a depreciation 
 in value, by which .Vlr. Orput lost some 
 twenty-two thousand dollars. This loss, 
 combined with the loss of his family, and 
 the expense necessarily attached to it, caused 
 him to fail financially, but he yet remained 
 an honest man. His large tract of land 
 was sold to meet the demands of creditors. 
 He continued, however, in the grain busmess, 
 
 buying and selling, and trying in every w-ay 
 to earn an honest dollar. 
 
 In 1863 Mr. Orput married Miss Maria 
 Rogers, who was born in 1840 and the 
 daughter of Richard Rogers, and to them 
 three children were born, James M., 
 Kittie and Grace. In 1876 James M.. 
 and Kittie, died within three months of 
 each other. In February, 1880, Mrs. Maria 
 Orput died and in May, 1888, Mr. Orput 
 married Mrs. Elizabeth Trowbridge, widow 
 of Charles Trowbridge. 
 
 Mr. Orput continued in the grain busi- 
 ness until 1870, since which time he has been 
 engaged in his present line. He is of an 
 inventive turn of mind and in\ented a har- 
 vesting machine which he secured by letters 
 patent in 1859. In 1872 he patented an 
 ecjualizer on a wagon, which he improved 
 one year later. In 1S79 he invented an- 
 other equalizer, in no way related to the 
 first, both of which proved practical. In 
 1884 he patented a road scraper. He is 
 also the inventor of many other devices 
 which are both no\el and useful. He owns 
 his own workshop and the dwelling in which 
 he lives. No man is held in higher esteem 
 by his fellow citizens, and notwithstanding 
 his reverses he looks young at the age of 
 seventy-four years. 
 
 GEORGE H. STANLEY, who after 
 years of arduous labor upon the farm 
 is now living retired in the village of Genoa, 
 was born in the town of Smyrna, Chenango 
 county. New 'S'ork, .August 29, 1S29. His 
 father. Dyer D. Stanley, was born in Os- 
 wego county, New York, August 3, 1805. 
 He was a farmer all his life, and in 1845 
 emigrated to Illinois, and later retired from 
 active work, making his home with our sub- 
 
286 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ject, until his death, March 9, 1890, in his 
 eighty-fifth year. He was the son of Dyer 
 D. Stanley, St., who married a Miss Haw- 
 ley, from Cherry Valley, New 'S'ork. The 
 Staideys are of Puritan origin, the first of 
 the name coming over in the Mayflower. 
 Dyer D. Stanley, the father of our subject, 
 married Belinda Pease, a native of Enfield, 
 Hartford county, Connecticut, born August 
 13, 1807, and who died at our subject's 
 home in Genoa, [anuary 31, 1.SS7. When 
 quite young, her parents moved to Madison 
 count\'. New York, where she grew to 
 womanhood. She was the daughter of Jesse 
 and Abigail (Larned) Pease, both of Holland, 
 descent. Her mother died in March, 1S57. 
 To Dyer D. and Belinda Stanley eight 
 children were born as follows: Mrs. Melissa 
 Henry, living in Carroll county, Missouri; 
 George H., our subject; Leroy j., living in 
 Antelope county, Nebraska; Thomas, of 
 Topeka, Kansas; Mrs. Abigail White, of 
 .•\ntelope county, Nebraska; Newton H., 
 who was killed in the battle of Little Blue, 
 October 2 1 , 1S64; and \\'illis Jemay, "hu 
 died in infancy. 
 
 In his native town, Mr. Stanley lived 
 until the age of sixteen years, in the mean- 
 time attending the subscription schools, in 
 which the teacher boarded around. In 
 1845, he came west with the family, by 
 canal to Buffalo, and by boat to Southport, 
 driving from there to Belvidere, locating on 
 a farm of two hundred and forty acres, in 
 Spring township, Boone countj-. With his 
 father he remained until of age, when he 
 commenced learning the carpenter's trade, 
 an occupation which he followed for some 
 years. He began fanning on rented land, 
 in Boone county, and he continued to rent 
 for six years. He then purchased a farm 
 in McHenry county, consisting of two hun- 
 
 dred acres, to which he later added one 
 hundred and sixty acres, giving him as fine 
 a farm as any^ in Riley township. On the 
 first farm, he built the house, barns and 
 other outbuildings, but on the second farm 
 the buildings were already erected. Both 
 farms are well drained, with main- rods of 
 tiling, and every acre is under a high state 
 of cultivation. While actively engaged in 
 larming, he dmoted himself principall}' to 
 raising grain and stock, but for some years 
 was engaged in dairying, keeping about 
 sixt)' head of nulch cows. 
 
 Mr. Stanley was married May 31, 1857. 
 in Tiskilwa, Illinois, to Miss Mary A. Fall, 
 born near Chesterfield, Morgan county, 
 Ohio, and a daughter of Moses Fall, a na- 
 
 tive of Maine, born Maj- 30, 1797 
 
 Ht 
 
 moved to Ohio with his parents when a boy 
 and died there. The family later moved to 
 Peoria county. He was the son of .\aron 
 Fall, a soldier in the Revolutionary war, 
 who saw seven years of hard service and 
 was at the fall of Quebec. Aaron I'all mar- 
 ried Sallie Bickford, a natise of Maine, 
 who died when about sixty years old, her 
 husband being eighty-nine years old at his 
 death. For a time they lived in what is 
 now West Virginia, and then mo\ed to 
 Ohio, where they both died. Moses Fall 
 married Eliza Briggs, born in Massachu- 
 setts on the South Coast, near Long Island. 
 She was a daughter of Stephen Briggs, of 
 English descent, who married Zelpha .Att- 
 wood, a native of New England. To Moses 
 and Eliza Falls seven children were born, 
 three of whom are yet living — Mrs. Lucy 
 Bartlett, of Sheffield, Illinois, Mrs. Sarah 
 Lackey, of Stark coimty, Illinois, and Mrs. 
 Stanley. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Stanley one son was 
 born, Harvey Newton, born in Spring town- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 !87 
 
 ship, Boone county, Illinois, September :;3, 
 1S64. After attending the schools of Mc- 
 Henry county, he entered the high school 
 of Genoa, from which he was graduated. 
 For several years he engaged in teach- 
 ing, and then entered the State Normal 
 School at Normal, Illinois, where he spent 
 one year and a half, after which he again 
 engaged in teaching. In the spring of 1889 
 he commenced farming in Riley township 
 on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres 
 where he still continues to reside. He was 
 married in Genoa in November, 1888, to 
 Miss Jennie Perkins, a daughter of H. A. 
 Perkins of Genoa, whose sketch appears 
 elsewhere in this work. Four children 
 have been born to them, of whom Henry, 
 the first born, is now deceased. The living 
 are Frank, Howard and Harry. 
 
 In the spring of '1884, Mr. Stanley re- 
 tired from active farming, removed to Ge- 
 noa, and has since been taking life easy. 
 At various times in his life he has been 
 something of a traveler. He has found 
 work for a time at various employments in 
 Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and in fact 
 every state touched by the Mississippi riv- 
 er. He has worked in the pineries and has 
 rafted lumber. He spent one year in 
 Louisiana and Mississippi working at his 
 trade. In 1859 he made a trip overland to 
 Colorado. In politics he is a Prcjhibitionist 
 and has held nearly all of the minor town- 
 ship offices. Religiously he and his fam- 
 ily are connected with the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church. Few men have more warm 
 friends than the subject of this sketch. 
 
 lOHN H. LARSON, a native of La 
 <J Salle county, Illinois, born February 
 14, 1847, now resides on section 3, Paw' 
 
 Paw township, De Kalb county, his farms 
 consisting of five hundred and twenty acres, 
 all of which is under cultivation and highly 
 improved. His father, Lars Larson, was a 
 nati\e of Norway, and who there spent his 
 boyhood and youth, coming to the United 
 States a young man. He first located in 
 New York, where he remained a short time, 
 and then came west to La Salle county, 
 Illinois, where he made a permanent loca- 
 tion. He married in La Salle county Miss 
 Caroline Hulverson, a native of Norway, 
 who there grew to womanhood, and who 
 came to this country with her mother and 
 step-father. On locating in La Salle coun- 
 ty Mr. Larson purchased one hundred and 
 forty acres of land, and later bought thirty 
 acres of timber. His first house was a 
 little log shanty, ten by twelve feet, in 
 which he lived while making his first im- 
 provements on the place. The farm under 
 his management became a well-cultivated 
 place, and he there lived, dying in 1850. 
 He was one of the honored pioneers of the 
 county. His wife survived him many years, 
 dying in 1888, at the age of eighty-four 
 years. They were the parents of two sons 
 and one daughter: Martha, Oliver and 
 John H. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in La Salle county, and as the oppor- 
 tunity was afforded him attended the com- 
 mon schools. He remained with his mother 
 until twenty years of age, with the e.Kcep- 
 tion of five years just after the mother's sec- 
 ond marriage. Arriving at mature years, 
 he bought a tract of seventy acres, which 
 was partially improved, and there farmed 
 for nine years. He then purchased one 
 hundred and fifty-six acres on section 3, 
 Paw Paw township, comprising part of his 
 present farm. The farm was an improved 
 
288 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 one, but he has greatly added to its value 
 and appearance by the erection of a number 
 of outbuildings, wind-pump, and well tiling 
 the place. In 1S78 he purchased sixt)- 
 acres adjoining. Frtjm time to time he add- 
 ed to his possessions until he now has fi\e 
 hundred and twenty acres of well -improved 
 land, which brings him in -uinually a goodly 
 income. 
 
 On the >Sth of Januar\, iSf)S, in Dodge 
 county, Minnesota, Mr. Larson was united 
 in marriage with Miss Sarah Stevenson, a 
 nati\e of Illinois, born in La Salle county, 
 and a daughter of Sjur Stevenson, a native 
 of Norway and a pioneer of F^a Salle county. 
 Bj' this union there were seven children, 
 one of whom died in infancs . The living 
 are Edwin, Frank, .Albert, Nellie, Emma 
 and John. 
 
 Politically Mr. Larson is a lifelong Re- 
 publican, casting his first presidential vote 
 for General Grant in 1868. He has served 
 six years as commissioner of highways, and 
 for twenty years was a member of the 
 school board. He and his wife are attend- 
 ants of the Lutheran church, in which faith 
 they were both reared. They are well- 
 known and highly-respected citizens of De 
 Kalb county, where the greater part <jf their 
 lives has been spent. 
 
 JOHN D. McCLELLAND. liveryman, 
 whose place of business is on Fourth 
 street, De Kalb, Illinois, has one of the best 
 equipped establishments in the city. His 
 stables are clean, well lighted, with thorough 
 ventilation, and in every way comfortable. 
 He was born June 8, 1847, in Kane county, 
 Illinois, and is the son of George W. and 
 Jane H. (Walker) McClelland, both natives 
 of Erie, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, 
 
 the former born March 16, 1822, and the 
 latter November 7, 1824. 
 
 George W. McClelland was a prosperous 
 farmer, and removed from Erie, Pennsyl- 
 \ania, to Illinois, arriving in Kane county 
 No\ember 28, 1843, the same year in uhich 
 he was married, and for a short time resided 
 at Burlington, Illinois. In i 857 he removed 
 with his family to Kingston, De Kalb count}', 
 where he purchased a farm of our hundred 
 acres, eighty acres of which was in praiiic 
 and the remainder in timber. This place 
 he improved, erecting on it suitable build- 
 ings and placing it under a high state of 
 culti\ation. His death was the result of an 
 accident. He was kicked by a horse and 
 died August 12, 1873. His widow and four 
 out of a family of five children survi\e hun. 
 Their names are John D., Sarah J., McCol- 
 lom, Tina A. and George A. Fraternally, 
 he was a member of the Masonic order and 
 by that order his funeral services were con- 
 ducted. He was a man held in high esteem 
 by all who knew him, respected for his in- 
 trinsic worth, a loving father, an affectionate 
 husband and a loyal citizen. 
 
 John D. McClelland, our subject, was 
 reared and educated in Kingston township, 
 alternating between the farm and the school 
 room until he reached his majority. He 
 lived at home until about 1876, when he 
 turned his attention to \arious [Mirsuits, 
 which he followed for about ten years. In 
 1886 he removed to Dc Kalb, where he en- 
 gaged in the livery business, forming a part- 
 nership with George Holmes, whose interest 
 he purchased the same year. Soon after, 
 however, he formed a partnership with M. 
 Hanrahan and in 1888 sold his interest to Mr. 
 Hanrahan. Later he and his brother George 
 purchased the interest of Orlando Carter in 
 his livery business on Third street, where 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 !89 
 
 they continued four years with marked suc- 
 cess. At the expiration of this time he pur- 
 chased his brother's interest and continued 
 the business alone in that location for one 
 year. He then purchased a hjt on Fourth 
 street, on which he erected suitable barns 
 to accommodate his rapidly increasing busi- 
 ness. 
 
 On the 7th of December, 1S94, Mr. Mc- 
 Clelland was united in marriage with Miss 
 MoUie Starks, a daugliter of James and Sarah 
 Starks. They have now one child. Reed, 
 born December 11, 1S97. Politically Mr. 
 McClelland is a Republican and fraternally a 
 member of the Knights of Pythias. He is 
 an excellent judge of horses, and has some 
 of the finest and most stylish rigs to be 
 found in the city. He is a genial and court- 
 eous gentleman, who always endeavors to 
 please and is thoroughly acquainted with his 
 business. 
 
 WILLIAM H. KEENE, who resides on 
 section 4, Victor township, but who 
 is practically living a retired life, came to 
 De Kalb county in the spring of 1849. He 
 was born March 4, 1820, in Esperance, 
 Schoharie counts, New York, and is the 
 son of Bartholomew Keene, a native of 
 (iilderland. New York, who was a nail- 
 maker by trade, but who followed the occu- 
 pation of farming for a short time, and who 
 for a period of eighteen years and four 
 months kept the toll bridge across the 
 Schoharie river at Esperance. Bartholo- 
 mew Keene was married three times, his 
 first wife living but a short time. He then 
 married Fanny Van Schoover, who was the 
 mother of our subject, and after her death 
 he married Esther Slingcrland. Bartholo- 
 inew Keene came west m the winter of 
 
 1S43, coming through Canada and Chicago 
 to the Fox river in Kane county. There 
 our subject rented a farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres, on which he lived until the 
 fall of 1S48. He is the only survivor of a 
 family of nine children. 
 
 In his native state, William H. Keene 
 grew to manhood and on the 17th of Octo- 
 ber, 1848, was united in marriage with Miss 
 Emily Pulver, a native of Gilderland, New 
 York, and a daughter of Richard and Katie 
 Pulver. Immediately after marriage, he 
 brought his bride to De Kalb county and 
 purchased forty-six acres of wild land in 
 Victor township, and also a claim right of 
 one hundred and sixty acres, which he later 
 entered. He now has a valuable farm of 
 two hundred and eighty acres, which he has 
 well improved, ha\'ing an excellent dwell- 
 ing, two large barns, various other out- 
 buildings, and is surrounded with a fine 
 smooth wire fence, and well drained. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Keene are the parents of 
 eight children, as follows: Marcus, deceased; 
 Julia, who married S. L. Brewer, a 
 farmer li"ing in Kansas, is now deceased; 
 Martha, residing at home, and acting as 
 housekeeper for her father; George M., a 
 farmer, who married Malinda Merritt, and is 
 li\'ing in Victor township; Nancy, who mar- 
 ried Jonathan Davis, a farmer of Victor 
 township; Lewis Adelbert, living at home 
 and operating the home farm; Laura, who 
 married C. Clifford, v.'ho is engaged in the 
 butcher business in Leland; and Louis, 
 who is now deceased. 
 
 Mr. Keene for many years has been a 
 raiser of shorthorn cattle, and has now some 
 of the finest in the state. He is also en- 
 gaged in raising Berkshire hogs and Shrop- 
 shire sheep. He generally ships his own 
 stock, and in this business has been quite 
 
2go 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 successful. Politically, he is a Democrat, 
 and has served his township in various local 
 offices. For about eight years he served as 
 road commissioner, and was school trustee 
 for a number of \ears. He has also served 
 as supervisor of his township, and during one 
 term of the circuit court was foreman of the 
 grand jury. A strong temperance man, he 
 has been identified with the Good Templars 
 for some years. 
 
 .\fter a happ>' wedded life of nearly fifty 
 \'ears, Mrs. Keene was called to her reward 
 |une 28, 1898. She was a woman of excel- 
 lent character, a loving wife and an affec- 
 tionate mother, a good neighbor and a 
 friend to all. Her death was sincerely 
 mourned, not alone by the family but by 
 many friends in De Kalb and La Salle coun- 
 ties. As already stated, Mr. Iveene is living 
 practically a retired life. He has done his 
 work well, aiding in developing the count}- 
 and state, and where known is held in high 
 esteem. 
 
 CLARK L. BARBER, deceased, was 
 one of the pioneers of De Kalb coun- 
 ty and a man well known throughout its 
 length and breadth. He was born in the 
 town of Pike, Wyoming county. New York, 
 June 29, 1 8 14. His parents, Lexi C. and 
 Sallie (Rood) Barber, were natives of \'er- 
 mont, who, as pioneers, settled in Pike 
 township in 1811. Levi C. Barber bought 
 land of the Holland Purchase Company 
 four miles east of Pike Hollow, but in the 
 wilderness. Here he erected a log house, 
 in which our subject was born, cleared a 
 farm and made considerable advancement 
 toward the establishment of a comfortable 
 home, but in Februarj-, 1835, started for 
 the Prairie state with horses and sleigh. 
 
 Arriving in De Kalb county, he took a 
 claim on section 15, of what is now De 
 Kalb township. He was accompanied by 
 his two eldest sons, Lyman and Henry, 
 who also took claims, and afterwards en- 
 tered entered the land when the Govern- 
 ment had surveyed it and placed it on the 
 market. This was their home until the 
 death of the father, which occurred in 1859. 
 He was a stirring man, full of energy and 
 enterprise, and for several years served as 
 sheriff of Allegany county. New York. He 
 was twice married, and by his first wife his 
 children were Lyman, Harry, Clark L., 
 Amelia, Pollie and Adelia. The first four 
 are now deceased. .Amelia is the wife of 
 Lunian Huntley, of Di.xon, Illinois. His 
 second wife was Mrs. Hannah Brownwell, 
 by whom he had three children. Adelia is 
 the wife of Franklin Burr, of Lincoln, Ne- 
 braska, whose son, Charles C, was a mem- 
 ber of the Nebraska state senate. \\'. B. 
 is now a resident of De Kalb. Laura E., 
 the wife of Clark Carter, is now deceased. 
 Clark L. liarber, the subject of this 
 sketch, grew to manhood in his native town, 
 being reared to farm life. In 1836, accom- 
 panied b}' two sisters, he started to meet 
 their father in the prairie state. Leaving 
 his sisters in Chicago, he made his way on 
 foot for that part of Kane county now in- 
 cluded in De Kalb, where he met the fa- 
 ther. He first made a claim one mile north 
 of De Kalb on what is now called Geneva 
 lake, but he abandoned it and took one on 
 section 15 and iS, in what is now De Kalb 
 township. Here he built a log house, hav- 
 ing a chimney constructed of sticks and 
 mud. making the roof with 'shakes," split 
 from oak timber, and the fioor of pun- 
 cheon. From this rude beginning he im- 
 [n'oved the place to its present fine condi- 
 
C. L. BARBER. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RP:COKD. 
 
 293 
 
 tion, the farm containing two hundred acres. 
 In 1883 he sold his original farm and trav- 
 eled extensively in Kansas and Nebraska. 
 In Chase count}', Nebraska, he purchased a 
 farm of four hundred acres, and in the same 
 year he bought a large farm in Iroquois 
 county, Illinois. 
 
 In May, 1839, Mr. Barber was united in 
 marriage with Miss Mary M. Spring, a na- 
 tive of New York, born May 5, 1823, and 
 the daughter of Samuel and Lament Spring. 
 By this union twelve children were born, 
 two of whom are now living, Mrs. Jacob 
 Crawford, born November \2. 1840; and 
 Mrs. Nevvcombe Crawford, born September 
 6, 1846. 
 
 Mr. Barber died March 12, 1892. He 
 was a man greatly esteemed and filled sev- 
 eral ofifices of honor and trust in both town- 
 ship and county. For si.x years he was 
 deputy sheriff, and for several years was 
 assessor of De Kalb township. He was a 
 Mason of high integrity and also a member 
 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 WALTER M. FORWARD, senior mem- 
 ber of the firm of Forward & Mc- 
 Guire, plumbers of Sycamore, was born at 
 Brighton, Ontario, Canada, September 30, 
 1855. His father, Reuben H. Forward, 
 was a native of Watertown, New York, 
 born October 24, 1823, and who moved to 
 Canada about 1845, and there on the 30th 
 of April, [846, married Miss Margaret 
 Spencer, a native of Brighton, Ontario, born 
 March 5, 1824, and a daughter of Richard 
 and Pauline (Kingsbury) Spencer, both na- 
 tives of England. Richard Spencer's mother 
 was a Miss Richards, and Pauline Kings- 
 bury's mother was a Miss Otis. Richard 
 H. and Margaret Forward were the parents 
 
 of five children, three of whom are now liv- 
 ing: Imogene, wife of Joseph A. Kemp, of 
 Colburn, Canada; James W. and Walter M. 
 The father died in 1857 in Ohio while awa}' 
 from home on a business trip. The mother 
 died in Canada December 2, 1897. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended 
 school in Brighton until seventeen years of 
 age, and in his native town commenced 
 learning the tinner's trade. In the latter 
 part of August, 1872, he went to Beloit, 
 ^^'isconsin, where he finished his trade. 
 On the 6th of July, 1874, he went to Chica- 
 go, in time to see the great July fire, and 
 there worked in a shop on Madison street 
 until November of the same year, when he 
 came to Sycamore and worked for Captain 
 Whittemore until August of the following 
 \ear. Returning to Chicago, he remained 
 until April, 1879, with the exception of the 
 summer season of 1877, when he was em- 
 ployed at South Bend, Indiana. In March, 
 1879, he went to Rockford, Illinois, where 
 he remained four years and then again came 
 to Sycamore, and for four years was with 
 Haight Brothers. He began business for 
 himself in July, 1887, being the junior mem- 
 ber of the firm of Buell & Forward. That 
 partnership continued one year, when he 
 formed a partnership with Haight Brothers 
 under the firm name of W. M. Forward & 
 Company, that partnership existing until 
 1896. Since January, 1897, he has been 
 in partnership with Francis W. McGuire, 
 their place of business being on Maple 
 street. 
 
 Mr. Forward was married in Sycamore, 
 July 10, 1879, to Ida M. Rowley, a native 
 of S3'camore, and fifth in a family of seven 
 children born to John W. and Louisa T. 
 (Beebe) Rowley. Her father was born in 
 Belvidere, New Jersey, August 11, 1822, 
 
294 
 
 THi: BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and came to De Kalb county in 1844, lo- 
 cating at Sycamore where he engaged in 
 his trade of carpenter and contractor. He 
 was a son of Louis and Phebe (Wallace) 
 Rowley, the former a native of Amsterdam, 
 New York, and the latter of Scotland. 
 Lewis Rowley died in 1848 at the age of 
 eighty years. Louisa F. Beebe was a na- 
 tive of Jefferson connty, New York, and a 
 daughter of John Beebe, who was born in 
 Connecticut, and who married Sarah Clark, 
 a daughter of John Clark, whose wife was 
 a Miss Calkins. John Beebe was a son of 
 John Beebe, Sr. , who married a Miss Clark. 
 John Beebe came west in 1844 and pur- 
 chased a farm near Shabbona Grove. 
 
 To our subject and wife four children 
 ha\e been born. Edward ]. died at the 
 age of fi\e years. Ferd W., Harry and 
 Ruth all yet reside at home. In politics 
 Mr. Forward is a Republican, while he and 
 his wife are members of the Congregational 
 church. Fraternally he is a Mason and a 
 member of the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
 ica, Knights of Pythias, Knights of the 
 Maccabees and Knights of the Globe. For 
 two vears he served as alderman of his 
 ward, and in e\ery relation of life he has 
 shown himself an enterprising and thorough- 
 going business man. 
 
 DAVID M. GIBBS, for nearly thirty 
 years a successful teacher in the pub- 
 lic schools of Illinois, but now living a re- 
 tired life in the village of Genoa, was born 
 near Cooperstown, Otsego county, New- 
 York, May 5, 1839. His father, Alanson 
 D. Gibbs, was born in Massachusetts, Jan- 
 uary 8, 1803, and moved to Otsego county, 
 New York, in bo)'hood and there grew to 
 manhood and married Sophronia Main, a 
 
 native of the state of New York, born April 
 20, 1809, and who died March 20. 1895. 
 Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812 
 and was in the battle of Sackett's Harbor. 
 From New York, later in life, Alanson D. 
 Gibbs moved with his family to Illinois and 
 purchased a farm of one hundred and 
 twenty acres in Kingston township, De Kalb 
 county, where his death occurred March 4, 
 1885. In early life he was a Democrat, but 
 on account of its free soil principles he be- 
 came a Republican on the organization of 
 that party. Alanson D. and Sophronia 
 Gibbs were the parents of seven children. 
 Eustacia is now the wife of J. S. Brown, of 
 Kingston, Illinois. Dewight lives in Tope- 
 ka, Kansas. Benjamin S. lives in Franklin 
 township, De Kalb county. David M. is 
 the subject of this sketch. Parker T. is 
 now living in Boone county, Iowa. Mercy, 
 deceased, was the wife of Ozias A. Sperry, 
 now of Kansas. Ammi is a carpenter living 
 in the village of Kingston, De Kalb county. 
 The subject of this sketch came west 
 with his parents, reaching Belvidere, Illi- 
 nois, May 18, 1845. They drove through 
 from Cooperstown to Utica, New York, and 
 from there by canal to Buffalo, and the 
 lakes to Chicago. From the latter place 
 they came by team to Belvidere. The fam- 
 ily lived some months near Belvidere, when 
 the father bought one hundred and twenty 
 acres in Kingston township, De Kalb coun- 
 ty. David M. was but six years of age on 
 his arrival in De Kalb county, and until 
 eighteen years of age attended the district 
 school. He was a good student and being 
 large for his age secured a school, and from 
 the time he was eighteen for some years 
 taught school during the winter months in 
 De Kalb and I^ioone counties, and worked 
 on farms during the summer months. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 295 
 
 Mr. Gibbs was married January i, 1861, 
 in Belvidere, Illinois, to Julia Ann Slater, 
 born in Bainbridge, Chenango county, New 
 York, June 6, 1842, and a daughter of Jos- 
 eph and Sallie (Silviusj Slater. The latter 
 was born near Bethlehem, Northampton 
 county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of 
 Henry Silvius, who married a Miss Schriv- 
 er. Joseph Slater was born in \'ermont, in 
 181 I, and died in 1847. When a child, he 
 removed from Massachusetts to \N"ashington 
 county. New York, and later moved west- 
 ward to Chenango county, where his death 
 occurred. His widow later married U. S. 
 Hollembeak. and removed with him to 
 Boone county. Illinois, in 1852, where the 
 family was reared and principally educated. 
 Joseph Slater was a son of Israel Slater, 
 one of the Green Mountain boys that were 
 in the battle of Sackett's Harbor. B)- 
 trade Joseph Slater was a shoemaker, but 
 also acquired a knowledge of several hand- 
 icrafts, being an e.xpert mill-wright. It was 
 while erecting a mill in Pennsylvania, that 
 he met and married Sallie Salvius. His sons 
 were also ingenious, and of an inventive turn 
 of mind Oscar, a cooper by trade, invent- 
 ed and manufactured man}' of the tools 
 used in his trade, which enabled him to turn 
 out much more work than other workmen. 
 Joseph and Sallie Slater were the parents of 
 six children. Lydia, deceased, married 
 William Axtell of Hamilton, Delaware coun- 
 ty. New York. Almon died at the age of 
 eleven years. Louisa married Seth Blood, 
 and lives at Park Rapids, Iowa. Oscar is 
 deceased, fulia A. is the wife of our sub- 
 ject. One, an infant, died unnamed. 
 
 In the spring following his marriage, 
 Mr. Gibbs rented a farm, and for three 
 years engaged in farming during the spring 
 and summer seasons, and in winter was en- 
 
 gaged in teaching. In the fall of 1864, he 
 enlisted at Marengo, Illinois, in the Thir- 
 tieth Illinois Volunteer Infantr\-, joiningthe 
 regiment in time to be with Sherman on the 
 march to the sea, and in the grand review 
 at Washington. He was discharged and 
 mustered out at Springfield, Illinois, in 
 July, 1S65. 
 
 Returning home, Mr. ("iibbs continued 
 farming and teaching until 1867, when he 
 and his wife entered the State Normal 
 School, at Normal, Illinois, taking a three 
 years' course. On graduating from that in- 
 stitution, both were secured to teach at 
 Rosamond, Christian county, Illinois, and 
 gave such excellent satisfaction to an intel- 
 lectual and discriminating community, that 
 the}- were retained seven years and might 
 have remained longer. In 1877 they came 
 to Genoa and took charge of the schools, 
 and thoroughly graded the same, and there 
 remained for eight years. Patrons were 
 loth to lose their services, but constant and 
 conscientious work made a rest necessary. 
 For two years Mr. Gibbs conducted a dairj- 
 farm, on a tract of fifty acres, which he owns 
 adjoining the village of Genoa, after which 
 they taught two years in the Kirkland 
 schools. They were again prevailed upon 
 to accept the Genoa schools, but after three 
 years retired permanently from the profes- 
 sion, which they had adorned for more than 
 twenty years. They have a loving regard 
 for all who have gone out from under their 
 instruction, most of their graduates now fill- 
 ing positions of honor and trust. Among 
 the number are judges, lawyers, teachers, 
 electricians, bookkeepers, bankers and man- 
 agers of various institutions. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs are natural-born 
 teachers, both beginning at an early age. 
 After their marriage the}- taught twenty 
 
296 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 years together in the same school, and now 
 retired from active work they are taking hfe 
 easy. Both are fond of music and books, 
 in which they take great delight. They own 
 four acres in the village, on which is a small 
 fruit garden where man}- choice varieties of 
 fruit are cultivated. They yet retain their 
 dairy farm of fifty acres, on the northern 
 line oi the village, which is occupied by a 
 tenant. They are both members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mr. 
 Gibbs is a local preacher of marked ability, 
 often supplying vacant pulpits. Politically 
 he is a Prohibitionist, though often voting 
 the Republican ticket. 
 
 CHARLES H. SALISBURY is the con- 
 fidential secretary and managing ac- 
 countant of Jacob Haish. The real bene- 
 factors of our race, and the renowned in 
 history, are too often distinct and separate 
 characters. The pen of the historian and 
 biographer loved to delineate bold and 
 striking features, to dwell upon startling in- 
 cidents born of the passions and impulses 
 of men, leaving unchronicled those nobler 
 deeds that spring from the noblest ele- 
 ments of true human greatness. The hero 
 of a hundred battlefields may furnish vol- 
 umes for history, and his eager biographer 
 gathers the material and erects to his mem- 
 ory a pyramid, \vhile noble and honorable 
 men, who faithfully and well perform their 
 duties, often fail to secure a conspicuous 
 niche in the temple of fame. It is there- 
 fore no less a duty than a privilege, when 
 one has honored his calling, commanded 
 the esteem and admiration of his friends 
 and the respect of his enemies, to pay at 
 least some tribute of respect in recording a 
 few simple facts. 
 
 The subject of this biography was born 
 at Barton, Vermont, July 23, 184 1, and is 
 the son of Henr\' and Caroline M. (Butler) 
 Salisbury, both of English parentage. In 
 1856. when but fifteen years of age, our sub- 
 ject removed from the east to White Rock, 
 Ogle county, Illinois, where he made a stay 
 of a few months, and in the fall of the same 
 year came to De Kalb count}', Illinois, his 
 time being spent alternately on the farm, in 
 the store and in the school room. In 1859, 
 he completed his course at Professor 
 Webb's Academy, but subsequently attended 
 various institutions of learning, which fitted 
 him for a larger field of usefulness. 
 
 When Jacob Haish first con nienced 
 business in De Kalb he employed Mr. Salis- 
 bury, who remained with him until the 
 winter opening of school. In the spring of 
 1 86 1, he was appointed assistant postmaster 
 under Ira ^^ Randall, and served until 
 August 6, 1862, when his nation's call was 
 heard, and he offered his services to his 
 country. On that date he was enrolled as 
 a member of Company K, One Hundred 
 and Fifth Regiment Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, and was inmiediately appointed first 
 sergeant of his company. For nearly three 
 years he served his country, and partici- 
 pated in the battles fought from Chatta- 
 nooga to Atlanta, and was in the celebrated 
 march to the sea and from Savannah to 
 Raleigh, North Carolina, where the main 
 body of Sherman's army was encamped 
 when peace was declared. He was never 
 absent a day from the company, except on 
 special duty. At frequent intervals he com- 
 manded the company in important engage- 
 ments, and was in full command during the 
 march to the sea, and through the Caro- 
 linas. For meritorious services, he was 
 breveted lieutenant. He was honorably 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 297 
 
 discharged at Chicago, Illinois, June/, 1865. which were often accompanied by cartoons, 
 
 after faithfully serving in one of the severest created great interest throughout the coun- 
 
 contests known to history. try and brought the Haish barb wire into 
 
 On receiving his discharge, Mr. Sails- considerable prominence. Many were the 
 
 bury returned to De Kalb, and in the win- 
 ter of 1S65-6 he engaged with Mr. Haish, 
 who at that time was a lumber dealer, con- 
 tractor and builder. From that time to the 
 present, by his urbane deportment, his 
 familiar, yet respectful address and gentle- 
 
 conjectures made as to who was the writer 
 of the rhyuies and the draughtsman of the 
 cartoons, and to this day few people know 
 who was the author. 
 
 On the 1st of May, 1876, Mr. Salisbury 
 was united in marriage with Miss Laura M., 
 
 manly courtesy, he has proved himself an a native of Vermont, and a daughter of Oli- 
 indispensable factor to his employer. To ver and Lamirii Wilder. F"raternally he 
 his tact, practical e.xperience and business is a Mason and has attained the Knight 
 capacity may be attributed the clock-work Templar degree. 
 
 accuracy with which the Haish Manufac- Probably at no other vocation in life are 
 
 turing Company's business has been carried the sterling qualities of character, the per- 
 to its present proportions. During the long severance and stability of purpose ami 
 and fiery litigation through which the Haish clearness and perception of mind called into 
 Manufacturing Company passed the pen and requisition than the one which Mr. Salis- 
 pencil of our subject were frequently' bury has tilled and is now filling. At an 
 brought into requisition for advertising pur- early age he was cast upon his own re- 
 poses. In the draughting of cartoons and sources, but with willing hands and active 
 in his readiness to dash off burlesque poetry, lirain, with the future illumed with hope, 
 he has had few superiors. The fight be- and undaunted by the difficulties which 
 tween the different barb wire manufacturers beset every ) oung man on the threshold of 
 was very intense, and every effort was made life, he resolved upon making life a success, 
 by each to push his wire to the front. In By virtue of those inherent and intrinsic 
 one of his advertisements Mr. Salisbury qualities which are in his nature and that 
 
 are wholly incompatible with failure, he has 
 gained his present position and enjoys the 
 full confidence of his employer and the 
 respect of his fellowmen. 
 
 says : 
 
 " Well, pL-rhaps ymi may be dreaming, 
 
 Perhaps you're in a whirl ; 
 Yet somehow Haish's fence is winning 
 
 The |ilaudits of the world." 
 
 Some of the opponents of Mr. Haish 
 tried to have a little fun at his e.xpense, be- 
 cause of the fact that he was a "Dutch- 
 man." In reply to this Mr. Salisbury 
 writes : 
 
 " The June bug has gaudy wings. 
 
 The lightning liug has fame ; 
 The ' Dutchman ' has no wings at ali 
 
 But he gets there just the same." 
 
 These rhvmes, written bv Mr. Salisbnr\, 
 
 WILLIAM 
 farmer. 
 
 [LLIAM R. MOON is a well-known 
 ler, residing in Franklin township, 
 on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
 which is always kept under the highest state 
 of cultivation. He is a native of the town- 
 ship, born on the farm where he now re- 
 sides, December 26, 1852, and is the son of 
 Thomas and Ellen Moon, both nati\-es of 
 
ipS 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 England, and the parents of tive children, 
 James, John, Ann, Thomas and William. 
 Our subject also has one half brother, Ed- 
 ward Gardner, and two half sisters, Ellen 
 and Jane Moon . In his native land Thomas 
 Moon learned the carpenter's trade, bnt, to 
 his mind, the opportunities for advance- 
 ment were slim, indeed. The possibilities 
 of the new world were open before him, and 
 he felt that in this new country he could do 
 better for himself and family, and therefore, 
 in 1850, set sail tor New York, from which 
 place he came direct to De I\alb county, 
 Illinois, and purchased one hundred and 
 sixty acres of government land, where his 
 son now lives. He at once went to work 
 for the improvement of the place, and in 
 due time his farm was such as to compare 
 favorably with those of his neighbors sur- 
 rounding him. He continued to work faith- 
 fully upon that farm until death claimed 
 him at the age of fifty-eight years. 
 
 On the old home farm, where he was 
 born, our subject grew to manhood, and 
 when old enough to follow the plow or 
 handle the hoe he was given his task of farm 
 labor. In the neighborhood schools he ob- 
 tained his education, attending principally 
 in the winter months or as the opportunity 
 was afforded him. On the 29th of Novem- 
 ber, 1880, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Lila R. Johnson, a native of De Kalb 
 county, and by this union there are two chil- 
 dren, Lavun and Lula, both of whom are 
 under the parental roof and students in 
 the public schools. In politics Mr. Moon 
 is a Republican, with which part}- he has 
 been identified since attaining his majority. 
 While he does not give as much of his time 
 to the party as some others, he yet has at 
 heart its best interests, believing its prin- 
 ciples are for the public good. For some 
 
 years he has been a school director, and 
 has endeavored to discharge its duties faith- 
 fully. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 I\nights of the Globe. As a farmer he is 
 practical, yet ever ready to adopt any meas- 
 ure that will tend to improve his place. As 
 a citizen, he is held in the highest esteem, 
 and has many friends in De Kalb and ad- 
 ininiiiL; counties. 
 
 NATHAN S. RICHARDS has been a 
 resident of Sycamore since 1855. He 
 was born in the town of Marcy, Oneida 
 county, New York, September 18, 1828. 
 He is of Welch parentage, and is the son of 
 Richard and Alice (Owens) Richards, both 
 of whom were natives of Wales. The for- 
 mer, who was born about 1805, came to 
 .America with his parents when about eight 
 years old. His entire life was spent on the 
 farm, and his death occurred in New York, 
 in 1892. His father, William Richards, 
 located on a farm in New York, where he 
 died at an advanced age. His wife came 
 to America when she was but a year old. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 district schools as the opportunity was 
 afforded him until the age of fourteen years. 
 He worked on his father's farm until seven- 
 teen years old, when he went to \\'aterville, 
 New York, to learn the blacksmith's trade, 
 and there remained about si.x years. In 
 1851 he came west, and located in Chicago, 
 where he worked one year, going from 
 thence to Jackson, Michigan, where for some 
 time he was an instructor in the blacksmith 
 shops of the penitentiary at that place. He 
 next went to Aurora, Illinois, remained 
 there a few months, and then went to Hunt- 
 ley. McHenry county, and was there for 
 one vear. In 1855 he remo\ed to S\'ca- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 299 
 
 more, and worked about eighteen years in 
 his first shops, located near where his pres- 
 ent shop stands. He built his present large, 
 three-story shop in 1872, and at first en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of wagons, bug- 
 gies and sleighs, and various farm imple- 
 ments. In later years factory products have 
 displaced shop work, so that most of histime 
 is now spent in repair work, horseshoeing, 
 etc. 
 
 In 1S54, at St. Charles, Illinois, Mr. 
 Richards was united in marriage with Miss 
 Ruth Baxter, a native of New York, and a 
 daughter of EHhu Baxter. She died in 
 1896, at the age of sixty-eight years, leav- 
 ing three children, Mary, Lydia and Charles. 
 The first named married Elzy Ferguson, a 
 farmer of Mayfield township, by whom she 
 has had four children, three yet living. 
 Lydia married Leonard Pierce, a farmer of 
 Cortland township, and they have two chil- 
 dren. Charles is a good practical black- 
 smith, having his forge in Mayfield town- 
 ship. Religiously, Mr. Richards is a Con- 
 gregationalist and in politics, a Republican. 
 Fraternally, he is a Mason of forty years 
 standing. 
 
 FRANCIS WILLIAM McGUIRE, junior 
 member of the firm of Forward A. 
 McGuire, plumbers of Sycamore, was born 
 in Beloit, Wisconsin, August i, 1861, and 
 is second in a family of seven children born 
 to Edwin and Johanna (Kane) McGuire. 
 The former was born in Canada, January, 
 1836, and is now engaged in business in 
 Rockford, Illinois. The latter was born in 
 Ireland in 1839, and came to America with 
 her parents in 1845. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native cit\', and attended the 
 
 grammar and high schools of Beloit, until 
 the age of eighteen years, when he com- 
 menced learning the tinner's trade in his 
 father's shop. After completing his trade 
 he remained with his father until the age of 
 twenty-three years, at which time he went 
 to Omaha, Nebraska, where he continued 
 to work at his trade fcjr four years. In 
 1892, he went to Rockford, Illinois, and 
 there remained four years, coming to Syca- 
 more in 1 8g(') and working at journeyman 
 work from April, 1896, till January, 1897, 
 when he formed a partnership with W. M. 
 Forward, in a general plumbing and tinning 
 business, sheet metal work, etc. 
 
 Mr. McGuire was married in Beloit, 
 Wisconsin, October 15, 1887, to Miss 
 Louise Beiiner, a native of New Munster, 
 Wisconsin, and a daughter of Rudolph and 
 Christina (Elfers) Beimer, both of whom 
 were natives of Burgsteinford, Gern.any. 
 The latter died in 1873, at the age of forty- 
 five years, and the former in 1881, at the 
 age of sixty-seven years. They were the 
 parents of twelve children, of whom Mrs. 
 McGuire was tenth in order of birth. By 
 occupation he was a farmer, and a hard- 
 working, honest man. To our subject and 
 wife four children have been born — Jessie, 
 Leslie, Joseph and Clifton. 
 
 In politics Mr. McGuire is an independ- 
 ent Republican, voting the party ticket on 
 all national issues, but exercising his right 
 to vote for the best man regardless of party 
 in local issues. Fraternally he is a member 
 of the Modern Woodmen of America and 
 Knights of the Maccabees, while Mrs. Mc- 
 Guire is a member of the Daughters of the 
 Globe. Both are highly esteemed, and 
 although they have been residents of Syca- 
 more but a short time, they have made 
 many warm friends. 
 
jOO 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 JOSEPH F. GLIDDEN.— Often do we 
 hear it said of those who have attained 
 distinguished honors by reason of a well spent 
 and successful life that they were men who 
 rose to eminence through adventitious cir- 
 cumstances, and yet to such carping criti- 
 cism and lack of appreciation there needs be 
 made but the one statement that fortunate 
 environments encompass nearly e\ery man 
 at some stage in his career, but the strong 
 man and the successful man is he who real- 
 izes that the proper moment has come, that 
 the present and not the future holds hisop- 
 ]:)ortunit\'. The man who makes use of the 
 Now and not the To Be is the one who 
 passes on the high way of life others who 
 started out ahead of him and reaches the 
 goal of prosperity far in advance of them. 
 It is this quality in Mr. Gli Iden that has 
 made him a leader in the business world 
 and won him a nauie in connection with 
 the industrial interests of the country that 
 is known throughout the United States. 
 
 The salient points in his life history are 
 as follows; He was born January i8, 1813, 
 in Charleston, Sullivan county. New Hamp- 
 shire, his parents being David and Polly 
 (Hurd) Glidden, also natives of that state. 
 During the infancy of our subject they re- 
 mo\ed to a farm in Orleans county, New 
 York, where they remained until 1844, when 
 they emigrated westward. After a short resi- 
 dence in Ogle county, Illinois, they came to 
 to DeKalb county, spending the rest of their 
 days in the home of their son, Joseph F. , 
 who rewarded them for their care of him in 
 boyhood by untiring devotion to their com- 
 forts and needs. 
 
 On the home farm in New York our sub- 
 ject was reared and his ample training in 
 the fields through the summer months was 
 supplemented by mental traimng in the 
 
 school room <lnring the winter season. He 
 also studied algebra and the classics in addi- 
 tion to the common English branches, hop- 
 ing to pursue a collegiate course, but that 
 plan was finally abandoned. He, however, 
 studied for a time in Middlebury Academ}', 
 in Genesee county, and in the seminary at 
 Lima, New 'S'ork. After teaching school 
 for some time he returned to farming as a 
 more congenial occupation and operated 
 rented land. He had no money to buy, but 
 he knew that in the Mississippi valley there, 
 stretched acre after acre of broad prairie 
 hitherto uncultivated, and with the hope of 
 securing a farm of his own he came to Illi- 
 nois in the fall of 1842. Leaving the Em- 
 pire state he proceeded to Detroit with two 
 threshing machines of primitive construc- 
 tion and spent thirty days on the wheat 
 (arms of Michigan, operating his threshers 
 with the assistance of his brother, Willard, 
 and two other men. He subsequently 
 shipped his machines to Chicago and then 
 to De Kalb county, where he followed 
 threshing two years. In the winter after 
 his arrival he purchased six hundred acres 
 of land on section 22, De Kalb township, a 
 mile west of the village, and ati once began 
 to develop and improve it. He still owns 
 that property which he has made one of the 
 finest farms in Illinois, its boundaries hav- 
 ing been extended until it comprises more 
 than eight hundred acres, the greater part 
 of which is under a high state of cultivation, 
 while substantial buildings and other mod- 
 ern accessories indicate the practical and 
 progressive spirit of the owner. Other 
 lands were purchased by Mr. Glidden as his 
 capital has increased and he now owns over 
 fifteen hundred acres, wherefrom he derives 
 a good income. He has alwaj's been inter- 
 ested in the raisinsr of fine stork .ind in con- 
 
J. F. GLIDDEN. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 303 
 
 nection with H. B. Sanborn is the owner of 
 a cattle ranch in Texas, where they are 
 herding about sixteen thousand head of cat- 
 tle. They own two hundred and eighty 
 sections of land, covering two hundred and 
 eighty square miles of territory and requir- 
 ing one hundred and fifty miles of fencing. 
 This has now been turned over to his daugh- 
 ter, Mrs. Bush, who owns one hundred 
 thousand acres. 
 
 But it is in connection with the inven- 
 tion of barb wire that Mr. (^lidden is best 
 known to the world. His name in that 
 connection is widely familar. The lack of 
 timber in Illinois made lumber for fencing 
 very expensive and how to obtain fencing 
 material at a low price was a problem which 
 presented itself to many without solution. 
 Some attempted to obviate the difficulty 
 with only partial success. As early as 
 1867 barb wire had been invented, but it 
 was imperfect and further study and labor 
 were required to make it a marketable com- 
 modity. Mr. Glidden was a practical 
 agriculturist. His own broad acres re- 
 quired fencing and occasioned his study of 
 the subject. Careful thought, investigation 
 and experiment followed, and October, 1873, 
 he applied for a patent, which was granted 
 the next spring. He did not here end his 
 labors but continued his work of improve- 
 ments and tested the utility of his invention 
 by the use of his fencing on his own farm. 
 The barbs were cut by hand and afterward 
 the parts of an old coffee mill were ex- 
 temporized as a machine for coiling them 
 about the wire. When a piece twenty or 
 thirty feet long had been barbed, a smooth 
 wire was placed beside it and one pair of 
 ends was fastened to a tree and the other 
 attached to the axle of a grindstone, which 
 by turning with a crank gave it the required 
 
 15 
 
 twist. Having secured his patents Mr. 
 Glidden entered into partnership with I. L. 
 Ellwood, a hardware merchant of De Kalb 
 and a practical man of affairs, who was 
 placed in charge of the business manage- 
 ment, operations being begun under the 
 firm name of Glidden & Ellwood. There 
 is no doubt, however, that Mr. Glid- 
 den is the inventor of the perfected barb 
 wire now in use. He applied for his patent 
 in 1873, his claim was acknowledged and he 
 secured it. He sold his interest in 1876, 
 but continued to draw his royalties until 
 1 89 1. He has been the inventor of all 
 essential features of barb wire machines now 
 in use, and to him is due the great credit 
 for bringing to the people of the west a 
 cheap and ser\'iceable substitute for the 
 stone, rail or wooden fences once in use. 
 As time passed the business grew and was 
 removed from the farm to the village, where 
 a small factory was established, and here 
 the improvement was made of using horse 
 power to do the twisting, the barbs being 
 slipped on to one end of the wire and 
 then placed the proper distance apart by 
 hand. In 1875 the company built the first 
 part of the old brick shop, put in a small 
 steam engine, which was made to do the 
 twisting, and Mr. Gildden and T. W. 
 Vaughn obtained a patent for some devices 
 for barbing and spooling that proved of 
 efficient aid to the workmen. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Glidden sold his interest in 
 the business to the Washburn & Moen Man- 
 ufacturing Company, of Worcester. Mass- 
 achusetts, and the effectiveness and utility 
 of the new invention having been fully dem- 
 onstrated the business increased with aston- 
 ishing rapidity. Mr. Glidden has realized 
 a fortune from his invention, obtaining a 
 large royalty until 1891. Business cares, 
 
304 
 
 THE BIOGKArHUAL KECOKD. 
 
 however, he has never laid aside. Indolence 
 and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature, 
 and he still devotes many iiours each dav to 
 the superintendence of his business interests. 
 He is the owner of the De Kalb Roller Mills, 
 has been vice-president of the De Kalb Na- 
 tional Bank since its organization in 1S83. 
 and is the proprietor of the Glidden House, 
 making a very genial and popular landlord. 
 He has carried forward to successful com- 
 pletion all that he has undertaken in the 
 business world. His business methods have 
 ever commended him to the confidence of 
 the public, for he never swerves from the 
 strict path of honesty, and his success has 
 been won along the lines of unflagging in- 
 dustry and enterprise, guided by sound judg- 
 ment and careful management. His rela- 
 tion with his employees had ever been one 
 of friendly interest, and he is quick to rec- 
 ognize true worth in a man, no matter how 
 huuible his station in life. He is ever will- 
 ing to aid the industrious and his industries 
 have been such as promote the public pros- 
 perity as well as advance individual success. 
 His deep interest in public affairs and 
 the welfare of the community was shown 
 by his liberal donation of sixty-four acres of 
 land to the normal school, provided the in- 
 stitution was located in De Kalb. This 
 land was a part of his old homestead and 
 had been entered by him from tlie govern- 
 ment when Indians still crossed it with their 
 trails. .\t the suggestion of Jacob Haish, 
 and in the presence of about one hundred 
 and titty citizens. Mr. Glidden broke the 
 soil with a lead pencil preparatory to build- 
 ing, as this little utensil was considered em- 
 blematic of literature and education. He 
 has always voted the Democratic ticket and 
 is loyal and stanch in suppwrt of the princi- 
 ples of his party, on whose ticket he was 
 
 elected county sheriff in iS;^. being the 
 last Democratic official of the county. 
 
 Mr. Glidden has been twice married. 
 He was married in 1857, in Clarendon. New 
 York, to Clarissa Foster, and when he 
 started westward he left his wife and two 
 children in New York, but both of the latter 
 died before Mrs. Glidden came to the west. 
 She died in Ogle county, in June, 1S43, and 
 a daughter born at that time died in early 
 infancy. The children of that marriage 
 were ^'irgil, Homer and Clarissa. In Octo- 
 ber, i5>5i, in Kane county. Illinois, Mr. 
 Glidden wedded Lucinda. daughter of Hen- 
 ry W'arne. and they have one daughter, 
 Elva Frances, wife of \V. H. Bush, a merchant 
 of Chicago. Mrs. Glidden died in 1S95. 
 Mr. Glidden is a man of domestic tastes and 
 his home has ever been to him the dearest 
 spot on earth. The interests of his wife 
 and daughter were always paramount with 
 him, and frieudship is always inviolable. In 
 those tiner traits of character which attract 
 and endear man to man in ties of friendship, 
 which triumph over misfortune and shine 
 brightest in the hour of adversity, in these 
 qualities he is ro\ally endowed. Few men 
 have more devoted friends than he. and 
 none e.xcel him in unselfish devotion and 
 unswerving fidelity to the worthy recipients 
 of his confidence and friendship. While his 
 invention has won him world-wide faine, 
 these qualities have gained him the respect 
 and warm regard of all whom he has met 
 personally and as one of Illinois' most prom- 
 inent and worthy citizens he may well be 
 numbered. 
 
 GEORGE H. CL.\PS.\DDLE, residing 
 on section 24. Paw Paw township, is 
 the owner of a valuable farm of one hundred 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 305 
 
 and sixty acres and is numbered among the 
 settlers of Ue Kaib county of i^4'j. He 
 was born in Herkimer county, New York, in 
 the town of Frankfort, March 17, 1821, and 
 is the son of George A. Clapsaddle, also a 
 native of Herkimer county, born March 31, 
 1782, and the grandson of Andrew Clap- 
 saddle, of German parentage. The last 
 named grew to manhood in Herkimer county 
 and there reared his fannly. His son, George 
 A., was born on the old homestead and 
 there grew to manhood, and in the second 
 war with Great Britain served his country 
 faithfull_\- and well, and was in the engage- 
 ment at Sackett's Harbor. He was married 
 in Herkimer county to Nancy Bellinger, also 
 a native of Herkimer county and a daughter 
 of Esquire Bellinger, who was a soldier in 
 the Revolutionary war. A brother of Gecrge 
 A. Clapsaddle was also a soldier in the war 
 of I Si 2 and was killed in battle. 
 
 In his native county George A. Clapsad- 
 dle was engaged in farming, and there reared 
 his family. He came west to Illinois in later 
 years and joined his children here and with 
 them spent his declining years, dying De- 
 cember 23, 1859. His remains were re- 
 turned to Herkimer county. New York, and 
 laid beside those of his wife, who died there 
 September 10, 1838. They had a family 
 of eight children, five sons and three daugh- 
 ters, who grew to mature years. Of these 
 George H. and Frederick are the only sur- 
 vivors. Elizabeth married Lucas Terpen- 
 ing, and they were early settlers of De Kalb 
 county, but both are now deceased. Jacob 
 came west and settled in Du Page county, 
 Illinois, about 1842, and later moved to 
 Iowa, where his death occurred. Mary 
 married Jeremiah Terpening and settled in 
 De Kalb county, but both are now deceased. 
 Peter G. never came west, but spent his en- 
 
 tire life in Herkimer county. George H. is 
 the subject of this review. Andrew came 
 to De Kalb county in 1848 and here his 
 death occurred. Frederick also settled in 
 De Kalb county and now owns a farm in 
 Paw Paw township. Nancy died in Paw 
 Paw township, a single lady. 
 
 George H. Clapsaddle spent his boyhood 
 and youth in his native county, where he 
 received a fair common-school education. 
 In his youth he learned the shoemaker's 
 trade, serving an apprenticeship of two 
 years. He then worked at his trade as a 
 journeyman some eight or ten years, usually, 
 however, working on the canal in the sum- 
 mer and at his trade in the winter. In 
 1849 he caine to De Kalb county, locating 
 on a farm where he now resides, land which 
 his brother Andrew entered the year pre- 
 vious. Erecting a house upon the place he 
 there resided with his brother Andrew, the 
 two keeping " bach " while opening up their 
 farms, Andrew's farm being on the opposite 
 side of the road. 
 
 Mr. Clapsaddle returned to his native 
 state, and in Erie county, October i, 1855, 
 married Miss Clarissa Snook, a native of 
 Madison county. New York, and returning 
 with his young bride, they commenced their 
 domestic life on the farm which he had 
 already opened up. After a period of forty 
 years, Mrs. Clapsaddle was called to her re- 
 ward, dying October 26, 1885, and her re- 
 mains were laid to rest in the Victor ceme- 
 tery. She was the mother of five children, 
 three of whom are deceased, two dying in 
 infancy and one, Viola L. , at the age of 
 fifteen years. The living are Leila M., at 
 home, and Alva A. , who is engaged in farm- 
 ing in Paw Paw township. He was mar- 
 ried in Earlville, La Salle county. February 
 18, 1897, to Hannah M. Anderson, a native 
 
3o6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of La Salle county, born and reared in Le- 
 land, and a daughter of Andrew and Eliza 
 Anderson. They have now one daughter, 
 Leila Louise. 
 
 Politically Mr. Clapsaddle is a Jackson- 
 ian Democrat, and cast his first presidential 
 vote for James K. Polk in 1844. His son 
 also votes the Democratic ticket. The only 
 office that Mr. Clapsaddle has held has been 
 that of school director, as his tastes has 
 never run in the direction of office holding. 
 In the forty-nine years in which he has re- 
 sided here he has made many friends who 
 esteemed him for his steiling worth. 
 
 NATHANIEL G. TRUBY, the leading 
 harnessmaker of Sycamore, was born 
 in North Lima, Columbiana county, Ohio, 
 January 13, 185 i. His father, Joseph Tru- 
 by, was born in Armstrong county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, July 26, 1820. He was a man of 
 great natural ability, self-educated in Latin 
 and Greek, and for seventeen years was a 
 minister in the Evangelical Association. He 
 began preaching at the age of nineteen while 
 clerking in his cousin's store, in Clarion 
 county, Pennsylvania, filling local pulpits 
 on Sundays. His first regular station was 
 at Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained one 
 year, going from thence to Mercer county, 
 Pennsylvania, being in the Erie circuit, for 
 two years, and then in the Harmony circuit, 
 Butler county, Pennsylvania, for two years. 
 His health failing him, he was transferred 
 to the Columbiana county, Ohio, circuit, 
 where he remained one year, during which 
 time our subject was born. He then re- 
 turned to the Erie circuit for two years, 
 then again in the Columbiana county, Ohio, 
 circuit one year, and then to Allegheny 
 City, Pennsylvania, for two years. His 
 
 health failing rapidly, he retired from active 
 service, went to Venango county to the 
 home of his wife's parents to recuperate, 
 and there died, April 25, 1856. He mar- 
 ried Miss Hannah King, born in Northum- 
 berland county, Pennsylvania, June 25, 
 1825, and a daughter of Samuel King, a 
 carpenter and builder of Venango county, 
 Pennsylvania, who came from Schuylkill 
 county, where he was born, August 20, 
 1792. Soon after his marriage he settled 
 in Venango county and died there at the 
 age of fifty-eight years. He married Bar- 
 bara Gilger, born August 30, 1798, in North- 
 umberland county, Pennsylvania, and who 
 died at the age of eighty-three years. 
 
 Rev/ Joseph Truby was the son of 
 Phiilip Truby, who was born in Armstrong 
 county, Pennsylvania, and who, after his 
 marriage, moved to Grant, Starke county, 
 Ohio. He was a blacksmith by trade and 
 died at the residence of his son in Elkhart, 
 Indiana, when more than seventy years of 
 age. After the death of her husband Mrs. 
 Joseph Truby married Abraham Niebel, now 
 a resident of Sycamore, Illinois. To our 
 subject's parents four children were born, 
 two of whom are living, Samuel, in Maple 
 Park, Illinois, and Nathaniel G., our sub- 
 ject. 
 
 The early years of our subject were 
 spent in the various towns in which his fa- 
 ther was stationed. After the latter's death 
 he lived in Venango county for some _\-ears, 
 where he attended the public schools for 
 eight years. After the removal of his 
 mother to Forreston, Illinois, he attended 
 the public schools for one year. At the age 
 of fifteen he began learning the trade of har- 
 nessmaker and was engaged in that business 
 for three years in Forreston, Illinois. From 
 there he went to Davis, Stephenson county. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 o'J/ 
 
 Illinois, where he worked as a journeyman 
 one year, and then purchased a shop and 
 business, which he continued for one year, 
 then sold, and for another jear clerked in 
 a store in Davis. 
 
 It is seldom a man quits a trade to pur- 
 sue a course of stud}', but our subject in- 
 herited his father's love for learning, and 
 went to Mt. Union, Ohio, College, where 
 he took a two years course, graduating in 
 the commercial department. He then went 
 to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was 
 employed as bookkeeper in a grocery store, 
 and then for one year was with the Pitts- 
 burg Chain and Car Link Company. He 
 then went into the oil business at Bradford, 
 Pennsylvania, where he remained until 
 
 1881, becoming an expert in the business. 
 By reason of his knowledge of the business 
 he was called to Russia, where he was en- 
 gaged as an oil expert for three years in 
 the Caucasus, on the coast of the Black Sea, 
 for a French corporation. He prospected 
 into Turkish Asia, located wells, installed 
 complete plants, built pipe lines, and insti- 
 tuted telegraph and telephone service, and 
 also put in electrical appliances. The 
 company was on a grand scale, with high 
 salaried officers and twenty office men to 
 do the work which one man could well 
 have done. The company failing, our sub- 
 ject came home in the winter of 1885, and 
 in 1886 located in Sycamore, being in- 
 fluenced by the brother in Maple Park to 
 locate here. 
 
 Mr. Truby was married October 10, 
 
 1882, in Emlenton, Pennsylvania, to Miss 
 Estella Dreibelbis, born in Emlenton, and 
 a daughter of Jacob and Ellen (Hildeman) 
 Dreibelbis. By this unifin there was one 
 daughter, Ethel. Mrs. Truby died May 3, 
 1887, and in Sycamore, December 7, 1892, 
 
 Mr. Truby married Mrs. Amanda B. Dean, 
 widow of Charles A. Dean and daughter of 
 Peter and Sarah Brown. His wife is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 In politics he is a Republican and frater- 
 nally a member of the Modern Woodmen 
 of America and Knights of the Globe. 
 
 WARREN DECKER, of South Grove 
 township, is a veteran of the Civil 
 war. He was born in Crawford county, 
 Ohio, August 21, 1839, and is the son of 
 James A. and Margaret (V'anderhoof) Deck- 
 er, both of whom were natives of New Jer- 
 sey and who were the parents of ten chil- 
 dren, six of whom are deceased. The 
 living are William, Warren, Charles W. 
 and Idella. The paternal grandfather, 
 Aaron Decker, was a native of Ohio, and 
 came with his parents to De Kalb county 
 in 1844, locating in South Grove township 
 where James A. Decker, the father, ac- 
 quired over five hundred acres of good 
 land. He became quite a prominent man 
 in the township, and served as supervisor, 
 assessor, road commissioner and school 
 director. He was a very successful farmer. 
 His death occurred at the age of forty-two 
 years. 
 
 On the farm in South Grove township 
 our subject grew to manhood, and received 
 his education in the district school while 
 helping with the farm work. In South 
 Grove township, August 8, 1862, he enlisted 
 in Company C, One Hundred and Fifth 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, to serve three 
 years or during the war. With his regi- 
 ment he participated in the various cam- 
 paigns and battles under Sherman, and was 
 in the march to the sea, and later in the 
 grand review at Washington, at the close 
 
3o8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of the war. He was discharged at Wash- 
 ton, D. C. June i6, 1865. 
 
 After receiving his discharge, Mr. Decker 
 returned to his home in De Kalb county 
 and resumed his labors upon the farm. 
 Previous to his entering the service, how- 
 ever, on the nth of June, 1862, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Harriet Da- 
 venport, a native of New York state and a 
 daughter of Abraham M. and Margaret 
 (Hammond) Davenport, both natives of Jef- 
 ferson county, New York, and who were 
 the parents of ten children, four of whom 
 are deceased. The living are Caroline, 
 Elizabeth, Adelaine, Harriet, Nellie and 
 Olive. To Mr. and Mrs. Decker seven 
 children have been born, of whom Alma is 
 deceased. The living are: James, Ella, 
 Benjamin. Mertie, Jennie and Delos. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Decker is a member of 
 General Hurlbut Post, No. 580, G. A. R., 
 and politically is a stanch Republican. His 
 fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres 
 is kept under a high state of culti\ation. 
 Mr. Decker is well known and universally 
 respected. 
 
 GURDEN C. ROWEN is a farmer re- 
 siding near the village of Genoa, where 
 he has a fine farm of one hundred and fifty 
 acres of choice land. He was born in the 
 town of Batavia, Genesee county, New 
 York, August 5, 1837. His father, William 
 H. Rowen, was born in Washington coun- 
 ty. New York, December 3, 1799, and died 
 April 4, 1880. He was twice married, his 
 first union being with Betsy Gorham, who 
 was born May 17, iSoi, and died February 
 23, 1856. She was the mother of nine 
 children, as follows: Stephen G. , of Frank- 
 lin township; [ames, deceased; Boyd, de- 
 
 ceased; Warren, deceasetl; Theron, residing 
 in Kirkland, Illinois; John C, living in Col- 
 orado; Mary Ann, wife of Henry Grout, of 
 Kirkland; Gurden C, our subject; and 
 Perry, deceased. His second union was 
 with Maria Caswell, who bore him two chil- 
 dren: William, residing in Oregon, Illinois, 
 and Samuel G., of Kirkland, Illinois. In 
 politics William H. Rowen was originally a 
 Whig, but later in life a Republican. He 
 was a member of the Christian church. 
 His father was James Rowen, who came to 
 Illinois in 1S43, and died in Franklin town- 
 ship at the age of eighty years. 
 
 Gurden C. Rowen came west with his 
 parents in September, 1842. They drove 
 through from New York to Chicago, and 
 from there went to Racine and on to Janes- 
 ville, Wisconsin, where they wintered. In 
 June, 1846, they came to Franklin town- 
 ship, De Kalb county, and there made per- 
 manent settlement. In the district schools 
 of that township our subject obtained his 
 education, attending principally during the 
 winter months, and assisting in farm work 
 the remainder of the year. 
 
 In February, i860, with four brothers, 
 Mr. Rowen started overland to Pike's Peak, 
 and was two months on the way. A few 
 months experience was all that he desired, 
 and he returned home in September of the 
 same year. He ren'.ained under the pa- 
 rental roof until the fall of 1863, and then 
 went to Nebraska with a \icw of locating, 
 but made no permanent settlement. In 
 1868 he purchased two hundred and forty 
 acres of land lying in Boone and McHenry 
 counties, and there built a barn and made 
 many other improvements. While he cul- 
 tivated the place, he did not take up 
 his residence there until some years 
 later, He was united in marriage in Spring 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 309 
 
 township, Boone county, Illinois, October 
 9, 1873, with Miss Gertrude C. Randolph, 
 a native of that township, and a daughter 
 of Edmund F. Randolph, one of the first 
 settlers on Boone's Prairie. It was on his 
 farm that the first reaper, an old McCor- 
 mick, was operated in Boone county. Mr. 
 Randolph was born in Crawford county, 
 Pennsylvania, near Meadville, December 
 8, 1808, and died November 19, 1878, in 
 Boone county, Illinois. He was the son of 
 Edward F. Randolph, who died December 
 30, 1867, at the age of ninetj'-eight years, 
 and who served in the war of 1812. He 
 had a very strong constitution and was hale 
 and hearty in extreme old age. Edmund 
 F. Randolph married Mary T. Hoffman, 
 born in Beaver Creek township, Washing- 
 ton county, Maryland, September 26, 18 19, 
 of German parents. They were the par- 
 ents of eight children, Anna E., John F., 
 Julia A., William F. , Gertrude C. , Edmund 
 J., Eugenie F. and Clayton F. 
 
 Immediately after his marriage, Mr. 
 Rowen moved to his farm, and there re- 
 ."^ided until 1880, when he moved to Genoa 
 township, De Kalb county, Illinois, and has 
 here since continued to reside. He first 
 purchased thirty acres of land, where his 
 house now stands, to which he has since 
 added one hundred and twenty acres. In 
 addition to general farming, he is engaged 
 in dairying, keeping about twenty cows, 
 and selling the product to the creamery. 
 Since locating he has rebuilt the house and 
 barns and made many substantial improve- 
 ments. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Rowen three children 
 have been born, Floyd R. . and Forrest H., 
 who was drowned in 1S92, and Marjorie 
 M., who is yet at home. In politics Mr. 
 Rowen is a Prohibitionist. He has held the 
 
 position of school director, because of his 
 interest in public schools. He is a man of 
 good business abilit}- and is one of the direct- 
 ors in the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Com- 
 pany. 
 
 WILLIAM GOFF is a retired farmer 
 residing in the village of Kirkland. 
 It is said to be a good thing to be well born, 
 and it can certainly be said of Mr. Gofi that 
 he was well born, being descendants of 
 Revolutionary heroes, on both paternal and 
 maternal sides. He is a native of Maine, 
 3orn December 8, 1822, and is the son of 
 Edward and Hannah (Dill) Goff, both of 
 whom were also natives of the Pine Tree 
 state. They were the parents of nine chil- 
 dren — John, Cyrus, Edward, Jr., William, 
 Joel, Stephen, James, May and Ann. Of 
 the number all are deceased with the excep- 
 tion of our subject. The paternal grand- 
 father, Bartlett Goff, was a native of Scot- 
 land, who emigrated to this country prior 
 to the Re\olutionary war. His sympathies 
 ^\■ere upon the side of the Colonists in their 
 struggle for independence, and that sym- 
 pathy was manifested by years of service in 
 the war. Long after independence was de- 
 clared and the United States became a free 
 and independent nation, he was granted a 
 pension for his services, which was contin- 
 ued during the remainder of his life. 
 
 William Goff grew to manhood on the 
 home farm in Maine, and there received a 
 limited education in the schools of that 
 early day. In his youth he went into the 
 lumber camps, and was engaged in lumber- 
 ing and coasting in his native state until he 
 was twenty-three years of age. News of 
 the boundless opportunities afforded the en- 
 terprising man on the broad prairies of Illi- 
 
3IO 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 nois, liad penetrated the forests of Maine, 
 and he here determined to try his fortune. 
 In the spring of 1 846, he came to De Kalb 
 county, and commenced work as a day la- 
 borer, continuing to be thus eniploj'ed for 
 some time. On the 15th of April, 1848, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Philanca 
 R. Sargent, a nati\e of Vermont, and a 
 daughter of Henry and Sarah (Churchill) 
 Sargent, both natives of the Green Mount- 
 ain state, who were the parents of seven 
 children — Almond, Leonard, Azuba, Phil- 
 anca, Caroline, Alonzo and Calvin. The 
 grandfather of Mrs. Goff was Timothy Sar- 
 gent, a native of Vermont, who came to 
 De Kalb county, in an earl}' day, and pur- 
 chased a large tract of land. He here spent 
 the remainder of his life. 
 
 To our subject and wife eight children 
 were born, five of whom died in infancy. 
 Those living are William A., Belle V. and 
 Vilora A. In 1897, Mr. Gofi sold his farm, 
 erected a nice residence in Kirl<land, and is 
 now living a retired life. In politics he is 
 an ardent Republican, and has served as 
 road commissioner and constable of Frank- 
 lin township. He is a highly-honored citi- 
 zen of the township, and his friends are nu- 
 merous throughout the county. 
 
 CAPTAIN JAMES N. SHAFTER, the 
 present eflicient sheriff of De Kalb 
 county, is a veteran of the Civil war. He 
 was born in Galesburg, Michigan, July 7, 
 1841, and is the son of Hugh M. Shaffer, 
 born in Townsend, Vermont, in 18 14, and 
 the grandson of William Rufus Shaffer, also 
 a native of Vermont, who spent his entire 
 life in his native state, and during his active 
 business career engaged in merchandising. 
 He was three times married, his first and 
 
 second wife being sisters. His death oc- 
 curred in 1863 at a very advanced age. 
 
 Hugh M. Shaffer grew to manhood in 
 his native state, and married EHza Sumner, 
 also a native of Townsend, Vermont, and 
 a daughter of Mathias Sumner, a farmer 
 and cabinet maker who married Sarah 
 Barry, also of the Green Mountain state. 
 In 1833 he came west and settled near 
 Galesburg, Michigan, where he purchased a 
 farm of two hundred and forty acres and 
 there resided until his death. Hugh M. and 
 Eliza Shafter became the parents of five 
 children: William Rufus, the famous com- 
 mander of the Cuban army of invasion, 
 whose name has been iiniuortalized by the 
 heroic deeds of himself and men in the 
 siege and capture of Santiago. Eliza Ann, 
 who is now deceased, married Job H. Aid- 
 rich, who was killed at the battle of Nash- 
 ville in the Civil war. [ames N. and John, 
 twins, the former being the subject of this 
 sketch, while the latter is now customs agent 
 for the Mexican Central Railroad, at Eagle 
 Pass, Te.xas. Payne died at the age of six 
 weeks. 
 
 James N. Shafter grew to manhood in 
 his native county and state and there made 
 his home until 1879. He attended the dis- 
 trict schools till the age of twenty, in the 
 meantime assisting his father in the cultiva- 
 tion of the farm. In 1864, at Galesburg, 
 Michigan, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Helen Foote, a native of Galesburg, 
 Michigan, and a daughter of Milo Foote, 
 who was one of the early settlers of that 
 place. Two children came to bless this 
 union, Mollie and Jessie. The former mar- 
 ried Harry Courtwright, of Downers Grove, 
 Du Page county, Illinois, and they have 
 one son, Harry. The latter daughter is 
 the wife of James Tooley, of San Francisco, 
 
CAPT. JAMES N. SHAFTER. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 313 
 
 California, and they liave one daughter, 
 Grace. 
 
 Shortly after his marriage Mr. Shafter 
 was commissioned first lieutenant of Com- 
 pany B, Seventeenth United States Colored 
 Infantr)', later being promoted to rank of 
 captain of Company E, same regiment, 
 with which company and regiment he 
 served until mustered out of the service at 
 Nashville, Tennessee, April 25, 1866. The 
 regiment was organized at Nashville, Ten- 
 nessee, and was intended as an experiment 
 to see if colored troops would act well in 
 battle and what sort of soldiers could be 
 made of them. They participated in the 
 battle of Nashville and showed by their 
 actions that they could be trusted under fire 
 of the enemy. 
 
 After being mustered out of service 
 Captain Shafter returned to his old home, 
 where he engaged in farming on the old 
 homestead until 1879. He then went to 
 Iowa, and spent some six or seven months 
 looking up a location. Not finding any- 
 thing to suit him, in 1880 he came to Sand- 
 wich, De Kalb county, Illinois, and was 
 soon afterwards made city marshal, in which 
 position he served four years. He then 
 became a traveling salesman for the Sand- 
 wich Manufacturing Company, and was in 
 the employ of that company until 1894, 
 when he was elected sheriff of De Kalb 
 county, which ofBce he has filled to the 
 eminent satisfaction of his constituents, 
 which is evidenced by their nominating him 
 for the office of county treasurer in the sum- 
 mer of i8g8, to which office he will doubt- 
 less be elected. 
 
 Captain Shafter's second marriage was 
 in Sandwich, in 1875, when he wedded 
 Nancy, widow of Alexander Edinburn, and 
 a daughter of John and Rachel Haymond. 
 
 They resided in Sandwich from 1880 until 
 the election of the Captain as sheriff of the 
 county in 1894, when they removed to Syca- 
 more, where they yet reside. 
 
 In politics Captain Shafter is a stanch 
 Republican, and fraternally is a Mason, a 
 member of the blue lodge, chapter and 
 commandery in Sycamore. He is also a 
 member of the Ancient Order of United 
 Workmen and of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic. He is a well known sportsman, 
 and is fond of trap or live bird shooting. It 
 is said that he will travel farther to partici 
 pate in a match, and will get more enjoy- 
 ment out of it, than probably any other 
 man in De Kalb county. He is the posses- 
 sor of many trophies that he, has won by 
 his skill as a marksman. 
 
 While a citizen of the county compara- 
 tively a short time. Captain Shafter is well 
 known and his friends are legion. A thor- 
 ougn patriot, he has shown his devotion to 
 his country by imperiling his life upon the 
 field of battle, and, while now in civil life, 
 the honor and integrity of his country is as 
 dear to his heart as in the days of the Civil 
 war, when the brightest and best of our 
 country went out in their youth and in the 
 prime of life that the Union might be saved. 
 As a citizen he stands ready to do his duty 
 in whatever position he may be called to 
 fill. In the office of sheriff of the county 
 he carefully guarded the interests of the 
 people against the criminal class, and in the 
 treasurer's office he will show the same 
 watchful care in safely keeping the trust 
 committed to his hands. 
 
 EDWIN TOWNSEND, who resides on 
 section 14, Mayfield township, is a 
 nati\'e of De Kalb county, born on the farm 
 
3t4 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 where he now resides November ii, 1838. 
 His father, Charles Townsend, was born in 
 Schoharie count}', New York, of which 
 county the grandfather, Joshua Townsend, 
 was an early settler. The latter was a 
 member of an artillery company during the 
 war of 1812, but was never in active serv- 
 ice. From Schoharie county he moved to 
 Sullivan county, New York, at an early 
 day, where he cleared a tract of land and 
 opened up a farm. Charles Townsend 
 there grew to manhood and married Phebe 
 Nichols, a daughter of Reuben and Mercy 
 Nichols, natives of Connecticut. In 1836 
 Joshua Townsend came to De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, purchased a claim and returned to 
 Sullivan county. New York, but four years 
 later again came to De Kalb county, mak- 
 ing his home with his sons. In 1837 
 Charles Townsend came through with a 
 wagon and was six weeks on the road. He 
 located on a portion of the claim purchased 
 by his father, and in company with his 
 father and brother Stephen opened up and 
 developed the farm, all working together 
 for several years, after which they divided 
 the claim. Charles Townsend kept the 
 place where our subject now resides, owning 
 a little more than two hundred acres. He 
 remained on the farm and continued its 
 improvement until his death, about 1880. 
 His wife survived him about one year, dying 
 in 1881, and both were laid to rest in the 
 Mayfield cemetery. They were the parents 
 of ten children, all of whom grew to mature 
 years, except two, and all born on the farm 
 in Mayfield township, with the exception of 
 Mary Ann, who was born in Sullivan county. 
 New York. She grew to womanhood and 
 married Oscar Schmaldt, but is now de- 
 ceased. Edwin, the suliject of this sketch, 
 was next in order of birth. Francis is a 
 
 farmer residing in Butler county, Iowa. 
 Clarissa is the wife of Henry Osborn, a 
 farmer of Mayfield township. Erastus re- 
 sides in Hutchinson, Minnesota. Harrison 
 is a farmer residing in Perry, Iowa. Caro- 
 line is the wife of S. G. Smith, a farmer of 
 Mayfield township. Charles M. is a farmer 
 residing in Bremer county, Iowa. 
 
 Edwin Townsend grew to manhood on 
 the old home farm and remained with his 
 father until he attained his majority. His 
 education was attained in the common 
 schools of his township, supiplemented by 
 two winter teruis in a select school at S},'ca- 
 more. After attaining his majority he 
 worked one summer for a cousin on his farm 
 and then took possession of a portion of the 
 farm he now owns. In March, 1S65. he 
 enlisted in the Ninth Illinois Ca\'alry, join- 
 ing his regiment in the east part of Missis- 
 sippi and continued with it until the close 
 of the war, scouting in Mississippi and 
 Alabama and doing guard duty. He was 
 discharged at Selma, Alabama, in Novem- 
 ber, 1865. 
 
 Returning home Mr. Townsend resumed 
 farming, and on the 20th of January, 1867, 
 at Cedar Falls, Iowa, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Lorinda M. F'rench, a na- 
 tive of De Kalb count)-, Illinois, born in 
 Sycamore, and a daughter of Sumner 
 French, who was a pioneer of De Kalb 
 county, locating in Sycainore in 1835. 
 About 1862, Mr. Townsend had purchased 
 eighty acres of his present farm, and after 
 his marriage, the}' commenced their domes- 
 tic life on that place, and there continued 
 to reside until 18S0. After the father's 
 death, he purchased the old homestead, 
 comprising one hundred and forty-two acres, 
 and now has a valuable faini of two hun- 
 dred and twcntv-two acres, all of which is 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 315 
 
 under cultivation and well improved in 
 ever}' respect. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Townsend are the parents 
 of seven children; Charles S. is married 
 and enjjaged in fariiiing in Mayfield town- 
 ship. Orisa S. is the wife of Samuel Bick- 
 ford, of Ivevvanee, Illinois. Leona yet re- 
 sides at home, as also Olive, Nellie, George 
 and Glen. 
 
 Politically Mr. Townsend is a Repub- 
 lican, with which party he has been identi- 
 fied since casting his first presidential vote 
 for Abraham Lincoln in i860. He has 
 taken an active part in local politics, and is 
 often sent as a delegate to the various con- 
 ventions of his party. For two years he 
 served as commissioner of highways, was 
 township trustee a number of years, and in 
 1895 was elected a member of the county 
 board of supervisors, and re-elected in 1898, 
 and is now serving his second term. Among 
 the committees of which he has been a 
 member are public buildings and grounds, 
 Canada thistle, rex'enue and assessment, re- 
 funding of ta.ses, etc. He has also served 
 as a member of the school board for several 
 years. Religiously Mrs: Townsend is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and fraternally he is a member of the Grand 
 Army post at Sycamore. A life-long resi- 
 dent of De Kalb county, he is entitled to 
 honor for the good that he has done in de- 
 veloping the county, giving it a rank second 
 to none in this state. 
 
 BAILEY ROSETTE, editor and pro- 
 prietor of the De Kalb Advertiser, is a 
 native of De Kalb county, born in Paw 
 Paw township. He is a son of William E. 
 and Elizabeth (Breese) Rosette, both na- 
 tives of New Jersey, the former being of 
 
 French extraction, who was born in this 
 country a short time after the arrival of his 
 parents. They were among the early pio- 
 neers of De Kalb county, locating in Paw 
 Paw township about 1841. In early life 
 William E. Rosette learned the harness- 
 maker's trade, at which he worked a num- 
 ber of years. Later, however, he turned 
 his attention to farming, which vocation he 
 followed during the remainder of his life. 
 He died in 18S0, while his wife survived 
 him four years, dying in 1884. The family 
 consisted of ten children, si.x of whom are 
 living, two of the number being editors. 
 The father lived an upright life, and received 
 the respect of all who knew him. 
 
 Bailey Rosette is the youngest of the 
 family. He was reared and educated in the 
 village of Paw Paw, where he completed 
 his literary course in the seminary at that 
 place. His time alternated between the 
 schoolroom and the farm until he reached 
 his twentieth year, when he went to De 
 Kalb, Illinois, and entered the printing 
 office of the Glidden Publishing Company, 
 where he remained ten years. In Novem- 
 ber, 1895, he opened a job printing office 
 on Main street which proved so successful 
 that in March, 1898, he began the publica- 
 tion of the De Kalb Advertiser. This live- 
 ly paper, though young, enjoys a large and 
 increasing patronage, and takes rank among 
 the leading local papers of the county. Its 
 editor is a wide-awake man who thoroughly 
 understands his business, and seems to be 
 in harmony with it. 
 
 On November 26, 1889, Mr. Rosette 
 was joined in marriage with Miss Minnie 
 Smith, daughter of John and Ann Smith, of 
 Clintt)ii, Iowa. By this union there is one 
 child, Breese Rosette, born June 28, 1892. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Rosette is a member of 
 
3i6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the Knights of the Globe, Royal Arcanum, 
 Modern Woodmen of America, and Knights 
 of Pythias. As a citizen he advocates every 
 enterprise for the public good. 
 
 WILLIAM WITTER, who has a fine 
 farm on sections 3 and 10, Franklin 
 township, traces his ancestry to his great- 
 grandfather, Jose]5h Witter, Sr. , a native 
 of Germany, who came to America in 
 colonial days, locating in Massachusetts, 
 where he followed farming during his en- 
 tire life. His son, John Witter, Jr., was 
 a native of Massachusetts, where he also 
 followed the occupation of a farmer. 
 During the war of 1812 he served faith- 
 fully and well as a soldier. His son, Dr. 
 Joseph Witter, was also a native of Massa- 
 chusetts, but who remo\'ed to the state of 
 Ohio when a young man and there en- 
 gaged in the practice of medicine. He 
 later moved to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, 
 where he continued in practice. He mar- 
 ried Miss Esther Overocker, a native of 
 New York, and they became the parents 
 of four children: William, Milo, Catherine 
 and Sarah. Of these the two last named 
 are deceased. From Ohio, Dr. Witter 
 moved with his family to Michigan in 1837, 
 and located on a farm near Ann .\rbor. 
 
 William Witter was born in Cu}'ahoga 
 county, Ohio, February 21, 1821. Before 
 leaving his nati\'e state. In; ac<]uired a hm- 
 ited education in the common schools. 
 He was si.xteen \ears of age when he ac- 
 companied his parents to Washtenaw coun- 
 ty, Michigan, and he there remained until 
 1 843, when he came to Illinois and located in 
 Boone county, where he purchased one hun- 
 dred and twenty acres of government land, 
 which he proceeded to develop into a pro- 
 
 ductive farm. He continued a resident of 
 Boone county until 1886, in the meanwhile 
 giving his attention exclusively to farming. 
 Since that time he has lived a retired life 
 in the \illage of Kirkland. 
 
 On the 1 8th of November, 1S46, Mr. 
 Witter was united in marriage with Julia 
 A. Shirley, a native of Ohio, and by this 
 union were three children: Joseph C. , 
 Ellen E. and Mary A. For thirty-seven 
 Airs. Witter was an invalid, and during the 
 last twenty-five years of her life she was 
 unable to walk a step. Death came to her 
 relief ]unc 4, 1889, at the age of si.xty-four 
 years. 
 
 The maternal grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, Adam Overocker, was a native of Ger- 
 many, who came to /\merica before the 
 Revolutionary war. In that war he served 
 as a soldier, and after its close was made a 
 pensioner, which pension was continued 
 until his death. 
 
 Politically Mr. Witter was originally a 
 Whig, casting his first presidential vote for 
 William Henry Harrison. Because of his 
 liberty views he drifted into the Repub- 
 lican party on its organization, and with 
 that party has si;!ce continued to act. 
 While never desiring public of^ce. he has 
 served as road commissioner, to the satis- 
 faction of those residing with his district. 
 He is a member of the Congregational 
 church, with which body his wife was also 
 identihed. A Christian man, he endeavors 
 to live up to the teachmgs of the golden 
 rule, and so live as to merit the respect of 
 his fellow citizens. 
 
 CHRISTIAN J. OHLMACHER, one of 
 the leading plumbers of Sycamore, Il- 
 linois, was born near Frankfort -on -the- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 317 
 
 Main, Province of Nassau, Germany, June 
 14, 1844. He began his school life in Ger- 
 many and there attended school some eight- 
 een months, when in 185 i his p^.rents sailed 
 for America. The family went down the 
 Rhine to Rotterdam, from which place they 
 went to London, where they were joined by 
 the father, Henry Ohlmacher, who had iled 
 the country, having participated in the rev- 
 olution of 1848. He escaped to Switzer- 
 land and thence made his way to London, 
 where he waited for his family. He served 
 with the German troops under Wellington 
 at the battle of Waterloo, and was with the 
 army that marched into Paris, where, at 
 Castle Hugenot, his brother, a fine marks- 
 man, jumped on the wall to bring down a 
 French officer. He succeeded, but received 
 a bullet through his own head. • The pa- 
 ternal grandfather, Phillip Ohlmacher, was 
 a shepherd in Germany and there li\'ed and 
 died. 
 
 Henry Ohlmacher, the father, was b}- 
 trade a gilder of metals, such as sv\ords, 
 guns, etc.. a work at that time done by 
 hand instead of electricity as now done. 
 He married Catherine Priestersbach, who 
 was born in Nassau, Germany, and an only 
 child of her parents. They became the 
 parents of six sons and fourdaughters. seven 
 of whom are yet living. On coming to this 
 country the family located in the suburbs of 
 Sandusky, Ohio, where the father purchased 
 a small farm and there lived and died in 
 1873, when about seventy-six years old. 
 His wife died at the age of eighty-six years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 Sandusky schools until the age of fourteen 
 years, when he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, to 
 drive an express wagon for his brother and 
 there remained three years. From Cincin- 
 nati he went to Aurora, Illinois, where sev- 
 
 eral of his brothers were then living, and 
 there learned the tinner's trade, serving 
 until twenty-one years old. Returning to 
 Sandusky, Ohio, he remained eighteen 
 months, and then came back to Aurora, Il- 
 linois, where he was in the hardware busi- 
 ness from 1868 to 1874. In the latter year 
 he sold out and came to Sycamore, Illinois, 
 and served as foreman in the shops of Cap- 
 tain Whittemore for more than twenty 
 years. In the summer of 1897 he opened 
 an establishment of his own, where he does 
 all kinds of tin and sheet metal w-ork and 
 plumbing, having a well furnished shop 
 with all the necessary appliances for doing 
 the highest grade of work. 
 
 In 1864 Mr. Ohlmacher was united in 
 marriage at Sandusky, Ohio, with Miss 
 Anna Scherer, a native of Portsmouth, Ohio, 
 and a daughter of John Scherer who was 
 born in Germany. By this union nine chil- 
 dren have been born, (i) Albert, who grew 
 to manhood in Aurora and Sycamore, and 
 after receiving his education in the public 
 schools read medicine with Dr. Nesbitt, then 
 spent one year at Rush Medical College, 
 Chicago, but was later graduated from the 
 Chicago Medical College. After his 
 graduation he located at Gallipolis, Ohio, 
 where he commenced the practice of his 
 profession. He is now one of the foremost 
 bacteriologists in the country. In the summer 
 of 1S97 he visited the hospitals and colleges 
 in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and 
 Washington, making special study of an- 
 titoxin and reduced the time of perfecting 
 the serum from six months to three weeks, 
 wiiich called forth complimentary and 
 congratulatory notices in all the leading 
 medical journals of the country. He married 
 Miss Grace Peck, of Sycamore, Illinois, and 
 they have two children, Horace and Albert. 
 
3i8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 (2) Fred, who is in business in Lockporl, 
 Illinois, married Miss Blanclie Paddock, 
 and they have two children. Vera and 
 Florence. (3) Dora, and (4) William, are 
 deceased. (5) Lillian is in the employ of 
 Johnson & King, dry goods merchants of 
 Sycamore. (6) Joseph is now a medical 
 student in the Chicago College of Physi- 
 cians and Surgeons. (/) Henry is deceased. 
 (8) Annie is a teacher in the public schools 
 of Sycamore. (9) Winfield is learning his 
 father's trade. 
 
 In politics Mr. Ohlmacher is an in- 
 dependent Democrat, and has served as 
 alderman in Sycamore for several terms. 
 He is now superintendent of the city water 
 works, a position he is well qualified to fill. 
 Fraternally he is a Mason, having member- 
 ship in the blue lodge, chapter and coni- 
 mandery, and has represented the order in 
 the grand lodge. He is also a member of 
 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, has 
 filled all the chairs of his lodge, and has re- 
 presented it in the grand lodge. He was 
 formerly a member of the Knights of 
 Pythias, when the order had a lodge in 
 Sycamore. An e.xpert workman, good 
 business man, public spirited and enterpris- 
 ing, he has many friends in Sycamore and 
 throughout De Kalb county. 
 
 KENDALL JACK MAN, who is engaged 
 in the lumber business at Genoa, Illi- 
 nois, is one of the representative businessmen 
 of the place. He was born at Chautauqua, 
 Franklin county. New York, September 22, 
 1S24, and is the son of Abner and Mary 
 (Kendall) Jackman, the former a native of 
 Weathersfield, \'ermont, born in 1800, and 
 who died in De Kalb county, in November, 
 1 85 I. When a young man, he moved to 
 
 Franklin county. New York, and in 1834 
 came to Illinois and bought a farm near 
 Plainfield. In 1836, he bought a farm of 
 two hundred acres in Sycamore township, 
 and there spent the remainder of his life. 
 He was a member of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church and a strong abolitionist. For 
 several years he served as justice of the 
 peace. His wife survived hini many years, 
 dying when seventy years old. They were 
 the parents of seven children as follows: 
 Kendall, Mrs. Eliza A. Brown, Martin 
 Luther, Mrs. Armenia Nichols, Mrs. Lou- 
 isa A. Brown, Mrs. Hattie DePuc, and Mrs. 
 Mary A. Field, 
 
 Kendall Jackson was ten years old when 
 he accompanied his parents to Illinois. 
 While yet residing in New York, he attend- 
 ed the district school, and on coming to 
 Sycamore township he attended school in 
 the first log school-house built in the town- 
 ship. When he attained his majority, he 
 commenced working for himself, at ten dol- 
 lars per month, on vaiious farms in the 
 neighborhood, and continued to be thus em- 
 ployed for two years. At times he worked 
 in a ha_\- field at fifty cents per day. He 
 was married in Sycamore township, Octo- 
 ber 10, 1847, to Miss Ann C. Hunt, a na- 
 tive of New Jersey, and a daughter of 
 Hedges and Sarah (Stark) Hunt. By this 
 union two children were born, Frank H. 
 and Vesper, the latter being deceased. 
 Frank H. grew to manhood, and first mar- 
 ried E\a Guernsey, by whom he had one 
 daughter, Eveline. His second marriage 
 was with Letitia Van Alstine, a daughter of 
 William Van .Mstine, and they have one 
 son, ^^'illiam. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Jackman rented 
 land and commenced farming for himself. 
 His outfit consisted of two steers and an olil 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 319 
 
 cart. After renting for a year or two, he 
 purchased forty acres in Sycamore town- 
 ship, to which he added from time to time 
 until he had a large and finely improved 
 farm. He continued to reside upon that 
 place, engaged in farming, until 1878, when 
 he moved to the village of Genoa and com- 
 menced dealing in coal, wood, grain, stock 
 and farm machinery. He continued in busi- 
 ness alone for eight years, when he took his 
 sons into partnership with him, and they 
 have since continued in business under the 
 firm name of Jackman & Sons. 
 
 In politics Mr. Jackman is a Republic- 
 an, with which party he has been identified 
 since its organization. For fifteen years he 
 served his township as supervisor, and that 
 he discharged the duties of the office satis- 
 factorily is attested by the long-continued 
 service. He has been a master Mason for 
 twenty-five years. Mr. Jackman arrived in 
 De Kalb county before the Indians had left, 
 and has witnessed the development of this 
 garden spot of the continent from a wilder- 
 ness to its present highly-cultivated condi- 
 tion. He first lived in a log house, and 
 went twenty-five or thirty miles to mill. 
 The country was open, no fences having 
 been erected, and he could ride over it in 
 any direction. Few houses were in sight 
 from even the highest ooint of land. 
 
 THOMAS S. CORKINGS, deceased, was 
 a native of Lincolnshire, England, born 
 in 1830, and was the son of William and 
 Mary Corkings, both of whom were also 
 natives of England. In 1848, when but 
 eighteen years old, he came to the United 
 States and located in Niagara county. New 
 York. The following year his parents also 
 emigrated to this country, and after remain- 
 
 ing in Niagara county about two years, they 
 removed to Belvidere, Illinois, where the 
 father engaged in agricultural pursuits, and 
 for several years successfully carried on a 
 farm in Boone county. Later he removed 
 to De Kalb, where he engaged in the brew- 
 ing business, in which he continued a num- 
 ber of years, when he sold his interest, in 
 1872, to our subject, .-^fter a few years of 
 retired life he died at De Kalb, and was 
 soon followed by his wife. 
 
 Thomas Corkings was fourth in a family 
 of six children, and was reared and educated 
 in his native country. For some years 
 after his arrival in the United States he fol- 
 lowed farming, but in 1872, as stated, he 
 purchased his father's interest in a brewery 
 at De Kalb, and successfullj' conducted it 
 until 1884, after which he engaged in no 
 special line of business. 
 
 On the 30th of June, 1863, Mr. Corkings 
 married Miss Sarah A. Garlick, a native of 
 Canada, born November 16, 1843, and a 
 daughter of Joseph and Eliza Garlick, na- 
 tives of England, but of Scotch descent, 
 who emigrated to Canada and later to the 
 United States. By this union were three 
 children, two of whom are living, George 
 and Joseph W. In 1873 thej' adopted an- 
 other child, Nellie, born in De Kalb. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Corkings was a Mason, 
 being a member of the blue lodge at De 
 Kalb and the commandery at Sycamore. 
 He was a man of rare business talents, keen 
 perceptions and broad ideas. He held the 
 office of alderman for a time to the ciedit 
 of those who elected him. He died in Feb- 
 ruary. 1896, at the age of si.\t\-two jears. 
 In his death the wife lost a loving husband, 
 the children an affectionate father and the 
 community one of its most enterprising 
 citizens. 
 
320 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 HORACE HASKINS, who resides upon 
 section 34, Genoa township, is one of 
 the most successful farmers and financiers 
 in De Kalb count}'. He was born near 
 Henderson Harbor, in Jefferson county. 
 New Vorlc, on the borders of Lake Ontario, 
 November 17, 1820. His father, John Has- 
 kins, was a native of New York, born Feb- 
 ruary 13, 1781. He was a farmer and fish- 
 erman, depending mostly upon the lake for 
 his sustenance. His wife, Mary Tolman, 
 was born August 28, 1783. Her ancestors 
 came to America in the Mayflower. John 
 and Mary (Tolman) Haskins were the par- 
 ents of thirteen children, of whom our sub- 
 ject was tenth in order of birth. They 
 never came west, but died in the county 
 which had so long been their home, the 
 father in 1856 and the mother in 1825. 
 He served in the war of 18 12. The pater- 
 nal grandfather, John Haskins, Sr. , was a 
 farmer by occupation, and it is supposed 
 that he ser\ed in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native county, and assisted his 
 father in fishing and working a small piece 
 of ground. He began life under very un- 
 favorable conditions, but was always handy 
 with tools, and earl}' in life learned 
 the cabinet-maker's trade, and for a time 
 engaged in the manufacture of trunks, from 
 which he derived some little income. He 
 was a shrewd trader even in his boyhood, 
 and followed the Yankee boy's bent of trad- 
 ing jack-knives, taking a poor knife, sharp- 
 ening and polishing it, then trading for 
 another one, getting " boot." In this wa\' 
 he made enough to pay tuition in the prim- 
 itive schools, and also pay his father's ta.xes, 
 which, by the way, were less than a dollar. 
 After securing an arithmetic, he attended 
 school but eleven days, from the fact that 
 
 being so handy with his knife he was asked 
 by the teacher to make and mend all the 
 pens, which were then made entirely of 
 quill, and being too obliging for his own 
 good he was kept busy helping the teacher. 
 
 When but five years of age Mr. Haskins 
 lost his mother, and his father later married 
 a widow who had children by a former hus- 
 band, thus increasing the family to twenty- 
 two, which was entirely too many, mouths 
 to feed on the small income that could be 
 derived from fishing and working the small 
 place. In view of this fact, our subject de- 
 termined to improve his fortunes in the 
 west. On March 11, 1841, when but little 
 more than twenty years old, he married 
 Miss Polly Maria Beebe, born in the town 
 of Loraine, Jefferson county. New York, 
 June 17, 1820, and a daughter of John 
 Beebe, a cabinet maker by trade, who mar- 
 ried Sallie Clark, daughter of John Clark. 
 By this union there were three children: 
 fames Harvey, who died on the lake during 
 the emigration of the family; Mary Eliza- 
 beth, wife of John Haines, of New Hamp- 
 shire; and Martha Minerva, wife of Daniel 
 Beebe, residing on our subject's farm near 
 Charter Grove station, De Kalb county, Illi- 
 nois. Mr. Haskins adopted Horace Clar- 
 ence Haskins, Jul}' 27, 1870, as his son. 
 He was born May 4, 1866. When grown 
 to manhood he married Clara Vogel, and 
 they have three children, Nora. James H. 
 and Pearl. They li\e in the village of 
 Charter Grove. 
 
 The father-in-law of our subject decided 
 to come west with him, and Mr. Haskins 
 assisted in the building of a boat, at Hen- 
 derson's Harbor, that was to make its 
 maiden trip to Chicago in 1844. .-^fter 
 finishing the boat the father-in-law sold his 
 farm, and joining our subject, they both 
 
HORACE HASKINS. 
 
MRS. HORACE HASKINS. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 came west willi ihcir families. It was a 
 long voyage, their vessel being detained one 
 week in the Welland canal, where the young 
 son of our subject was taken sick, and grow- 
 ing worse, he died in the straits of Macki- 
 nac, and was buried at Milwaukee. He 
 landed at Chicago with but five dollars and 
 thirty-seven and a half cents and from that 
 place went to St. Charles, Kane county, 
 Illinois, where he got work but was nearl}' 
 cheated out of his wages. After remaining 
 in St. Charles a few weeks he started for Ue 
 Kalb county, and passed through Burlington 
 township, Kane county, July 4, 1S44. His 
 first settlement was made in Sycamore town- 
 ship, where he rented a farm of Elihu 
 Wright, and then worked for another party 
 for a pair of young steers, and traded until 
 he got another pair. In trading he always 
 came out just a little ahead. His first pur- 
 chase of land was forty acres of timber, 
 the title of which was defecti\e owing to a 
 prior claim. He gave up half to get a clear 
 title to the remainder. That twenty acres 
 yet remains in his possession. Finally he 
 bought forty acres in his wife's name, in 
 Genoa township, and forty acres just west 
 in his own name, where he has since re- 
 sided, a period of more than fifty years. 
 
 f.ater Mr. Haskins jiurchased the Jona- 
 than Perry farm in Sycauiore township, in 
 partnership with another man. Having to 
 make most of the payments, he finally got 
 a division of the land, and soon had a clear 
 title to one hundred and si.\ty-two and a 
 half acres, on which one of his daughters 
 now resides. During the early days he bor- 
 rowed money at thirty-three and a third per 
 cent, interest, and for a short time borrowed 
 some at one hundred per cent, interest. 
 In his business management he has been 
 wonderfully successful, being a man of fine 
 
 judgment and quick to sec advantages in a 
 purchase. He has now two hundred and 
 fifty acres in De Kalb county, si.\ty acres in 
 .Sac county, Iowa, nearly one thousand 
 acres in Madison county, Nebraska, about 
 seven miles from Madison, the county seat. 
 Recentl}' he sold one hundred and sixty 
 acres in Michigan. He has made many im- 
 provements in land owned by him, built 
 many houses and barns, erected numerous 
 windmills, and supplied each farm with im- 
 proved implements. \\'hile living on his 
 first rented farm in 1844, he bought in Chi- 
 cago and brought to De Kalb county, the 
 first steel scouring plow ever brought to the 
 county, wooden mold boards being used 
 prior to that time. 
 
 On the iith of March, 1891, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Haskins celebrated their golden wed- 
 ding, many guests being received from Syca- 
 more and surrounding points. Old friends 
 who have lived through changes of the 
 countr\', from a waving sea of prairie grass 
 to a garden of plenty, and who were able 
 to recall many interestmg scenes of the long 
 ago. ■ Four years later, however, on the 
 9th of .-\pril, 1895, Mrs. Haskins was called 
 to her final rest. 
 
 A few years since Mr. Haskins re-visited 
 his old home in New York, and, like Rip 
 \'an Winkle, he knew no one and was un- 
 known. The old mill and dam were gone, 
 the Baptist church of the hill side, which 
 he saw built, haddisTippeared and the only 
 trace of his father's old homestead was a 
 decaying gatepost which he had set out 
 more than half a century ago. In politics 
 Mr. Haskins is a Republican, but has never 
 had time for public office; a man of unusual 
 executive ability, his success has been great 
 and he is now living to enjoy the fruits of a 
 life well spent. 
 
326 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 HENK\' l'>. (.1 KLKK, dairy inan, is 
 considered by Americans and Cana- 
 dians to be the best authority on dairying 
 in America. He was born in Chesterfield, 
 Cheshire county, New Hampshire, May 21, 
 1840. His i^arents, Benjamin and Harriet 
 (Hopkins) Curler, soon afterwards removed 
 to Keene, New Hampshire, where they re- 
 sided until 1S56, when they came to De 
 Kalb county, and settled on section 32, De 
 Kalb township. They were both natives of 
 New England, the former born in Massa- 
 chusetts and the. latter in New Hampshire. 
 The Curlers are of Welsh e.xtraction, while 
 the Hopkins are of English. Benjamin 
 Curler was a mechanic, but later in life 
 abandoned it for the cultivation of the soil. 
 On coming to Dc Kalb township he pur- 
 chased a farm of one liundred and sex'enty 
 acres, which was partially improved, and 
 there remained peacefully and honorably 
 until old age advanced the pace, and in 1883 
 he retired from active life and removed to 
 the city of De Kalb, where his death oc- 
 curred in his eighty-third year. His wife 
 died in her seventy-si.xth year. 
 
 Henry B. Curler was the first born in the 
 family of five children, four of whom are 
 \et living. In his native state he received 
 his education and there remained until his 
 sixteenth year, when he accompanied his 
 parents to De Kalb count}'. He lived on 
 the home farm and assisted in its cultiva- 
 tion, while teaching school two winter 
 terms, until he attained his majority. The 
 war for the Union was then in progress and 
 he offered his services to his country, enlist- 
 ing in the Forty-second Illinois N'olunteer 
 Infantry, Company K, under Captain J. D. 
 Butts. After experiencing some of the hard- 
 ships incident to war life in Missouri, Ken- 
 tuck\', Mississippi, Tennessee and .Alabama, 
 
 he was hunorabh' clischarged on account of 
 disability in September. 1862. In May, 
 1864, he re-enlisted in Compan\' K, One 
 Hundred and Thirty-second lUintjis \"olun- 
 teer Infantry, and was commissioned second 
 lieutenant and was [)laced on garrison duty 
 in Kentucky, where he remained until Octo- 
 ber of the same year and was again honor- 
 ably discharged. 
 
 Returning home. Lieutenant Curler en- 
 gaged in general merchandizing in De Kalb, 
 in which he continued until i8C),S, when he 
 returned to the f.irm. He soon purchased 
 a farm on section 5, Afton township, which 
 he improved and which is now one of the 
 finest farms in the township. In 1870 he 
 began dairying in a small way, his business 
 gradually growing until it has reached phe- 
 nomenal dimensions. On commencing the 
 business he kept a strict account of all his 
 expenditures, experiments made and the 
 results of each. His knowledge thus gained 
 was in due time given to the world and his 
 ability and authority upon all questions per- 
 taining to the dairy business was recognized 
 throughout the length and breadth of the 
 land. 
 
 In 1882 Mr. (iiirler removed from his 
 farm to the city of De Kalb, where he enjoys 
 the pleasures and comforts of a tine home. 
 It was about this time that he embarked in 
 the creamery business proper, forming a co- 
 partnership with his brother Ceorge and H. 
 H. Hopkins, of Hinckley, Illinois. This co- 
 partnership was continued until January i, 
 1896, when it was dissolved by mutual con- 
 sent and the business divided among the 
 members of the firm. .\Ir. Curler has now 
 two creameries and two milk stations, one 
 of his creameries being at De ICalb and 
 the other at I'ive Corners. During the en- 
 tire time in which he has been engaged in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the business, he has given it his personal 
 supervision, every part of it coining under 
 his eye, nothing being too trivial for his 
 notice, hence his success. 
 
 In 1891 Professor W. A. Henry, of the 
 Wisconsin Agricultural College, importuned 
 him to take charge of the dairy department 
 in that institution — the first dairy school in 
 America. He accepted the position, and 
 was instructor for one term. The state of 
 ^'ermont next sought his services for her 
 agricultural college, where he served as in- 
 structor two terms. In 1893 the Pennsyl- 
 vania Agricultural College engaged his val- 
 uable services, with which he continued three 
 terms. All this time his home business was 
 making rapid strides, and his reputation e.x- 
 tended far and near. A new enterprise was 
 now thrust upon him. There was a de- 
 mand for pure milk in Chicago for infants 
 and invalids, leading physicians of the city 
 demanding it in their practice. Mr. Curler 
 undertook to supply the demand. With 
 many misgivings, he commenced the ship- 
 ment of "certified milk." He was en- 
 couraged by those who knew him in this en- 
 terprise, one of the professors in an institu- 
 tion where he was an instructor in pre\ious 
 years, writing him "that if anybody can 
 lurnish pure milk, }ou can." The following 
 named doctors have certified to the purity 
 of the milk ; W. S. Christopher, Fernand 
 Henrotin, Frank S. Johnson, Lester E. 
 Frankenthal, A. C. Cottin, Professor \\'d\- 
 ter S. Haines, and nearly tifty others, all of 
 Chicago. The business has become enor- 
 mous. 
 
 In 1893 -^^i- Curler was induced to issue 
 a work on dairying by the authorities of 
 those agricultural colleges with which he 
 caine in touch. This book is the result of 
 his own personal experience in the dairj' 
 
 business, and is of inestimable value, not 
 only to dairymen but to any man who keeps 
 a milk cow. Its appropriate name is 
 "American Dairying." This work has been 
 highly recommended by the press and also 
 b\- all the highest dairy authorities in the 
 country. Of this work, John B. Hand, pro- 
 prietor of The Dairy, 144 Fleet street, Lon- 
 don, England, says: "The excellent prac- 
 tical treatise on dairying, farming and the 
 management of creameries by H. B. Curler, 
 is of extreme \alue, well written, abounding 
 in information. I have nothing but praise 
 for the book, from which I shall take the 
 liberty of quoting as opportunity offers." 
 The work is highly recommended by Pro- 
 fessor W. A. Henry, Dean of the College of 
 Agriculture and director of the Wisconsin 
 Agricultural Experiment Station, who says: 
 " This work cannot help proving a genuine 
 addition to our liinited list of agricultural 
 books of real merit." Professor H. |. Wa- 
 ters, professor in the Pennsylvania Agricult- 
 ural College, says: "It was during his en- 
 gagement with the dairy school of the Penn- 
 sylvania State College that Mr. Curler was 
 finally induced to put in book form the re- 
 sults of his \ears of experience, careful 
 thought and research in dair\ing. "•■' •■' '■ 
 I note with great pleasure the favorable 
 impression it is making and the great atten- 
 tion it is attracting." D. W. Wilson, sec- 
 retary of the National Dairy Union, writes: 
 " The great advantage of this work at the 
 present time, it seems to me, will be the 
 fact that Mr. Curler has been at the front 
 in all the progress and advancement of the 
 dairy for the last twenty-five 3'ears. " Manj' 
 other agricultural papers mention the clear, 
 concise and unambiguous terms used by Mr. 
 Curler. The following are words of praise 
 from ex-Governor Hoard: 
 
328 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 "()iie<i[llic iiicist iiotal)lr lliiiij^s in coii- 
 iiection with practical dairyiuii; ilurii)!; tlu' 
 present ('1895) year is the pnhiiration of a 
 practical treatise on that subject by a man 
 of vvi<1e cNperience, trained jucignient and 
 skilled common sense. It treats every phase 
 of the (juestion from the l^reeding and selec- 
 tion of the cow to the final marketinjjof the 
 finished product. - ■'■ ■•■ We ha\e read 
 the book with ^reat care — much of it more 
 than once and the more we read it the bet- 
 ter we liked it. As a literary i)rodiiction it 
 is almost equal to ("irant's Memoirs, so un- 
 affected is its diction, so direct and simple 
 its sentences, so candid in every utterance. 
 He writes of what he knows, of what he has 
 seen and tried, and unlike many writers of 
 books, he has the rare gift of omitting the 
 superfluous and uncertain. Having been in 
 personal business contact with ever\' branch 
 of the subject for many \ ears — growing the 
 fodder, feeding and milking the cows, cream- 
 ing the milk and churning and marketing 
 the butter in the private dairy and in the 
 creamery — his experience as an instructor 
 in the dairy .schools of Wisconsin, X'ermont 
 and Pennsylvania has taught liiin what to 
 say and how to say it. The result is that 
 he has given us the best book on dairying 
 that was ever written, not too learned or 
 technical for the beginner, nor too verbose 
 or commonplace for the scientist, the expert 
 or the editor. The publishers (]. H. San- 
 dtTS I'ublishing Company, Chicago 1 ha\e 
 done their part well, as well in the matter 
 of price (one dollar) as in typography and 
 press Work. At least ten thousand dairy 
 farmers and butter makers should read this 
 book during the coming winter." 
 
 Henry B. Gurler was one of the board 
 of reviewing judges for dairying machinery 
 at the Columbian E.xposition. He was also 
 
 judge of the butter in the breed contest at 
 the same e.xposition. No man was better 
 fitted for the positions and no man ga\ e bet- 
 ter satisfaction. More than once Mr. Cur- 
 ler's rare discriminating powers were tested 
 in that the same flutter was presented for 
 competition under two names, or, in other 
 words, the same man would send two pack- 
 ages, one to compete with the other. In 
 each case Mr. Curler would detect the fraud 
 and classify the jjiitter where it belonged. 
 He was twice elected president of the Illi- 
 nois Dairy Association, refusing to take a 
 third term. For se\eral years he was treas- 
 urer ol the Northwestern Dairy Associa- 
 tion at the time ex-Covernor Hoard was its 
 president. He has re]iresciited the dair}' 
 interests of Illinois on the Experiment Sta- 
 tion Board of Control continuously since 
 its organization under the Hatch law in 
 iSSf). 
 
 Xot only is Mr. Curler authority on 
 dairying, but also on buildings where cows 
 are kept. The representatives of the Wis- 
 consin Experimental and Agrictdtural Sta- 
 tion, after visiting the United States and 
 Canada for ideas to incorporate in their new 
 barns and cow stables, patterned ;ifter those 
 of Mr. Gurler. 
 
 On the 27th of March, 1X67, Mr. Cur- 
 ler was imited in marriage with Miss Selenia 
 Kolfe, a native of IZngland and a daughter 
 of George Rolfe, of l)e txalb county. By 
 this union were three children, two of 
 whom are now living: Stella I". , now Mrs. 
 I^undberg, and Lulu Maj-. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Curler is a nuMnbcrof the 
 Grand .\rmy of the Kepublir ;iud was the 
 first commander of Merritt Simonds Post, 
 No. 283. He is also a member of the Ma- 
 sonic fraternity, of the blue lodge and fha[)- 
 ter at I)e Kalb. While residing in .Aftnn 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 329 
 
 township he served as a member of the 
 board of school trustees and since removing 
 to De Kalb has served as a member of the 
 board of education, and also as a member 
 of the city council. In whatever position 
 he has been called on to fill, he has dis- 
 charged the duties faithfully and well. As 
 a business man he has met with unqualified 
 success and as a citizen he is held in the 
 highest esteem. 
 
 EUGENE O. DONNELLY, who resides 
 upon a fine farm of one hundred and 
 si.xty acres in section 8, .\fton township, De 
 Kalb count}', Illinois, is a native of the city 
 of Dublin, Ireland, born January i, 1852, 
 and is the son of John and Sarah (Farrell) 
 Donnelly, both of whom were also natives 
 of the Green Isle. They were the parents 
 of two children, Eugene O., our subject, 
 and Mary, who married George Nelson and 
 now resides in Osage county, Kansas. In 
 1 864 the family came to America and located 
 in De Kalb county, Illinois, where the father 
 followed agricultural pursuits. 
 
 Our subject was but twelve years of age 
 when he accompanied his parents to the 
 United States and during his minority- 
 assisted in the cultivation of the home farm, 
 and as the opportunity was afforded him at- 
 tending the district schools. On the 10th 
 of Januar}\ 1S83, he was united in marriage 
 \\ith Miss Margaret Horan, a native of 
 Pierce township, De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 and by this union are three children, Mary, 
 John and Sarah. Soon after his marriage 
 he purchased the farm on which he now re- 
 sides and began its further improvement. 
 His wife, who was a consistent member of 
 the Catholic church, died in 1889. On the 
 
 3rd of April, 1893, Mr. Donnelly was again 
 married, choosing as his companion Mrs. 
 Elizabeth (Lyons) Eindley, a native of De 
 Kalb county, and they have now three chil- 
 dren, Martin, Elizabeth and Eugene. 
 
 In politics Mr. Donnelly is a Democrat. 
 He has been honored by his fellow citizens 
 with \arious township offices, including 
 commissioner of highways, a position which 
 he has held several terms. F~raternally he 
 is a member of the Modern Woodmen of 
 .America and religiously is a Catholic. As 
 a farmer he has been cjuite successful and 
 ever keeps his farm under a high state of 
 culti\ation, making of it one of the best in 
 the township. .\s a citizen he is deservedly 
 held in high esteem. 
 
 SILAS R. CAMPBELL, deceased, who 
 for many years was a well-known 
 farmer in Sycamore township, was born in 
 Chenango county, New York, March 31, 
 1833, and was the son of John R. and Clar- 
 inda (Marvin) Campbell, who came from 
 New York to De Kalb county, about 1853, 
 the former dying in Sycamore township, at 
 the age of eighty-one years, and the latter 
 when eighty-two years old. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his 
 boyhood and youth in his native state, 
 where he was educated in the common 
 schools. He came with his parents in 1853, 
 and remained with them until after he at- 
 tained his majority. He was twice married, 
 his first union being with Mrs. Mary Ham- 
 mond, who died in 1866. They were the 
 parents of four children, all of whom are de- 
 ceased. 
 
 The second union of Mr. Campbell was 
 solenniized Januar\' 1, 18O8, when he mar- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ried Miss Fhcebe Catherine Winans, a native 
 of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, born 
 August 13, 1844, and a daugiiter of Isaac 
 and Bets}' (Christy) Winans. both of whom 
 were natives of Pennsyhania. Her father 
 come west in 1S46, and settled in Mayfield 
 township, where he lived one year, and 
 then removed to another farm in the same 
 township, a little farther west, where he re- 
 mained some six or eight years. He then 
 moved to the city of .Sycamore, and there 
 resided some two or three years, after which 
 he purchased a farm on section 2r, Syca- 
 more township, and there resided until his 
 death in the s])ring of i86r, when about 
 fifty years old. His wife survived him 
 many years, dying in Burlington township. 
 Kane county, Jul}- i, 1898, at the age of 
 eighty-eight years. They were the parents 
 of ten children, as follows: Philetus P., 
 living in Kane county; James D., deceased; 
 Harriet M., wife (jf ("lilbert \'an Dusen; 
 Edward K., living in Marengo, Illinois; Clark 
 A., residing in Sycamore; Phtsbe C, widow 
 of our subject; George W. , who died in 
 Mayfield township, De Kalb county; Thirza 
 J., wife of Thomas Fathergill; Jeremiah O., 
 residing in Marengo, Illinois; and Susan, 
 who died in childhood. 
 
 To our subject and wife five children have 
 been born, (i) Rufus Allen, born March 
 10, 1869, died October g, 1897. Frater- 
 nally he was a member of the Modern 
 Woodmen of America. (2) Leon Murray, 
 born Jul}' 22, 1870, married Alice Olsen, by 
 whom he has two children, Esther May and 
 Helen Irene. He is now engaged in farm- 
 ing in Sycamore township. (3) Libbie An- 
 geline, born August 19, 1873, married Rob- 
 ert J. ). Montgomery, and they have two 
 children, Robert J. J. and William McKin- 
 ley. They reside in Kane county, Illinois. 
 
 (4) Mary Maude married Harry Drew, and 
 they reside on the farm with Mrs. Campbell. 
 151 Horace Wilson, at present living in 
 Colorado, working for the Chicago Portrait 
 Company. He is a member of the Modern 
 \\'oodinen of America. 
 
 In politics Mr. Campbell was a Repub- 
 lican, but not specially active part in political 
 affairs. He was a man that devoted his at- 
 tention to his farming interests, and to the 
 welfare ol his fainilw His death in Januar}', 
 1 885, was mourned by a largecircle of friends. 
 Mrs. Campbell, who still remains upon the 
 farm, is a woman that is greatly esteemed. 
 She is a member of the Charter Grove 
 Methodist Episcopal church, and also of 
 the Daughters of the Globe, and Ladies of 
 the Maccabees. 
 
 NELSON SIVWRIGHT, now living a 
 retired life on his farm in section 15, 
 Mayfield township, has been a resident of 
 De Kalb county since 1848. He is a native 
 of Nova Scotia, born November 26, 1839, 
 and is the son of Alexander Sivwright, 
 also a natixe of Nova Scotia, born February 
 22, 1800. His grandfather, James Siv- 
 wright, was a native of Scotland, and, in 
 1776, enlisted in the British army, and 
 served against the Americans in the Rev- 
 olutionary war. He was with the British in 
 the battle of Bunker Hill, and was later 
 taken prisoner in Connecticut, and held for 
 eighteen months, when he was exchangetl 
 and fought against the French in the West 
 Indies. Subsequently he settled in Nova 
 Scotia, and there married. 
 
 Alexander Sivwright was reared in his 
 native country and there married Mary Kil- 
 cup, also a native ui Nova Scotia. While 
 residing m his native land he engaged in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORi:. 
 
 farming for some years. Desiring to better 
 his condition in life, he came to De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, in 1848, and purchased 
 eighty acres of land on section 15, Mayfield 
 township, forty acres of which had been 
 broken, and a log house had been erected 
 on the place. On that farm he continued 
 to reside during the remainder of his life, his 
 death occurring August 22, 1886. His wife 
 died July 18, 1885, and both were laid to 
 rest in the Maj-field cemetery. Of their five 
 children, Nelson and his brother James are 
 the only survivors. 
 
 Nelson Sivwright came to De Kalb coun- 
 ty, a lad of nine years, and assisted in the 
 cultivation of the home farm until after he 
 attained his majority, receiving a very lim- 
 ited education. After arriving at mature 
 years, he continued working with his father 
 for several years, and on the i8th of June, 
 1868, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Lucinda Lucas, a native of Ogle county, 
 Illinois, and a daughter of Annas Lucas, a 
 pioneer of that county, who made settle- 
 ment there in 1837 and engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits. The maiden name of 
 Mrs. Sivwiight's grandmother was Susan 
 White, and she traces her ancestry back to 
 one White who came o\er in the Mayflower. 
 Mrs. Lucas has a silver watch brought over 
 by her original ancestor. The watch has a 
 slip on case showing that it was repaired in 
 London in 1600, and has been an heirloom 
 in the familj' all these years. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Siv- 
 wright commenced their domestic life on 
 the old homestead and as the years went 
 by he added to the original eighty by pur- 
 chasing the interests of other heirs, and he 
 has now two hundred and thirteen acres, all 
 well improved and valuable land. For 
 years he was regarded as one of the most 
 
 enterprising and successful farmers in the 
 township. To Mr. and Mrs. Sivwright two 
 children were born, Alice and John G. The 
 former married Herman Rand, a farmer of 
 Mayfield township, while the latter yet re- 
 mains at home, and is a student of the 
 home schools. Politically Mr. Sivwright 
 was formerly a Republican, but on account 
 of his interest in the temperance cause he 
 has for several years been an advocate and 
 an earnest supporter of the Prohibition party. 
 He served twenty-three consecutive years 
 as justice of the peace, three consecutive 
 years as supervisor, and was later re-elec ed 
 to the latter office and served two addi- 
 tional terms. While on the board he was 
 for a time chairman of the committee on 
 fees and salaries, and served on the com- 
 mittee for equalizing assessments and was 
 on other important committees. For sev- 
 eral years he served as township trustee. 
 He has always given his support and influ- 
 ence to secure good schools and good teach- 
 ers. Religiously he is a member of the 
 Wesleyan Methodist church, with which he 
 has been connec'.ed for forty years. His 
 wife is also a member of that body and for 
 some years they were very active in the 
 church work. A well-known resident of 
 Mayfield township, he is highly respected 
 for his many excellent qualities and his de- 
 sire to be always found in the right. 
 
 ABRAHAM D. GRAVES is the owner 
 of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres on section 30, Franklin township. He 
 is a native of Maine, born April 25, 1826, 
 and is the son of Nathaniel and Anna J. 
 (Young) Graves, the former a native of 
 Massachusetts and the latter of Lewiston, 
 Maine. Thej' were the parents of nine 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 children: Abraham 1)., Andrew J., Jnlia 
 L., Julius H., Anna Augusta, Elvira T., 
 Vesta A., Hannah, and Nathaniel Frank- 
 lin. The paternal grandfather, Nathaniel 
 Graves, was also a native of Massachusetts, 
 and by trade was a l)lacksmith. He moved 
 to .Maine in 1790, where his death occurred 
 at the age of si.xty years. The maternal 
 grandfather. Rev. Abraham D. Young, was a 
 nati\e of Maine, a farmer and minister in 
 the Christian church. T!ie Graves are of 
 English descent, and were early settlers in 
 .\n I erica. 
 
 In his native state our subject spent his 
 boyhood and youth, and received a limited 
 education in the common schools. In 1845 
 he camt; to Illinois H'ith his parents, who 
 stopped in ISoone county till the following 
 spring. In 1846 he accompanied them to 
 Ogle count}-, and in 1848 came with them 
 to De Kalb county, when they located on 
 the farm where he yet resides Nathaniel 
 Graves, the father, was for years a prom- 
 inent citi;«en of Franklin township, where 
 he served as road commissioner and in 
 other local offices. He is still living at the 
 age of ninety-seven years. After coming 
 to Illinois our subject followed teaching 
 for about twelve years, receiving at first a 
 compensation of ten dollars per month. 
 That salary was obtained during the winters 
 of 1845-6. On the 13th c.f .\pril, 1850. he 
 married Miss Salina L. Churchill, a iiati\c 
 of New York and a daughti-r of 01i\er and 
 Pantha L. (Andrews') Churchill, both na- 
 tives of New York, and who were the par- 
 ents of six children, the first dying in in- 
 fanc\'. The others were Salina, Stephen 
 D., Charles C, Edwin and Darwin. Of 
 these Stephen D. and Darwin are deceased. 
 To our subject and wife eight children weri' 
 born, Eveline S., Fred E., Pantha L., 
 
 Charles S., Nathaniel .\., Amos C, Bert E. 
 and John. 
 
 For abont live years, after coming to 
 De Kalb county, Mr. Graxes engaged in 
 breaking prairie during the spring and sum- 
 mer seasons and iollowed teaching during 
 the winter. He then followed farming and 
 teaching for some years, but ot late has 
 gi\'en his time exxlusivel}' to his farming 
 operations. His farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres is always kept under the highest 
 state of cultivation, and shows that it is 
 controlled by a master mind. In politics 
 he is an ardent Republican, and has served 
 as township assessor one year, township 
 clerk ten years, and township treasurer six- 
 teen years. He is a member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church. In ever\' position 
 called upon to hll, he has discharged the 
 duties to the entire satisfaction of those in- 
 terested. 
 
 NORMAN C. WARREN, residing in the 
 city o{ Syc.uiiore, was born in thi' 
 town of Jordanville, Herkimer county. New 
 York, June y, 1835. His father, Russell 
 Warren, was born in the town of \\'arren, 
 Herkimer county. New York, February 4, 
 1799. He married Sophia H. Cleland, also 
 a native of New York, born June 14, 1 79S. 
 Their marriage was solemnized February 6, 
 iSiS. She was a daughter of Noinian ami 
 Wealth}' Cleland. Her death occurred 
 March 30, 1837. Russell Warren was by 
 occupation a farmer, and in politics he was 
 a stanch Whig. He died in Jordanville, 
 New York, October i, 1850 He was the 
 son of Lemuel \^'ar^en, a f.irmei born March 
 2.3. '769, and who married Rachel Wodell. 
 To Russell and Sophia H. Warren six chil- 
 dren were born, four daughters and two 
 
N. C. WARREN. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 335 
 
 sons, viz.: Wealthy M.. J. Albert, Harriet 
 A., Francis C, Marrietta S., of wIkjiii our 
 subject was the last, and is now the onl> 
 one living. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to ivian- 
 hood in his native- state, and at Charlotte- 
 \ille, Schoharie county, New York, and at 
 Cooperston, Otsego county, received his 
 education. In his youth he commenced 
 clerking in a store in Herkimer county, at 
 which occupation he continued until the 
 fall of 1855, when he came to Sycamore 
 and went into the grocer}' business, continu- 
 ing in that line until 1862, at the same time 
 dealing in boots and shoes. He then went 
 into the produce business, which proved un- 
 usually successful. He continued in that 
 business until about 1886, and had an in- 
 tei'est in a hardware business at the same 
 time under the firm name of "Warren & Ell- 
 wood which he later sold. 
 
 Mr. Warren was married in Sycamore, 
 May 8, 1862, to Miss Addie B. Brown, a na- 
 tive of Sycamore and a daughter of Charles 
 and Caroline (Uodgej Brown, the former a 
 native of German Flats, Herkimer county. 
 New York, born Januar\- 14, 181 3, and who 
 died in Sycamore Jul}' 9, 1S95. (Seesketch 
 of Charles Brown on another page of this 
 work.) By this union one son was born, 
 Albert S. , who attended the Sycamore 
 schools, finishing his education at the Fari- 
 bault, Minnesota, Military College and Be- 
 loit College, at IJeloit, Wisconsin. He is 
 at present residing in St. Louis, Missouri, 
 in the employ of the Crane Manufacturing 
 Company, manufacturers of elevators and 
 agricultural implements. 
 
 Since 1886 Mr. Warren has in a meas- 
 ure retired from active business tint still has 
 interests in various lines, being at present 
 the president of the Hughes County liank 
 
 in Blunt, South Dakota, where he also owns 
 fifteen hundred acres of l\nc farming lands. 
 He has also a line lariii near Sycamore, to 
 which he gives i)ersonal attention. In poli- 
 tics he is a Republican, and although he 
 takes an active interest in political affairs 
 he has had no desire for office holding, but, 
 however, he was once prevailed upon to 
 serve two years as alderman from his ward. 
 For nearl}' half a century Mr. Warren 
 has been a resident of De Kalb county. 
 Coming in his youth and with but little 
 capital, with a persistence born of a resolute 
 purpose, he has succeeded well in life. As 
 a business man he has ever been enterpris- 
 ing, and has almost intuitively been able to 
 foresee the situation and be upon the right 
 side of the market. 
 
 REUBEN J. HOLCOMB, e.\-sheriff, and 
 now deputy sheriff of De Kalb county, 
 was born in the town of Machias, Catta- 
 raugus county. New York. September 27, 
 1839, and came to De Kalb county. Illinois, 
 with his parents in 1S42. 'Ihere were 
 seven families in the party coming through 
 from New York and they were si.x weeks 
 on the road, arriving on the i6tli ol June. 
 Notwithstanding his tender age, many inci- 
 dents of the trip are remembered by our 
 subject. At the time of his arrival there 
 were onlv six or seven houses in Sycamore. 
 The Holcomb family in America trace 
 their descent to Thomas Holcomb, who 
 came from London, England, to America 
 about two hundred and fifty years ago. 
 Orator Holcomb, the grandfather of our 
 subject, was born in Danbury, Connecticut. 
 He married Hannah Terry, also ;i native of 
 Connecticut, and shortly after their mar- 
 riage they moved to Erie county. New 
 
336 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 York, and later, in 1805, to the town of Can- 
 andagua, Genesee county, New York, 
 where he reared a large family. He catnc 
 west in 1842 with his sons and shortly aft- 
 erwards died, being the first to be interred 
 in the new Sycamore ceineterj'. He died 
 at the age of seventy-five years. Shortl}' 
 after his death his wife returned to New 
 York, where later her death occurred. 
 
 Fleming Holcomb, the father of our 
 subject, was born in Genesee county. New 
 York, and there married Louisa Stone, a 
 native of Pollett, Vermont, and a daughter 
 of Hiram and Ann (Long) Stone. They be- 
 came the parents of seven children, four of 
 whom are yet living. Maurice, who at one 
 time ser\ed as sheriff of De Kalb county, 
 now resides in Fargo, North Dakota. 
 Reuben ]. is the subject of this sketch. 
 Orator S., who is also an ex-sheriff of De 
 Kalb county, makes his home in Sycamore, 
 lillen is no\\- the wife of Arthur M. Start, 
 and they now reside in Chicago. One son, 
 Lynus, was killed at the battle of Averys- 
 boro. North Carolina, during the Civil war. 
 
 ISy trade b'leming Holcomb was a 
 shoemaker, which occupation he followed 
 in connection with farming, during almost 
 his entire life. In coming to Illinois, it was 
 liis intention to engage in farming, but as 
 money was scarce in this new country, he 
 made his trade a source of revenue by 
 manufacturing boots and shoes for the set- 
 tlers. He continued to work at his trade 
 until his family insisted on his abandoning 
 it by reason of his feeble health. He was 
 a man of strong will and kept working at 
 his bench long after lie should have aban- 
 doned it. On arriving in De Ralb county, 
 he purchased a claim of one hundred and 
 twenty acres, eighty acres of which he held 
 until his death. In politics he was a Re- 
 
 publican, and religiously a Universalist in 
 belief and a regular attendant at church. A 
 strong temperance man, he was for some 
 time associated with the Good Templars. 
 During his entire life it is said that he was 
 never guilty of using profane language. 
 He died at the age of fifty-five years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 district schools until the age of fourteen 
 years, in addition to which he attended one 
 term at a select school in Sycamore, under 
 Dr. Woodward. When of age, he took a 
 trip through central Illinois, in search of a 
 better location, but found none better than 
 De Kalb county. Returning to Sycamore, 
 he clerked in a store until the fall of 1861, 
 and spent the following winter at school. 
 In the spring of 1862 he engaged as a clerk 
 in a grocer}' store, where he remained until 
 the August following, when he enlisted in 
 Company A. One Hundred and Fifth Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered into 
 the service at Dixon, Illinois, and later 
 sent to Chicago, where the regiment drilled 
 for a few weeks. It was then sent to Louis- 
 ville, Kentucky, and joined in the race after 
 Morgan's cavalry. His first battle was at 
 Burnt Hickory, Georgia. With his regi- 
 ment he was then in the Atlanta campaign 
 and with .Sherman on the march to the sea 
 He was at Raleigh, North Carolina, when 
 Lee surrendered. The regiment was then 
 ordered to Washington and was in the 
 grand review. It was mustered out at Chi- 
 cago in |uly, 1805. Before being discharged 
 our subject received permission to come 
 home and sec his father who was then lying 
 very ill. He returned to Chicago where he 
 was discharged and again returned home, 
 his father dying a few weeks after. 
 
 lust previous to his enlistment, un the 
 27th of .August, 1862, at Sjcatnore, Illinois, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 337 
 
 Mr. Holcomb was united in marriage witli 
 Miss Corinna Boardman, who was born near 
 Dundee, Kane county, Illinois, and a daugh- 
 ter of Daniel and Tryphena (Mason) Board- 
 man. By this union five children have been 
 born, of whom Charles, the first born, and 
 Zada B. and Bertie F. are deceased. Jessie 
 M. married George P. Fulkerson, a machin- 
 ist in the sewing machine factory at Bel- 
 videre, Illinois. Minerva E. is housekeeper 
 for her father. 
 
 On coming home from the service, Mr. 
 Holcomb worked for a lumber firm in Syca- 
 more un:il the spring of 1866, when he en- 
 gaged in the lumber trade himself, in which 
 he continued until the fall of 1867, when 
 he became deputy in the sheriff's oftice 
 under his brother. He served as deputy 
 under each succeeding sheriff until he him- 
 self was elected to the office in 1-872. He 
 was re-elected in 1874, 1876 and 1878, since 
 which time he has ser\ed as deputy, with 
 the exception of one term when Mr. Ost- 
 rander was sheriff. He is one of the best 
 posted men in the county, and has been 
 over every mile of road in every township, 
 knows all the leading men in the county, and 
 during his long term of thirty-one years in the 
 sheriff's officehas made many friends. He is a 
 detective of recognized ability and has run 
 to earth many criminals. At one time he 
 was employed by the authorities in Te.xas 
 to take charge of a case, bringing a mur- 
 derer to justice. He went to Wyoming and 
 as a cowboy traveled over the territory, 
 found his man, arrested and took him back 
 \\here he was tried and convicted. 
 
 WILLIAM B, WEDDELL is now liv- 
 ing a retired life in the village of 
 KoUo, De Kalb county. He is a native of 
 
 Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, born 
 March 8, 1824, and is a son of Jesse Wed- 
 dell, a native of the same county and state, 
 born in 1778, and who was a soldier, in the 
 war of 1812. The paternal grandfather, 
 Peter Weddell, was also a native of Penn- 
 sylvania, locating in Westmoreland county 
 in 1757. The W'eddell family were early 
 settlers of eastern Pennsylvania, where 
 Peter Weddell spent the greater part of his 
 time in hunting. Jesse Weddell was reared 
 in W^estmoreland county, and there married 
 Nancy Davis, also a native of that county. 
 He was a prominent farmer in Westmore- 
 land county, where he was well known. In 
 the fall of 1 83 1 he moved to Elkhart 
 county, Indiana, becoming one of the first 
 settlers of that county. In 1828 he came 
 west looking for a location, and was on the 
 present site of Chicago. Liking that coun- 
 try better, he settled in Elkhart county, 
 Indiana, and there died in 1838, when our 
 subject was a lad of fourteen years. After 
 his death the widow reared the family and 
 gave them the best opportunity for advance- 
 ment in life that the country afforded. 
 They were the parents of five sons and four 
 daughters, all of whom, with the e.vception 
 of the youngest son, growing to man and 
 womanhood. Of these, two sons and two 
 daughters are yet living, James E. resides 
 in Elkhart county, Indiana. Agnes Hedges 
 resides in Aspen, Colorado. Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Barnard resides in Georgetown, Colorado. 
 William B. is the subject of this review. 
 
 William B. Weddell was reared in Elk- 
 hart county, Indiana, and there remained 
 until 1850, when he came to De Kalb 
 county and purchased the land where he 
 now resides, entering two hundred and forty 
 acres with a land warrant. After making 
 his location he returned to Elkhart county 
 
338 
 
 THE BIOC.KAI'HICAL RECORD. 
 
 and there iDurrieil, January 2, 1850, Agnes 
 G. \'ail. a native of Fayette county, Penn- 
 sylvania, and a daughter of Charles and 
 Nancy (Jeffries; Vail, both of whom were 
 also natives of Fayette county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and early settlers of Elkhart count}', 
 Indiana. Soon after his marriage Mr. Wed- 
 dell settled in De Kalb county and built a 
 small house, which in due time gave place 
 to a more pretentious one. From time to 
 time he added to his possessions until he 
 was the owner of four hundred and forty 
 acres, all in one farm, and was one of the 
 most active farmers and stock raisers in De 
 I\alb county. On his farm he laid out the 
 village of Rollo and has since built a large, 
 neat and substantial residence, in which the 
 family now reside. 
 
 Mrs. Weddell died November 16, 1881, 
 leaving three children. Nancy Ann is the 
 wife of E. B. I-'owers, a farmer of Paw Paw 
 township. Charles \'. is one of the sub- 
 stantial farmers of the township and owns 
 and operates a farm adjoining that of his 
 father. Mrs. Elma .■\gnes Eraser is a widow 
 residing in Rollo Mr. Weddell has one great- 
 grandson, Mefflin C. Bullis, born May 13, 
 1898, in Paw Paw township, De Kalb county. 
 VvT his second wife Mi. W'eddell, October 
 29, iS8<j, married Mrs. Cleora Burns, //<V 
 Hyde, a native of Vermont. Her father, 
 Jonathan Hyde, was also a native of \er- 
 mont, born at I->ennington, of English an- 
 cestry, the family dating back to William 
 Hyde, whcj settled in Connecticut in 1637, 
 and died in Norwich, that state. Jonathan 
 Hyde married Phebe P. Fillmore, a native 
 of Norwich, Connecticut. They were mar- 
 ried in Clinton county, New York, but after 
 their marriage resided in \'ermont a num- 
 ber of years, but in 1 8 ;; 5 relnrncd to Clin- 
 ton count}'. New V'liik, where the}' remaineii 
 
 until 1845 <i"d then came west and in 1846 
 settled in Paw Paw township, De Kalb 
 county, where he spent the last years of his 
 life, dying about 1864. He was a promi- 
 nent man in this count}' and held several 
 local positions of trust and honor. Mrs. 
 Weddell was educated in Chazy, Clinton 
 count}. New \'ork, where she engaged in 
 teaching. She came to Illinois in 1847, 
 where she continued teaching for about 
 three years. In 1S49 she gave her hand in 
 marriage to Thomas Burns, who was an 
 early settler from Cayuga county, New York. 
 He entered land and opened up a farm in 
 Paw Paw township and there renrained until 
 1852, when he removed to California, tak- 
 ing the overland route. He located in El- 
 dorado county, and for some years en- 
 gaged in mining and fruit raising. He died 
 there in 1875. They were the parents of 
 si.\ children. Ellen Cleora died at the age 
 of eighteen years. Mary C. is the wife of 
 Charles Worth, of Aurora, Illinois. Thomas 
 Elliott died at the age of eighteen years. 
 Agnes is the wife of Charles Goeble, of 
 California. Margaret is the wife of Will- 
 iam Shry, of California. Robert Simeon 
 married, and now resides in Paw. Paw town- 
 ship. After residing in California for thirt}' 
 years, in 1882, Mrs. Burns returned to De 
 Kalb county, and as stated was united in 
 marriage with Mr. Weddell. 
 
 Politically Mr. Weddell was orit;inallya 
 W hig, and cast his first presidential vote for 
 Zacliary 'l"ayK)r. He sujiported Fremont in 
 1856 and has since been an earnest advo- 
 cate of Republican principles. He has 
 never desired official position, but served 
 twelve years as a commissioner of high- 
 wavs. In the lall nf iSf)_', ni company 
 with his wile, he made a trip In California 
 and ()regon. wluMe the}' spent about two 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 339 
 
 months visitiiij,' on the Pacific slope. Tlicy 
 iire both active members of Iht; Rolio Cou- 
 f,'re^ational church, Mr. Weddeli being^ one 
 o( the original members when the church 
 was or<:;anized in 1864. He was one of the 
 trustees of the church and <jave the lot on 
 which the house of worship was erected. 
 He was made a Master Mason about 1863, 
 at Paw Paw, and is now an Ancient Mason. 
 l>oth he and his wife are held in the highest 
 esteem by all who know them. 
 
 SHUBAEL TERRY ARMSTRONG. 
 circuit clerk of De Kalb count}-, was 
 born in Chautauqua county. New York, De- 
 cember 14, 1834, and is the son of Dr. 
 Thomas and Johanna fTerry) Armstrong, 
 both of Washington county. New York. 
 David Armstrong, the paternal grandfather, 
 was a native of the North of Ireland, born 
 in 1763. Became to America in 1800, and 
 here married Elizabeth Creighton in Amer- 
 ica, but of Scotch parentage. He died in 
 De Kalb count)-, at the age of ninety-eight 
 years. All through his life he followed the 
 \'ocation of a farmer. Thomas Armstrong, 
 the father, was born May 8, 1806. Graduat- 
 ing from the Medical College of l>uffalo, 
 New York, he practiced his profession dur- 
 ing the remainder of his life. While yet 
 residing in New York, he served in the 
 United States volunteers to prevent Ameri- 
 cans from joining the insurgents during the 
 patriot war in Canada. His wife. Johanna 
 Terry, was a daughter of Shubael and Re- 
 becca (Hathaway) Terry, who lived to be 
 si.\ty-six and eightj'-eight years respect- 
 ively. The Terrys first came to America 
 in 16G0 and passed with honor through the 
 colonial period, some of whom doubtlessly 
 took an active part in the colonial wars. 
 
 Dr. Armstrong died in Sandwich, Illi- 
 nois, in October, 1888, at the age of eighty- 
 two years. His wife died when but sixty- 
 si.\ years old. 
 
 Shortly after the birth of our subject, 
 the family moved to Erie county. New \'ork, 
 where they lived until he was seventeen 
 years old. After attending the common 
 schools in Erie county, he finished his edu- 
 cation in the academies at Springville and 
 Fredonia, New \'ork. In 1852 the family 
 removed to Rock councy, Wisconsin. ]>v 
 lake they went from Buffalo to Detroit on 
 the first passenger trip of the famous 
 steamer, Lady Elgin, that later went down 
 on Lake Michigan, with her hundreds of 
 passengers. From Detroit they went to 
 Chicago on the first passenger train running 
 into that city from the east. From Chicago 
 they went to Milw-aukee by lake, thence to 
 Rock county by wagon. In the family of 
 Dr. and Mrs. Armstrong were six children, 
 four of whom are now living: William, liv- 
 ing in Hickory county, Missouri; Shubael 
 T. , our subject; David, living in Kansas City, 
 .Missouri; and Anna, wife of Solon White, 
 of Sandwich, Illinois. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained at 
 home until his marriage, in Rock county, 
 Wisconsin, December 14, 1855. to Miss 
 Eunice E. Richardson, a native of Catta- 
 raugus county, New York, and a daughter 
 of John K. and Eunice Thompson (Curtis) 
 Richardson, the former born in Washington 
 county. New York, July 29. 1799. He was 
 a carpenter and joiner by trade, and came 
 west during the early settlement of Wiscon- 
 sin, locating in Rock county. He was a 
 Universalist in religious belief. During the 
 war of 1S12 he served his country faithfully 
 and well. His death occurred September 
 15, 1876. He was the son of David Rich- 
 
340 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ardson, who died of tvphoid fever in 1813, 
 at the age of seventy-seven years. The 
 wife of the latter was a Miss Sweetland, 
 who died in 1820. Eunice Thompson Cur-, 
 tis was born near Bennington, \'ermont, in 
 1805, and died in Rock county, Wisconsin, 
 at the age of eighty-one years. She was 
 the daughter of Zerubabel Curtis, N\hii 
 settled in an early day near the village of 
 Malone, New York, that place now cover- 
 ing the site of his old farm. Zerubabel Cur- 
 tis married Esther Thompson, a native of 
 Scotland, who attained the age of ninetj- 
 eight years. He also served in the war of 
 1S12, and was in the battle of Plattsburg. 
 
 Soon after his marriage, Mr. Armstrong 
 moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he 
 engaged in railr(jading and civil engineering 
 for the Northwestern Railway and the Chi- 
 cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul l^ailroad. In 
 1 861 he went to California, as mining engi- 
 neer and was employed at the famous Com- 
 stock mine, the Reese Ri%er mine and other 
 noted mines. In December, 1864, he re- 
 turned to Rock county, Wisconsin, where 
 he remained until 1868, and then moved to 
 Milan township, De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 where he engaged in farming for four years, 
 teaching school during the winter months. 
 In 1872 he mo\ed to Sycamore, where he 
 engaged in surveying and railioad civil en- 
 gineering. He also ser\ed for a considera- 
 ble length of time as deputy county clerk 
 and deputy county treasurer. In 1890 he 
 was elected circuit clerk and re-elected in 
 1892 and 1S94, a position which he still 
 holds, to the satisfaction of every one hav- 
 ing business with the office. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong seven chil- 
 dren have been born. Hattie G. is the wife 
 of Albert A. Bishop, of Sibley, Iowa. Lo- 
 retta May is an artist of fine ability and a 
 
 teacher in the art department at Waterman 
 Hall. In the summer of 1898 she studied 
 in the College of Design in Chicago, and 
 also under private teachers. Anna is de- 
 ceased. Elizabeth is the wife of Harry H. 
 E\eritt, now of Chicago, who was for a 
 number of years a teacher of physical cult- 
 ure in the State University at Champaign, 
 Illinois. Carlotta is the wife of Park Rich- 
 mond, a business man of Chicago. Nevada 
 is serving as deputy under her father in the 
 office of circuit court. Arthur is deceased. 
 Politically Mr. Armstrong has been a 
 life-long Republican, having attained his 
 majority in time to cast his vote for* the first 
 presidential nominee of the party, General 
 John C. Fremont. Fraternally he is a mem- 
 ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows, holding membership with the subordi- 
 nate lodge, encampment, and uniformed 
 rank of Patriarchs Militant. He is also a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity and has 
 always taken a prominent part in conferring 
 the degrees, being an e.xcellent lecturer. 
 As an official he is always accommodating 
 and ever ready to confer a favor upon any 
 one having business with the office. As a 
 citizen he is enterprising and his friends are 
 man\- throughout De Kalb county and 
 where\'er known. 
 
 GEORGE J. MAURER, who is a retired 
 farmer residing in the village of Malta, 
 was born in Germany October 13, 1835, 
 and is the son of Frederick and Christine 
 Maurer, both of whom were natives of Ger- 
 man}-, where they resided until death. They 
 were people of respectability and worthy of 
 the esteem they enjoyed. The former 
 died in 1840 and the latter in 1853. She 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 34* 
 
 was his second wife and our subject was 
 second in order of birth by the last union. 
 
 George J. Maurer remained at home in 
 his native land until seventeen years of age, 
 in the meantime receiving a fairly good edu- 
 cation, and learning the trade of shoe- 
 maker, w^hich he followed more or less at 
 various times after his emigration to Amer- 
 ica in 1852. He left Germany October 6, 
 of that year, by way of Havre, France, and 
 arrived in New York forty-seven days later. 
 He then went to Rome, Oneida county. 
 New York, where his brother, John, was 
 then residing, and there remained three 
 years, si.\ months of which time he worked 
 at his trade. In 1855 he came west and 
 located in Pierce township, De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, where he turned his attention to 
 agricultural pursuits. In 1856 he went to 
 Big Rock township, I-iane county, Illinois, 
 where he engaged in farming two years, 
 then returned to De Kalb county, where he 
 spent two years in Clinton township. In 
 1866 he purchased eighty acres of land, 
 which he improved and on which he re- 
 sided for a number of years, selling the 
 same to Thomas Delbridge in 1863. The 
 same year he purchased one hundred and 
 thirty acres, to which twelve years later he 
 added forty-eight acres, making him a valu- 
 able farm which he now owns on section 5, 
 Malta township. 
 
 On December 20, 1862, Mr. Maurer 
 married Miss Mar\' Deily, born in Cook 
 county, Illinois, January 13, 1841, and a 
 daughter of John and Barbara Deily, both 
 of whom were natives of Germany, who 
 came to this country with their respective 
 parents about 1830. Her father was born 
 June II, 1 8 16, and died in 1846, while her 
 mother was born in 18 19, and is still living. 
 By this union six children were btjrn. of 
 
 whom four are yet living: Frank E., Ida 
 M., Helen and Arthur B. The latter i^ 
 now in Cuba engaged in the Spanish-.'\meri- 
 can war. The deceased children were 
 Philip and Elizabeth B. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Maurer are members of 
 the German Ii\'angelical church, but attend 
 the Methodist lipiscopal church in Malta, 
 there being no church of their choice at 
 that place. They are worthy people and 
 held in high esteem. Mr. Maurer is a hrst- 
 class farmer in every respect, and all that 
 he has he acquired by hard work, economy 
 and honesty. He is truly a self-made man. 
 
 GEORGE CLARK, a retired farmer, is 
 now residing in the city of De Kalb, 
 where he is serving as justice of the peace. 
 He is one of the few living pioneers of the 
 county, which has been his home since 1842, 
 a period of fifty-six long years. He was born 
 at Royalton, Windsor county, Vermont, 
 December iG, 1832, and is the son of 
 .Arunah and Clarissa (Robinson) Clark, both 
 of whom were also natives of Vermont. By 
 trade Arunah Clark was a carpenter, and in 
 his younger days followed that vocation. 
 With his family he removed west in 1842, 
 and settled in De Kalb township, De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, where he purchased one 
 hundred and seventy-one acres of land in its 
 natural state, but which had been settled 
 on by a "squatter" before it was surveyed 
 by the general government. While the 
 squatter had no legal claim, his right was 
 always respected to the extent of his im- 
 provements, and he received a recompense 
 to that amount. The father made many 
 improvements on the land, but it was left 
 to his son, the subject of this sketch, to 
 make it complete. He was a highly re- 
 
34 
 
 Ai 
 
 THI 
 
 I ;iOGRAPHICAL KliCORD. 
 
 l"i;S|iiTtc(l mail in the roniiiuinity, and was 
 honored by l>cii)j4 elected justice of the 
 peace, as well as to other township offices, 
 .ill of which lie filled in the most creditable 
 manner. He died from the effects of a fall 
 in iS6,S, when in his eighty-second year. 
 His wife's death occurred in the following 
 year. He was twice married and had seven 
 children by the two marriages, our subject 
 being the second by the last union. 
 
 George Clark was but ten years of age 
 uhen he accompanied his parents to I)e 
 Ivalb county, and in the schools of De Kalb 
 and Sycamore he obtained his education. 
 When old enough to labor upon the farm 
 he was given his daily task, and continued 
 to assist in the cultivation of the home farm 
 until after he attained his majority, when 
 he took full control of the place. The 
 father enjoyed life, remaining on the old 
 home, while the son bore all the responsi- 
 bilities. He thus passed his life peacefully 
 and quietly away, as already stated. 
 
 The experience of our subject is much 
 ;is other earh' settlers of De Kalb county. 
 He well remembers seeing the Indians on 
 their ponies passing along the trail that led 
 by the farm, while their arrow-heads and 
 other implements of war and hunting are 
 found ill abundance on his farm. He was 
 united in marriage I-'ebruarx 18, 1S58, with 
 Miss Sarah J. Cartwright, a native of I^e 
 Kalb county, l)orn in 1841,011 what is now 
 the county farm, but which at that time be- 
 longed to her father, James Cartwright, one 
 of the pioneers of De Kalb county. By this 
 union two children have been born: James A. 
 and Florence ]. The former is a practic- 
 ing physician and surgeon at Chicago. The 
 latter, after taking a full course at Normal, 
 Illinois, has been teaching school in De Kalb. 
 
 After residing upon his farm for fifty 
 
 years, in 1892 Mr. Clark reiiiovtd to the 
 city of De Kalb, where he enjoys the full 
 confidence of his fellow citizens, who have 
 elected him to the office of the justice of 
 the peace. Politically he is a Republican, 
 and is a firm believer in the principles of 
 the party. His long residence in De Kalb 
 ct)Lnit\' has brought him in contact with 
 nianx' -of its best citizens, and wherever best 
 known he is the most highly esteemed. 
 
 SAMUEL H. STILES is a retired farmer 
 and capitalist residing in Genoa. He 
 was horn in the town of Naples, Ontario 
 county, New \'ork, |anuary 5, 1829, and is 
 the son of Epaphroditiis and Ro.xanna (Lin- 
 coln) Stiles, the latter born near Saratoga, 
 New ^'ork, and a daughter of Henry Lin- 
 coln, who participated in the taking of 
 Fort Ticonderoga. Epaphroditus Stiles 
 was a large farmer and merchant, who had 
 studied law and engaged to some extent in 
 local practice. For many years he was a 
 justice of the peace and held other official 
 positions. He died when our subject was 
 but five years of age. His father, Samuel 
 Stiles, who was of Scotch and English de- 
 scent, served in the Rexolutionary war and 
 lost a leg in the service. He lived to be a 
 ver\^ old man. Of the seven children of the 
 parents of our subject, two only are living, 
 Samuel H. and Eli/a, wife of J. H. Wood, 
 of Salem, Oregon. 
 
 Samuel H. Stiles was reared in his native 
 count\',and attended the subscription schools 
 at a time when the school-house was built of 
 logs, with puncheon floor and benches. 
 Teachers were hardly up to the grade now 
 re<iuiredand usually received a salary of but 
 ten dollars per month. At the age of fifteen 
 he began life for himself, working a farm on 
 
SAMUEL H. STILES. 
 
MRS. S. H. STILES. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 34; 
 
 shares. In November, 1849, in North Brew- 
 ster, New York, he was united in marriage 
 with Charlotte Sherratt.a native of Pen Yan, 
 New York, whodied in November 1886. The 
 newly discovered gold mines of California, 
 were then attractinj;' attention throughout 
 the whole Country, and with others he was 
 taken with the 'gold fever". In the 
 spring of 1850, he sold his stock and farm 
 implements, and turned all his personal pro- 
 perty intfi cash, and started for the Ne^^• 
 Eldorado. Going to New York, he was at- 
 tracted b}' the handbills of Parker H. 
 French, who proposed to conduct a train to 
 California by way of Texas, in a very short 
 specified time. joining the company of Mr. 
 French he started with him, but the e.\pe- 
 dition was subjected to repeated delays 
 from the beginning. They landed at Ha- 
 vana, where they remained one da>'. was 
 three days at New Orleans, and one day at 
 Galveston, finally reaching Port Lavaca. 
 Here instead of finding teams and spring 
 wagons as promised, the party had to wait 
 until three hundred wild mules were brokeil 
 to drive, which consumed three weeks. 
 They were then delayed at San Antonio 
 three weeks, the Apache Indians outside 
 giving them lU) little concern. One delay 
 after another occurring, and it being seen 
 that their trip would be indefinitely de- 
 layed, the party took possession of the 
 train, ousting French at the Kio Grand, and 
 crossed over into Mexican territory, where 
 our subject was robbed of fifty dollars. 
 From this time on the sufferings of the 
 party were most intense, sufferings through 
 which it was almost impossible to come out 
 alive. 
 
 Securing a Mexican guide and forty days 
 provisions, Mr. Stiles was one of a small 
 party who attempted to cross the desert in- 
 
 17 
 
 dependently of the others. Their guide got 
 lost, and four days they were without water. 
 They made their way back to El Paso, 
 Texas, more dead than alive. They did not 
 despair, however, but continued their jour- 
 ney, traxeling some fourteen hundred miles 
 in old Mexico, finally making then- way to 
 Mazatland. from which placf they sailed to 
 San Francisco, being ten months and seven 
 days since leaving New York. He started 
 with five hundred dollars and arrived with 
 two dollars, one of which he spent for a loaf 
 of bread. 
 
 With his cousin Hiram, Mr. Stiles went 
 U) church the following Sunday night, and 
 when the service was over he stood under 
 a street light to see if he could not find 
 some familiar face. He did not watch in 
 vain, but soon found a friend who took him 
 and his cousin to his home, and the next 
 day found them work in a store, the pro- 
 ceeds of which replenished their depleted 
 finances. Rival companies were then run- 
 ning boats to Sacramento, and they secured 
 passage to the latter place for one dollar. 
 From there they worked their passage to 
 Marysville, fifty miles further up the river, 
 where they secured work. From Marys- 
 ville they proceeded to Bidwell Bar, on 
 the south fork of Feather river, and from 
 there to Onion N'alley. After six months 
 hard labor, he felt that he had enough of it, 
 and returned home by way of the Isthmus 
 of Panama, being seventeen days from San 
 Francisco to Panama. From Aspinwall he 
 took the steamer Illin(jis, on her first return 
 trip to New York. Landing at Norfolk, he 
 went from there to Philadelphia, where he 
 deposited his gold dust at the mint, receiv- 
 ing seven hundred and thirty-five dollars 
 and thirty-four cents. 
 
 After a season's recuperating, at his old 
 
348 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 home, having had the Panama fever, Mr. 
 Stiles made a prospecting tour through Illi- 
 nois, spending one jear. Returning east, 
 he later gave Iowa his attention, but failed 
 to tind a desirable location. He then bought" 
 a fHrin in Xew York, but in 1855 sold out 
 and came to Illincjis for permanent settle- 
 ment. He first located in Kingston town- 
 ship, Ue Kalb count}', where he yet owns 
 three hundred and twent}' acres, one of the 
 hi. est improved hirms in the state, with a 
 residence larger than most city residences, 
 large barns and commodious outbuildings. 
 He lived on the farm until the fall of 1884, 
 when he removed to Genoa, built a large 
 residence, one of the best in the village, 
 and is now living retired. He has fruits of 
 all kinds in profusion, with fine garden, 
 flowers, etc. After the death of his first 
 wife, Mr. Stiles was married, December 14, 
 1887, to Elizabeth E. Williams, daughter 
 of Chet Williams, whose father was a major 
 in the Ke\olutionary war. The wife of 
 Chet Williams was Miss Sally Harper, who 
 died at the age of eighty years. She was 
 the daughter of Joseph and Esther (Dean) 
 Harper, her father being a soldier in the 
 war of 1S12. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Stiles are members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, at Genoa, and 
 the)' take a lively interest in its work. In 
 politics he is a Republican, with strong pro- 
 hibition leanings. He has held many minor 
 township offices, and is regarded as one of 
 De Kalb count\ 's most estimable citizens. 
 
 LORENZO DOW EVANS, residing on 
 section 2, Sycamore township, has been 
 a resident of De Kalb county for more than 
 si.xty years. He was born in Ashe county, 
 North Carolina, b'ebruary 9, 1834, and is 
 
 the son of Benjamin Evans, also a native of 
 Ashe county. North Carolina, born Febru- 
 ary 21, 181 I, and who died in Sjcamore 
 township, February 5, 1854, while jet in 
 the prime of life. He was the son of Will- 
 iam and Ala (Mitchell) Evans, the former a 
 faithful soldier in the war of 18 12. Benja- 
 min Evans married Frances Perry, a daugh- 
 ter of William Perry, also a soldier of the 
 war of 1812, who married a Miss Dean. 
 
 The fall after the birth of our subject, 
 his parents moved to Illinois, coming h\' 
 wagon through I'Centucky and Indiana, cross- 
 ing the Ohio river at Louisville, Kentucky, 
 and the Wabash river at \'incennes, Indi- 
 ana. They remained the first winter at 
 Hennepin, Putnam county, but decided to 
 remove a little farther north, and in the 
 spring of 1835 located at Piano, Kendall 
 county, where they remained three years. 
 They then moved to Charter Grove, De 
 Kalb county, and located on the farm now 
 occupied b}- James Devine, where they re- 
 mained three years, removing from thence 
 t'o the Will King farm. At that time there 
 were few dwellings to be seen, with the ex- 
 ception of log houses. Our subject attend- 
 ed school in an old log house, usually dur- 
 ing a term of three months in winter. A 
 part of the time he walked two and a half 
 miles tu the school-house, returning each 
 evening. He afterward attended school six- 
 weeks in a frame school-hcjuse in Genoa 
 township. 
 
 Before Mr. Evans attained his majority 
 his father died, leaving him to manage the 
 farm. He remained with his mother until 
 of age, when part of the farm of si.\ hun- 
 dred acres was set off to him for his own 
 use. Since 1859 he has lived on his pres- 
 ent farm, which comprises one hundred and 
 ninety-five acres of prairie land and twenty- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 349 
 
 two and a half acres of timber. The farm 
 Has partly in Genoa township. All the im- 
 provements now to be seen upon the farm 
 were placed by our subject, including the 
 large house, barns and outbuildings, wind- 
 mill and orchard. He has about two miles 
 of tiling. 
 
 Mr. Evans was married in Sycamore 
 April 36, 1S57, to Miss Mary jewel, born in 
 Ashtabula county, Ohio, March 5, 1S36, 
 and who came west with her parents in 
 1837. Her father, Eli G. Jewel, a black- 
 smith b\' trade, was born in Vermont, but 
 spent his boyhood and youth in Cattaraugus 
 county, New York, going from thence to 
 Ohio, when a young man. From Ohio he 
 came to De Kalb countw Illinois, flriving 
 through with teams, settling first in the 
 country near Sycamore. At that time the 
 Indians were still in the country and timid 
 mothers were often frightened by their com- 
 ing to the house for food and h'elping them- 
 selves. Later he moved into Sycamore, 
 where he set uj) a forge and for a time 
 worked at his trade, but, giving it up, he 
 removed near Fort Lincoln, Kansas, settling 
 on a farm, where his death occurred in 
 1862, at the age of about fifty-six years. 
 His wife was Deborah Rockwood, a native 
 of Ohio and a daughter of Armah Rock- 
 wood. They were the parents of five chil- 
 dren, three of whom are living, and of these 
 Mrs. Evans was second in order of birth. 
 Eli G. Jewel was the son of Joshua and 
 Abigail (Gilbert) Jewel, who moved from 
 Vermont to Cattaraugus county, New York, 
 where he died at the age of seventy-eight 
 years. Eli G. Jewel made two trips to 
 California, first in 1850, when he crossed 
 the plains and returned by sea. His second 
 trip was made in 1852, going and coming 
 by water. 
 
 To our subject and wife nine children 
 have been born, of whom four died in 
 infancy. Those growing to maturity are 
 Frances, Ma}', Elmer, Leroy and Nellie. 
 Elmer married Osia Sellers, living in Genoa, 
 and they had two children, Merrill Leroy 
 and Ra\' .\drian. Elmer died Julv 8, 1898. 
 Leroy is a telegraph operator at Apple 
 River, Illinois. In politics Mr Evans is a 
 Republican. That he is a friend df the 
 public schools is shown from the fact that 
 he has been a school director, more or less, 
 since attaining his majority. The many 
 wonderful changes that have been made in 
 De Kalb county since he became a citizen 
 can scarcely be realized, even by those who 
 have been most active in its transformation. 
 Among the pioneers who deser\e credit for 
 what has been done I^. Dow Evans stands 
 among the first. 
 
 NATHANIEL S. KELLOGG, of Frank- 
 lin township, who is actively engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits on section 17, was 
 born in Pittstield, Massachusetts, July 29, 
 1 829. He is a son of John and Sarah (Hub- 
 bard) Kellogg, both natives of Massachusetts. 
 Of their two children, Nathaniel is our sub- 
 ject, and John J. is deceased. The paternal 
 great-grandfather Kellogg was a native of 
 Scotland, who emigrated to this country 
 prior to the Revolutionarj' war. His son, 
 Nathaniel Kellogg, Sr. , the grandfather of 
 our subject, was a native of Connecticut, a 
 farmer by occupation, and was in the Revo- 
 lutionary war. John Kellogg, the father, 
 was for some years adjutant-general of the 
 state milita, of Massachusetts, and was act- 
 ively engaged in the Civil war. In 1838, 
 he came west with his family, and located 
 near Pekin, Tazewell countw Illinois. He 
 
350 TH1-: BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 later returned to Massachusetts, but being goods manufactory, for two years, through 
 
 dissatisfied came again to Illinois and set- Dakota, Xebr;iska and Iowa, and for a 
 
 tied in Tazewell countj', where he remained clothing firm in Rockford, five years, and 
 
 about two \ears. He then removed to Mc- for a Beloit, Wisconsin, cloihinf^ lirm, two 
 
 Lean count}', Illinois, and ran a general- vears. Among various political offices that 
 
 store for about twenty-five years. He was he has held are those of school director and 
 
 quite a prominent man in McLean count\\ road commissioner. In politics he is a Re- 
 
 and was justice of the peace for tliirt\-thrt'f publican, a strong bclif\er in the principlt-s 
 
 years, being the oldest justice of the peace of the part)-. It is, iiowever, as an agri- 
 
 in the state. He died at the age of eighty- culturalist that he is best known, his farm 
 
 six years. being aiwaj's kept in gooti condition and 
 
 Nathaniel S. Kellogg was reared and under a high state of cultivation. 
 educated in Massachusetts. After receiving 
 his primary education, he entered the col- 
 lege at Leno.v, Massachusetts, and pursued T~)KIGH.\M F. BE.MIS, deceased, was 
 
 B' 
 
 a three years course. He then taught one LJ one ot De Kalb township's most worthy 
 
 term in Massachusetts, after which he came citizens, who in life resided on his farm in 
 
 to Illinois, in 1^45, and located in Dele\aii section 33. He was a native of Massachu- 
 
 township, Tazewell county, Illinois, where setts, born May 25, 1829, and was the son 
 
 he purchased a farm of one hundred and of Benjamin ISemis, who followed farming 
 
 si.xtj' acres. In I1S55, he bought six bun- during his entire life and who never came 
 
 dred and forty acres in McLean county, in west. His death and tli.it of his wife oc- 
 
 section 22, town 22, a tract of government curred in the east. The boyhood and youth 
 
 land, for which he paid about fifteen dollars of our subject were spent in his native state, 
 
 per acre. That land he sold in the fall of and his education was received in the public 
 
 1864. schools. He was an early settler of Kane 
 
 On the jth of November, 1S47. Mr. county, Illinois, locating at Sugar Grove, 
 
 Kellogg was united in marriage with Miss Kane countw where he lived some years. 
 
 Alma L. Baird, a native of Becket, Massa- engaging in (arming. In 1856, he came to 
 
 chusetts, and a daughter of Kendall and De Kalb ci unity, Illinois, and purchased a 
 
 Lucinda (Chaffeei Baird, both of whom farm of fifty acres in section 33, De Kalb 
 
 were also natives of Becket, Massachusetts, township, upon which his widow now lives, 
 
 and the parents nf six children. Prentice C. , On the 27th of M.irch, 1855, Mr, Bemis 
 
 Aba, Alma L., Fred K., Kate and George was united in marria'^e with Miss Elizabeth 
 
 K. To our subject and wife three children Duffy, a native of Ohio, born in 1830, and 
 
 were born, John K.. Kate L. and Pren- a daughter of James and Lydia Duffy. Her 
 
 tice F. mother died when she was but three years 
 
 Since his marriage Mr. Kellogg has been old, and her father marrying again, removed 
 
 engaged in various lines of business. For a to Illinois, in 1841, where his death oc- 
 
 time he was in the butcher business and a curred in 1S73. He was married three 
 
 dealer in stock in Rockford. He then times, and had sixteen children, Mrs. Bemis 
 
 traveled for a St. Joseph, Missouri, woolen being third in order of birth by the first 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1>| 
 
 wife. She was but eleven years of age 
 when she came to De Kalb county, and 
 here her entire life has since been spent. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Beniis five children were 
 born, four of whom are now living: Frank 
 W., Frederick J.. William W. and Burt 
 P. Two of these sons are prosperous busi- 
 ness men in De Kalb. 
 
 For some years prior to his death Mr. 
 Bemis was in ill health. In 1882 he took a 
 trip to Florida, to regain his lost vigor, but 
 his trip was without avail, death coming to 
 his relief, on April 5, of the same year, in 
 Jacksonville, Florida. Fraternally he was 
 a Mason in good standing and lived up to 
 the principles taught by that ancient and 
 worthy order. Politically he was a Repub- 
 lican. A loving husband, an indulgent 
 father, and a worthy citizen, who treated 
 his neighbors kindly, his death was sincerely 
 mourned by all. 
 
 IRA EVANS, who resides on section 2, 
 Sycamore township, was born in Charter 
 Grove within a few rods of his present res- 
 idence on the old homestead, where his par- 
 ents, Benjamin and Frances (Perry) Evans, 
 settled in the fall of 1838, his birth occur- 
 ring January 18, 1841. His parents were 
 natives of Ashe county, North Carolina. 
 While they considered the Old North state 
 m many respects a desirable place to live, 
 they yet believed that the opportunities for 
 advancement and for the further improve- 
 men of their children would be much greater 
 in the Prairie state, and they therefore deter- 
 mined to make this their home. Leaving 
 theirnative state with what has been termed 
 a prairie schooner, they passed through the 
 states of Kentucky and Indiana, and in the 
 fall of 1834 made a stop at Hennepin, Put- 
 
 nam county. Illinois, where thes remained 
 a few months, going from thence to Piano, 
 Kendall county, finally locating in Sycamore 
 township, where they made a permanent 
 settlement. Selecting a tract of land in 
 section 3, they commenced its improve- 
 ment, and at the death of the father, which 
 occurred early in the '50s, he was the owner 
 of six hundred acres of fine land, the great 
 part of which was under cultivation. 
 
 Our subject was but a boy when his fa- 
 ther died, and he remained with his mother 
 until after he reached his majority, assisting 
 in the cultivation of the home farm. His 
 education was obtained principally in the 
 old log school-house, with its primitive fur- 
 niture and massive fire place. He was mar- 
 ried July 20. 1862, to Miss Nancy Divine, 
 eldest daughter of Eleazer and Sallie A. 
 (Sherbey) Divine, an extended account of 
 whom appears elsewhere in this work. She 
 was born in Sullivan county. New York, in 
 the town of Grahamville, but came with her 
 parents to De Kalb county when a child, 
 and here grew to womanhood. By this 
 union two children were born, Milton D. 
 and Luella. 
 
 Immediately after marriage Mr. Evans 
 began farming on one hundred and sixty- 
 two acres, section 2, Sycamore township, 
 his portion of his father's estate. He there 
 still continues to reside, and there his chil- 
 dren were born. Many improvements have 
 been made upon the place since it came into 
 his possession, including the present fine 
 modern frame house of tasteful architecture. 
 In politics he is an earnest Republican, and 
 has served as road commissioner three 
 years and for many years was school direct- 
 or. A life long resident of De Kalb county, 
 he has gone in and out among the people 
 doing the work at hand cheerfully and well, 
 
352 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and is one of the few living pioneers who 
 have witnessed the change in the country 
 from H vast wilderness to the most product- 
 ive section of the union. 
 
 PHILLIP F. PLAPP, a farmer residing 
 on section 28. Malta township, De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, was born in Pierce 
 township, this county, March 17, 1855, and 
 is the son of Jacob P. and Elizabeth B. 
 Plapp, both of whom were natives of Ger- 
 many. Jacob Plapp came to this country 
 when he was about eighteen years of age, 
 while his wife accompanied her parents to 
 this country in 1830, when she was but 
 eleven years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Plapp 
 first located in Ohio, and later came to De 
 Kalb county. Illinois, settling in Pierce 
 township, where he died in 1885. His wife 
 survives him at the age of eighty-three 
 years. In their family were eleven children, 
 nine of whom are yet living. 
 
 Phillip F. Plapp grew to manhood in his 
 native township and was educated in its 
 public schools. When he reached his ma- 
 jority he began to work out on farms, and 
 built for himself a reputation for honesty 
 and industry, two principles which he has 
 observed all through life, and which must be 
 the warp and woof of every successful en- 
 terprise. On November 4, 18S0, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Lucy A. Del- 
 bridge, born in De Kalb, May 14, i860, and 
 a daughter of Thomas and Ellen (Collmore) 
 Delbridge. By this union ii\e children 
 have been born; Aithia M., October 8, 
 1881 ; Alfred E., January 17, 1885, and who 
 died in April of the same year; Winifred V. , 
 Februar_\' 14, 1886; Mabel E. , September 
 19, 1888, and Clarence T., December 21, 
 1 890. 
 
 On January i, 1883, Mr. Plapp bought 
 a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in 
 Ogle county, where he resided for fourteen 
 years. During his residence there he suc- 
 ceeded by the practice of hard labor and 
 economy, in accumulating a nice sum, be- 
 sides improving his farm, enabling him to 
 dispose of the same at a considerable ad- 
 vance on the purchase price, thus giving him 
 the means of purchasing a larger and better 
 farm in Malta township, De Kalb county, 
 which he did in 1897. His Malta farm 
 consists of two hundred and forty acres, is 
 well situated and well improved, and with 
 Mr. Plapp's methods of working, will be a 
 golden spot in beauty and productiveness. 
 Politically Mr. Plapp is a Republican, and 
 his popularity has been such that he has 
 been called upon to fill various township of- 
 fices, which he has done to the satisfaction 
 of all concerned. Mrs. Plapp has been a 
 consistent member of the Congregational 
 church for the past twenty years. 
 
 EDGAR M. PHELPS, contracting painter 
 of Sycamore, was born in Genoa town- 
 ship, De Kalb county, Illinois, November 
 25, 1S41. His father, William Phelps, was 
 a well-known builder and coiitractor in the 
 earl}' history of De Kalb county. He first 
 settled in (jenoa township on a farm, and 
 in 1844 moved to the village of Genoa, 
 where he remained until 1848, and then 
 moved to Sycamore, having secured the 
 contrail tor the erection of a new court- 
 house. He married Elizabeth Hollembeak, 
 a daughter of Ruloff W. and Electa (Ames) 
 Hollembeak, the former a native of Shore- 
 ham, Vermont, and a son of Abraham 
 and Lovina (Lord) Hollembeak, who were 
 also natives of \ermont. The father of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 353 
 
 Abraham HoUembeak was a native; of 
 Holland and was one of three brothers to 
 found the family in this country. Electa 
 Ames was a daughter of Barnabas Ames, 
 who was also a native of \'ermont. The 
 paternal grandfather, William Phelps, Sr. , 
 married Cynthia Marston. He was a sol- 
 dier in the Revolutionary war, and died 
 when forty-eight years of age. 
 
 After the completion of the courthouse, 
 William Phelps, the father, purchased a 
 steam sawmill, which had been in operation 
 in St. Charles, Kane county, and moved 
 the same to Sycamore and connnenced the 
 milling business. While running the mill 
 he received injuries which so seriously 
 crippled him that he was unable to continue 
 the business. He later sold the mill, and 
 was elected constable and collector, a do-all 
 office at that time, and served one term. 
 He was later elected sheriff of the county, 
 and served satisfactorily for two years. He 
 was of an inventive turn of mind, and in- 
 vented and patented a churn that he manu- 
 factured and which became quite popular. 
 Models of several of his inventions are now 
 in the patent office at Washington. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but seven 
 years of age when he accompanied his par- 
 ents to Sycamore, and he has since resided 
 at the county seat. He attended the public 
 schools in Sycamore until the age of four- 
 teen years, for a time being a student in the 
 old school-house that stood at the corner 
 of Main and Sycamore streets. After school 
 days, he found work on farms in the town- 
 ships surrounding Sycamore, until after the 
 Civil war commenced. He enlisted in Au- 
 gust, 1862, at Sycamore, and was mustered 
 into the service September 2, at Dixon, 
 Illinois, as a member of Company A, One 
 Hundred and Fifth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 
 fantry. With his regiment he was in the 
 battles of Resaca and New Hope Church, 
 was then in the Atlanta campaign and in 
 the battles at Savannah, Columbia, Averys- 
 boro, and Bentonville, North Carolina. He 
 was with his regiment at Raleigh, North 
 Carolina, when Lee surrendered. After the 
 close of the campaign, those who were not 
 able to stand the march from the battle- 
 fields through Richmond and Virginia, to 
 Washington, were sent around by boat. Mr. 
 Phelps having a large carbuncle on his back 
 was among the number sent by water to the 
 Capital, where he participated in the Grand 
 Review. He was mustered out at Chicago, 
 June 10, 1865. 
 
 On receiving his discharge Mr. Phelps 
 returned to his home in Sj'camore and 
 learned the painter's trade with a brother, 
 and was with him for some four or five 
 years, when he began contracting for him- 
 self and has continued in the business to the 
 present time. His work is principally con- 
 fined to the northern part of De I\alb 
 county and he employs from three to twelve 
 men. He has painted many of the most 
 prominent public and private buildings in 
 the vicinity of Sycamore. 
 
 Mr. Phelps was married November 23, 
 1867, in Linnville township. Ogle county, 
 Illinois, to Miss Martha Jinks, born in Cov- 
 entry, England, June 14, 1847. Her father, 
 William Jinks, was born at Rugby, Eng- 
 land, where his wife, Ann Kidsley, was also 
 born and where they were married. They 
 came to America in 1852, sailing from Liv- 
 erpool to New York. He came directly 
 west to Ogle county, Illinois, and located 
 in Linnville township, where a brother then 
 resided. After living in Linnville township 
 some six months he moved to Kingston, 
 where he engaged in the blacksmith trade 
 
3 54 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 for five years. During this time he studied 
 veterinary surgery, and when he left Kings- 
 ton he moved to his farm of eighty acres in 
 Linnville township and practiced until he 
 retired. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Phelps four children 
 have been born. Ada is the wife of George 
 P. Blanchard, of Sycamore, and they have 
 three children, James Edgar, Merle and 
 Barbara. Ella, Lizzie and Edgar William 
 yet remain at home. In politics Mr. Phelps 
 is a Republican, his first presidential vote 
 being cast for Abraham Lincoln. He has 
 never been an office seeker, but served two 
 terms as township collector. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Grand Army of the Republic and 
 was formerh' a member of the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows. Mrs. Phelps is a 
 member of the Universalist church. 
 
 JAMES H. MOORE, who resides on sec- 
 tion 35, Genoa township, was born De- 
 cember 29, 1835, and is well known as the 
 first white child born in the township. He 
 is the son of Voranus Emory and Sylvia 
 (Madison) Moore, the former a native of 
 Palmer, Massachusetts, and the latter of 
 Trumbull county. Ohio, and a daughter of 
 Thomas Madison, a farmer by occupation, 
 born in Ohio, who canje west in 1833, with 
 the father of our subject, and took up a 
 claim where the village of Genoa now stands, 
 built a log tavern, the first in the township, 
 and kept the same for many years. He 
 was the first justice of the peace in the 
 township. Later he sold his property in 
 Genoa, and went to Texas, where his death 
 occurred. Voranus E. Moore came to De 
 Kalb county in the fall of 1835. and was 
 I he first to commence housekeeping in 
 
 Genoa township. He located a claim south 
 of the present village of Genoa, where the 
 Illinois Central depot nowstands. He took 
 up a claim of one hundred and three acres, 
 and first built his cabin near the river, and 
 later erected a frame residence on the site 
 of tht: lUmois Central depot. When the 
 land came into market, he purchased the 
 claim and there resided until 1863, when 
 he sold out and moved 16 Mcl-ean county, 
 locating near Bloomington, where his death 
 occurred in 1880. The paternal grand- 
 father, Gideon Moore, was also a native of 
 Palmer, Massachusetts. By occupation he 
 was a farmer and gardener in his native 
 state. Later in life he came to Illinois, 
 where his death occurred at the age of nine- 
 ty-six years, four months and ten days. He 
 had a brother who lived to be one hundred 
 and four years old. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 his native township, received his education 
 in the old log school-house, attending school 
 during three months in the winter. The 
 first school-house was erected near the pres- 
 ent farm of our subject. Pupils attended 
 the school from Mayfield, Sycamore, Kings- 
 ton and Genoa townships, some of the 
 pupils walking three or four miles to 
 the school and returning each day Mr. 
 Moore attended the school from the time 
 he was six years of age until he was 
 twent}' years old. He worked on neigh- 
 boring farms every season, raking in the 
 harvest fields when cradles were used. 
 He was one of a family of six children, four 
 of whom are yet living. Clarissa married 
 Lysander Tupper and lives in Oregon. John 
 H. is the subject of this sketch Henry and 
 |onathaii F. live at Charter Grove. 
 
 When he attained his majority, Mr. 
 Moore went to Kansas and took up a claim, 
 
JAMES H. MOORE. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 35; 
 
 and later returned and on the 3rd of Febru- 
 ary, 1858. at Sycamore, was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Adelaine Miller, a native of 
 Xewton Falls, Ohio, who came west in 
 1845 with her parents. After his marriage 
 he rented his father's farm, and continued 
 renting other farms until the fall of 1867, 
 when he purchased one hundred and twenty 
 acres where he now resides, together with 
 five acres of timber in Charter Grove. In 
 1887 his wife died, leaving four children. 
 Adelbert is the present city marshal of 
 Hampshire, Illinois. Lillie married Henry 
 Bartlett, and they reside near Charles City, 
 Iowa. ,\lfred is a carpenter residing in 
 Genoa. \\'illiam is a farmer of Genoa town- 
 ship. 
 
 The second marriage of Mr. Moore was 
 in 1888, when he wedded Mrs. Mary Cra- 
 mer, widow of Nathan Cramer, and a 
 daughter of Clark Henderson, a native of 
 Vermont and a farmer by occupation, who 
 died at the age of fifty-five years, in Barry 
 county, Michigan. He was the son of Tru- 
 man Henderson. His wife was Mary Dake, 
 also a native of Vermont and a daughter of 
 Benjamin and Polly Dake. Clark and Mary 
 Henderson were the parents of ten children, 
 four of whom are now living. By her first 
 marriage Mrs. Moore had one son, William 
 Henr}' Cramer. By her union with Mr, 
 Moore, she became the mother of two sons. 
 James Henry and Voranus Emory. 
 
 In politics Mr. Moore is a Republican, 
 and cast his first presidential vote for John 
 C. Fremont. He has satisfactorily filled 
 several of the minor township ofifices. Re- 
 ligiously he is a member of the Advent 
 Christian church. In addition to his gen- 
 eral farming he is engaged in dairying, hav- 
 ing t\^'enty-f^ve head of milch cows. For 
 eight years he shipped to Chicago and for 
 
 two years has been selling to the creamery 
 at Charter Grove. He is a good and hon- 
 orable man, and his friends are manv. 
 
 ORRIN MERRITT. senior member of 
 the firm of Merritt & Hadsall, con- 
 tractors and builders, Genoa, was born in 
 Concord township, Cuyahoga county. Ohio. 
 September 27. 1831. His father, Calvin 
 Merritt. was born in \\'orcester. Massachu- 
 setts, and moved to Ohio in an early day 
 while that state was yet on the frontier In 
 1844 he came to Illinois and purchased a 
 farm at Shattuck's Grove, Boone county, to 
 which he added three hundred and twenty 
 acres of fine land. On that farm he lived 
 until after the death nf his wife, and about 
 1870 sold it. and made his home with his 
 children during the remainderof his life, dy- 
 ing when upwards of eighty years of age. 
 In politics he was a life-long Democrat, and 
 was honored with several minor township 
 offices. He married Eliza Shattuck, born 
 about six miles from Oswego, New York, in 
 1805, and a daughter of Caleb and Amelia 
 Shattuck, also natives of New York. She 
 died in 1851. They were the parents of 
 eight children, as follows; Mrs. Louisa 
 Herrick, Mrs. Delilah Hinman. Orrin, Mrs. 
 Esther Ingraham, Mrs. Selinda Harris. Gir- 
 den, Mrs. Rosetta Conover. and Mrs. Jose- 
 phine Landreth. The paternal grandfather. 
 Moses Merritt. moved from Massachusetts 
 to Ohio, where he died at the age of sixty- 
 five years. His occupation was that of a 
 farmer during his entire life. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 district schools in his native state until the 
 age of twelve years, and then spent one year 
 in a private school at Cleveland. Ohio. He 
 accompanied the family from Ohio to Shat- 
 
.13 
 
 8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tuck's Grdve, near Belvidere, Boone county, 
 Illinois, where they arrived in July, 1S44. 
 They came by lakes from Cleveland to Chi- 
 cago, and by teams to Shattuck's Grove, 
 and were thiee weeks 01 route. Arriving 
 here our subject entered school in Belvidere, 
 which he attended until fifteen years old. 
 He began life for himself at the age of si.\- 
 teen years, working during the winter months 
 in the pineries in the south and spending his 
 summers at home. He would go to the 
 pineries in the fall, where he would spentl 
 seven months chopping wood for steamboats. 
 In the fall of 1849 he went to Cleveland, 
 Ohio, where he spent eight years learning 
 the trade of ship carpenter, at which he 
 worked a portion of the time as journejiuan. 
 Returning to Illinois, he bought a farm near 
 Shattuck's Grove, which he cultivated for 
 six years. He then went to Chicago, and 
 for four \ ears was engaged in ship building, 
 and three \ears in the car shops of the Illi- 
 nois Central Railroad. In 1H77, he came 
 to Genoa, and for eleven years followed 
 contracting and building alone. Since 188S 
 he has been in partnership with John Had- 
 sall, and they are now the most substantial 
 builders in Genoa. 
 
 Mr. Merritt was married February 7, 
 1850, near Shattuck's Grove, to Miss Mary 
 Wilson, a native of Upper Canada, born in 
 October. 1834, and a daughter of Thomas 
 Wilson, born in Lower Canada, and who 
 served in the war of 1812. He came to Illi- 
 nois in 1844, locating near Shattuck's 
 Grove, where he spent the remainder of his 
 life, dying when past eighty-one years. 
 One of his sons served in the war for the 
 Union. His father was Christopher Wilson. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Merritt four children have 
 been born — Albert, Andrew, Hattie and 
 Henry. The first named is now deceased. 
 
 Henry has been twice married, his first union 
 being with Miss Cora .Atwood, by whom he 
 has three children, .Albert. Jennie and Mary. 
 His second union was with Miss Nettie 
 Thompson and they have two children, 
 Orrin and Harry. 
 
 In politics Mr. Merritt is an independent 
 Democrat, in national elections usually vot- 
 ing his party ticket, and in local elections 
 for the best man. Fraternally he is a mem- 
 ber of Genoa Lodge. No. 768, I. O. O. F., 
 and of Ellwood Encampment at Sycamore. 
 He has never been an office seeker nor an 
 office holder, serving only as a member of 
 the village board. Enterprising and pro- 
 gressive, he endeavors to do what will best 
 advance the interest of his adopted town 
 and county. 
 
 PETER RAMER, a retired farmer resid- 
 ing in the village of Hinkley, has been 
 a resident of Illinois since 1846. and for 
 many years was one of the most successful 
 farmers in De Kalb county. He was born in 
 Perry county, Pennsylvania, August 4. 1830, 
 and is the son of Henry Ramer, a native of 
 the same county and state, born August 8, 
 1804. The paternal grandfather was like- 
 wise a native of Pennsylvania, while the 
 family are of German descent. Henry Ra- 
 mer grew to manhood in his native county, 
 and there married Susanna Troup, a native 
 of Perry county, Pennsylvania, born No- 
 vember 2, 1808. The early life of Henry 
 Ramer was spent on a farm, and hechoose 
 the occupation of farming for a life work. 
 In 1832 he moved to Richland county, Ohio, 
 where he purchased a farm of one hundred 
 and twenty acres, and there continued until 
 1846, when he came to Illinois, first locat- 
 ing in Du Page county, where he remained 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 ,^59 
 
 three years, and then came to De Kalb 
 county, settling in Pierce township. He 
 there purchased a tract of one hundred and 
 sixty acres and at once commenced the de- 
 velopment of the place. Not a house was 
 in sight in any direction, although it was not 
 many years before neighbors began to settle 
 around them. He later purchased one hun- 
 dred and si.xty acres additional, making him 
 a fine farm of three hundred and twenty 
 acres. The improvements that he made 
 were all first class, and on that farm he 
 spent the last jears of his life, dying April 
 30, 1881, at the age of seventy-six years. 
 His wife died January 9, 1877. 
 
 Peter Ramer, our subject, was the old- 
 est son of a fainilj' of seven sons and three 
 daughters born to his parents, all of whom 
 grew to mature years. He assisted his 
 father in clearing and opening up the Ohio 
 farm, and also in breaking the land and de- 
 veloping the farm in De Kalb county. He 
 remained with his parents as a dutiful son 
 until after attaining his majority. He earned 
 his first dollar after the age of twenty-one 
 years by mowing for a neighbor. He was 
 married in De Kalb county, July 30, 1853, 
 to Elizabeth Garlach, a native of Germany, 
 who came when a child with her parents to 
 the United States, her father becoming one 
 of the early settlers of De Ivalb county. 
 .\fter his marriage he rented for one year, 
 and then bought eighty acres of raw prairie 
 land in Pierce township, built a small house 
 and straw barn and began farming in earnest. 
 He later bought eighty acres adjoining, giv- 
 ing him a farm of one hundred and sixtv 
 acres, on which he resided for many years. 
 In due time the small dwelling house gave 
 place to a more pretentious one, the straw 
 buTu to a large frame one, with plentv of 
 shed room for stock. He also purchased 
 
 one hundred and sixty acres additional, 
 making his farm comprise three hundred 
 and twenty acres. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Ramer seven children 
 were born, as follows: Wilhelmina, wife of 
 Adolphus Harter, of Aurora, Illinois; Elihu 
 B., a farmer, of Squaw Grove township; 
 Frankie, wife of Elias Myers, a farmer of 
 Pierce township, residing on the old home- 
 stead; Grant, a farmer, of Paw Paw town- 
 ship; Pllla, who is now housekeeper for her 
 father, and two who died in childhood. The 
 mother of these children died July 26, 1892, 
 leaving many friends to mourn her loss. 
 
 Mr. Ramer has been a life-long Repub- 
 lican, casting his first presidential vote for 
 John C. Fremont m 1856, followed by 
 Abraham Lincoln in i860 and every presi- 
 dential nominee of the party to the present 
 time. He has been honored by his fellow 
 citizens with several offices of honor and 
 trust and in every position has discharged 
 the duties in a most satisfactory manner. 
 In 1890 he rented his farm, purchased prop- 
 erty in Hinckley and removed to that vil- 
 lage, where he has since lived retired. He 
 is one of the official members of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, with which he has 
 been connected for forty years. For forty- 
 nine years he has been a resident of Illinois 
 and in the great changes that have been 
 made he has done his part. 
 
 JOHN HELSON, a retired farmer resid- 
 ing in the city of Sycamore, was born 
 in the town of Plymouth, Devonshire, Eng- 
 land, November 24, 1819. His father, 
 John Helson Sr. , was born in the parish of 
 Braidwood, Widger, Devonshire, England, 
 about 1790, and died at the age of seventy- 
 four years. In his young manhood he was 
 
^6o 
 
 Tin; i;i()(.K.\iMiH'.\i, ki'.cokd. 
 
 H workman in the limestone qLuirries. ;uui 
 about 1823 was nearly killed by a prema- 
 ture blast, a piece being cut out of his face. 
 Alter that he engaged in general work as a 
 common laborer. His wife, Mary Harris, 
 a daughter of ]oseph Harris, was born near 
 Plymouth, Devonshire, England, and died 
 when about forty-tive years old. 
 
 hi his boyhood and youth our subject 
 worked on a farm in Devonshire, but from 
 the age of twenty-one years, for a period of 
 nine years, he worked in the mines in Corn- 
 wall. Leaving that employment he came 
 to the United States, sailing from Plymouth 
 in the vessel Cordelia, a three masted ship, 
 leaving April 4, 1848, and landing in Oue- 
 bec. Canada, after a voyage of six weeks 
 and three days. From (juebec he went to 
 Erie, Pennsylvania, b}' lake, and from there 
 to New Castle, by the old Pittsburg & Erie 
 canal, where he remained from |une, 1848, 
 until the spring of 1851. Leaving New Cas- 
 tle he came to Illinois and purchased a farm 
 of one hundred and fifty acres, lying partlj' 
 in Kane and De I'Calb counties. He later 
 added to his original purchase until he had 
 two hundred and seventy-five acres of well 
 improved land. In the spring of 1851 he 
 moved his family to Sscamore township, 
 and, leaving them, went to the Lake Supe- 
 rior copper mines and remained there until 
 the fall of 1852, when he returned to his 
 family and remained with them until the 
 spring of 1853, when he again returned to 
 the mines and remained there until the fall 
 of 1854. Returning home he then engaged 
 in farming until the fall of 1870, when he 
 came to Sycamore, and has since been liv- 
 ing retired. 
 
 Mr. Helson was married in St. Clear 
 parish, Devonshire, England, to Miss Elijca- 
 beth Jane, daughter of William and Cath- 
 
 erine (Johns I jane. 1^}- this union seven 
 children have been born: George John, 
 residing on a farm in Sycamore township; 
 May Jane, wife of W. \Y. London; Eliza- 
 beth, wife of William Shuey, of Sycamore 
 township; Richard John, residing in Iowa: 
 Louisa, wife of William Seamans, of Syca- 
 more; Catherine, wife of Nicholas Johnson, 
 of Sj'camore; and Thomas, of the firm of 
 Briggs, Helson & Olson. Mrs. Helson died 
 |une 22, 1896. She was a member of the 
 M. E. church. 
 
 W'illiam \\'. London, the son-in-law of 
 Mr. Helson, of whom mention has been 
 made, was born in Grampian Hills town- 
 ship, Fairfield county, Pennsylvania, Janu- 
 ary I, 1841, and is the son of Richard \\'. 
 and Sarah Ann (Estes) London, both of 
 whom were natives of Lu/ierne count}', 
 Pennsylvania. He came west with his par- 
 ents in 1855, arriving in De Kalb count}' 
 March 6, of that year. His father pur- 
 chased a farm of eighty acres in Mayfield 
 township, which he later sold, and pur- 
 chased one on the west line of the city of 
 Sycamore, where he lived seven years, then 
 sold and bought eighty-six acres in Cort- 
 land township, which he later rented, and 
 moving to Sycamore resided there until his 
 death, February i, 1880. William W. re- 
 mained at home until he attained his ma- 
 jorit}' when he rented a farm for three years, 
 then married, and rented other farms for 
 four years, and later purchased land and 
 continued farming until the spring of 1895, 
 when he removed to Sycamore and is now 
 living retired. His present farm in Ma}- 
 field township consists of one hundred antl 
 eighty acres. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Helson purchased residence 
 propert\' on Cross street, Sycamore, to 
 which he removed, but has since given to 
 
THE SIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 i6i 
 
 his daughter, Mrs. London, with whom he 
 makes his home. For many years he was 
 a me.nb^r of the United Brethern church, 
 but is now a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and in politics is a Re- 
 publican, although with strong prohibition 
 tendencies. He has held the office of road 
 commissioner and school director the f;reat(r 
 part of the time since residing in the county. 
 He was offered the supervisorship and other 
 offices, but refused to accept. 
 
 AARON MOWERS, of Franklin town- 
 ship, is a self-made man, one of the 
 best farmers in De Kalb county, and now 
 owns and operates a farm of six hundred 
 and forty acres. He is a native of Herki- 
 mer county. New York, born May lo, 1H23, 
 and is the son of John G. and Catherine 
 (Bnell) Mowers, both natives of New York 
 state, who were the parents of six children 
 — Giddie, Eliza, Sina and Maria (twins), 
 Levi and Aaron. Of these our subject is 
 the onl)' survivor. The paternal grandfa- 
 ther, George Mowers, was also a native of 
 New York state, and a soldier in the Revo- 
 lutionary war, for services in which, during 
 the last years of his lif«. he drew a pension. 
 By occupation he was a farmer. His death 
 occurred at a very advanced age. 
 
 .Aaron Mowers was reared on the home 
 farm in his native state and educated in its 
 public schools. In March, 185 1, he mar- 
 ried Margaret Rickard, a native of Herki- 
 mer county, New York, and a daughter of 
 Jacob and Mary (Oak) Rickard, both na- 
 tives of the same state. The\- were the 
 parents of nine children, four of whom are 
 deceased. Nancy, Peter, John and Phebe. 
 The living are Margaret, David, Louisa, 
 Al\a and Eliza. The paternal grandfather 
 
 of Mrs. Mowers was Peter Rickard, who 
 was likewise a native of Herkimer county. 
 New York, a farmer 1)\' occupation and who 
 lived to an advanced age. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Mowers seven children have been born — 
 Fayette, Har\e\-, James, Mary, Charlie, 
 .Allan and Liz/ie, the last named being de- 
 ceased. 
 
 About one year alter their marriage Mr. 
 and Mrs. Mowers came to De I\alb county 
 and located in South Grove township, on 
 section 17, where he purchased one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres of government land at 
 one dollar and twenty-fi\'e cents per acre. 
 He at once commenced the improvement of 
 the same, and, as his means increased, 
 added to the area of his land, until he has 
 now six hundred and forty acres, worth on 
 an average seventy-hve dollars per acre. 
 In all his farming operations he has met 
 with success, and is now numl)ered among 
 the most substantial farmers of the county. 
 In politics he is an enthusiastic Republican 
 and has served as road commissioner three 
 years. His residence in Fairdale is a neat 
 and attractive one, and he can well afford 
 to live in ease and retirement, enjoying the 
 fruits of vears of honest toil. 
 
 CARL BURTON CRAWFORD, one of 
 the leading business men of Genoa and 
 a dealer in groceries, was born in Genoa 
 township. March 27, 1865. His father, 
 .Alexander Crawford, was born in Mercer 
 county, Pennsylvania, December 22, 1822, 
 and in the spring of 1828 accompanied* his 
 parents to Richmond county. Ohio, and 
 there resided until 1839. On the first of 
 November of that year the family left Ohio 
 and reached Genoa, Illinois, the 24th of the 
 same montli, driving through by wagon. 
 
362 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 His father settled first in Sycamore town- 
 ship, where he bought a claim, but later 
 sold it and went tu Iowa, where he died in 
 1867. Alexander Crawford, Jr.. remained 
 in Illinois when his parents move4 west. 
 He here married, De.tember 25, 1845, Miss 
 Laura Shnrtleff, a native of Canada and a 
 daughter of David and Ruth (Knapp) Shnrt- 
 leff, her father being a son of Ichabod Shurt- 
 leff. They became the parents of five chil- 
 dren: Mrs. Theresa Smith, Henry, Howard, 
 Everhard and . Carl. The paternal grand- 
 father. Ale.xander Crawford. Sr. , married 
 Rachel Kidd, a daughter of William I-iidd and 
 a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. She died 
 in Sycamore township. The paternal great- 
 grandfather. David Crawford, who married 
 a Miss W'ickhain, was a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania and there spent his entire life. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 Genoa schools until the age of seventeen 
 years, and for six or se\en }'ears clerked in 
 his father's store. In 1894 the father re- 
 tired from business and was succeeded by 
 his sons, one ol whom took charge of the 
 dry goods and our subject the grocery de- 
 partment. He now carries a complete line 
 of staple and fancy groceries and has an ex- 
 cellent trade. He was married in Genoa in 
 1880 to Miss Luelia Baldwin, a native of 
 Genoa and a daughter of William Clark 
 Baldwin. They have become the parents 
 of five children: Vernon, V'ellma, Frank, 
 .Aria and lone, the last named being 
 deceased. 
 
 In politics Mr. Crawford is a Republic- 
 an and has served as a member of the 
 village board one term and township col- 
 lector one term. Fraternally he is a Mason 
 and a member of the Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
 ica and Knights of the Globe. 
 
 REV. \V.' S. GRANGE, pastor of the 
 Congregational church of Malta, Illi- 
 nois, was born in Eldredsville, , Sullivan 
 county, Pennsylvania, April 7, 1857, and is 
 the son of John \\'. and Eliza (Vough) 
 Grange, both nati\es of l^ennsyK aiiia. The 
 father was a farmer of respectability and 
 prominence in his county and died in .'\ugust, 
 1897. He was of English extraction, while 
 his wife was of Scotch descent. She sur- 
 vives him and resides on the farm in Sulli- 
 van county, Pennsylvania. Their famil\- 
 consisted of eleven children, nine of whom 
 are vet living. One of their sons is an at- 
 torney at Wheaton, Illinois. Each of the 
 sons and two of the daughters have been 
 teachers in the public schools, a fact that 
 speaks well for their parents and well as (or 
 their own ambition in that line. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is third in 
 order of birth, and was reared and received 
 his primary education in the common 
 schools of his native township. Subse- 
 quently he attended Groveland Seminary, 
 in Dodge county, Minnesota, and afterward 
 took a special course at Wheaton College, 
 Wheaton, Illinois. On leaving college, he 
 entered the Chicago Theological Seminary, 
 from which he was graduated in 1892. Four 
 years previous to this, however, he was 
 ordained to the ministry at Dayton, Iowa. 
 
 Shortly after being graduated from the 
 Theological Seminary in 1892, Mr. CJrange 
 assumed his first pastorate, taking charge of 
 the Congregational church at Atkinson, 
 Illinois. During his pastorate of this church 
 he succeeded in purchasing from the Pres- 
 byterians a building in the country which 
 formed a mission field for his church. He 
 improved the property of his own church by 
 adding a lecture room and pastor's stud} . 
 During this pleasant pastorale, his congre- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 36j 
 
 gation almost doubled, and his membership 
 increased very nearly in the same propor- 
 tion. 
 
 It was during his residence in Atkinson 
 that Mr. Grange saw the necessity of having 
 tiles for sermons and clippings. He put his 
 mind to work on this matter and, being a 
 practical man, he has brought out as a re- 
 sult of his concentration of thought, one of 
 the most useful files for all kinds of business 
 that is in the market to-day. These files 
 cases are indorsed by such men as Rev. Fred 
 Brown, La Harpe, Illinois; Rev. Marion D. 
 Shutler, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Rev. Cyrus 
 Northrup, president of the University of 
 Minnesota; Rev. William Stevens Perry, 
 Bishop of Iowa, and many others. The 
 business of manufacturing these files has 
 grown on his hands very largely and as the 
 files become known it will still more largely 
 increase. 
 
 On the 23d of April, 1884, Mr. Grange 
 was united in marriage with Miss Florence 
 Douglas, a native of Minnesota, born in 
 1868, and a daughter of Henry and Marj' 
 Douglas. By this union four children have 
 been born, three of whom are now living: 
 Earl, Ross and John. Mrs. Grange departed 
 this life September 23, 1892, dying in the 
 full assurance of faith. For his second wife, 
 on |une 19, 1893, Mr. Grange married Miss 
 Helen Tibbetts. a native of Dodge county, 
 Minnesota, and daughter of Thomas J. and 
 Helen Tibbetts. 
 
 In 1896 Mr. Grange moved to Wheaton, 
 Illinois, where he remained for about 
 nine months. From Wheaton he was called 
 to Malta, where he now enjoys the pleasant 
 and profitable pastorate with the full con- 
 fidence and respect of his parishoners. 
 Besides being pastor of the church, Mr. 
 (jrange is pursuing his business of file mak- 
 
 ing. Although he has resided in Malta a com- 
 paratively short time he has made many 
 friends and his uitiuence is veiy great. 
 
 WILLLAM L. KING, a farmer residing 
 on section 3. Sycamore township, 
 was born on the farm where he now resides 
 December 7, 1872, and was the only son of 
 Alfred and Mary Belinda (Evans) King, of 
 whom mention is made elsewhere in this 
 work. When seven years of age, the family 
 mo\-ed to a farm one-half mile north in 
 Genoa township, and on that farm and one 
 adjoining, owned by his father, he remained 
 until his marriage, in the spring of 1894 
 In the district schools he (jbtained his edu- 
 cation, attending principally in the winter 
 months until twenty years of age. He has 
 grown up on the farm and has always given 
 his attention to agricultural pursuits. At 
 the age of twenty he rented his father's 
 place one season, then married and came to 
 his present farm, which consists of one hun- 
 dred and thirty-seven acres. 
 
 .\lr. King was married February 21, 
 1894, to Miss Julia Mary Whitacre, a daugh- 
 ter of Edwin A. and Susan (Warner) Whit- 
 acre, both of whom are natives of Muncie 
 township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, 
 the former born December 2, 1844, and the 
 latter June 28, 1844. They were married 
 in Pennsylvania in i858, and there resided 
 until 1873, when they removed to Spring 
 township, Boone county, Illinois, where 
 they resided until February, [884, when 
 they came to Sycamore township, De Kalb 
 county, where Mr. Whitacre has a farm of 
 two hundred and four acres. The}' were 
 the parents of six children: James, Julia 
 Mary, Alfred, .Arthur, William and Leslie. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. King one child has 
 
364 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAl. RECORD. 
 
 been born, Dorothy They reside in a 
 pleasant home where Mr. King is engaged 
 in (general farming. Since taking possession 
 ol the farm, he has put in tiling and has re- 
 built the house, erected outbuildings and 
 made considerable repairing. The 'place is 
 in good condition, and the farm is a very 
 producti\e one. In politics Mr. I\ing is a 
 Republican. 
 
 AKAMONT NOBLE HOLLEMBEAK 
 is a well-known retired farmer residing 
 in Genoa, one of the few living pioneers of 
 De Kalb county. He was born in the town 
 of \\'arsaw, Genesee county, New York, 
 Februarv 5. 1S16, and is the son of KulofY 
 \\". Hollenibeak. who was born m Shnre- 
 ham, \'ermont, about \y>''S- He was a 
 hatter by trade, and inmed to Genesee 
 count}'. New York, jirior to 1S16. and later 
 moved to Crawford county, Pennsylvania. 
 His death occurred in Crawford county, 
 Pennsylvania, in 1S30, at the age of forty- 
 five years. He married Electa Ames, a 
 daughter of I-iarnabus Ames, who married a 
 Miss Noble. The Ames' are .iTi old New 
 England family. To RulofT W. and Electa 
 Hollembeak, nine children were born, two 
 of whom died in infancy. Those attaining 
 maturity were; Electa, Betsy, Aramont 
 N., .\lfred, Abram, William, and Atny. 
 Of these. Electa, Betsy, .Alfred and 
 .\bram are deceased. The paternal grand- 
 father, Abraham Hollembeak, was a native 
 of Vermont, and when a young man moved 
 to Canada, and later to Crawford county, 
 Pennsylvania, where he died when about 
 ninety years old. His wife was Miss I^o- 
 vina Lord. Ruloff \V. Hollembeak was a 
 descendant of one of three brothers, John, 
 
 Clark and George, who came from Holl.ind 
 prior to the Revolutionary war. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was about six 
 \ears old when his parents moved to Beaver, 
 Crawford county, Pennnsylvania. His fa- 
 ther died when he was about fourteen years 
 of age, and he continued under the parental 
 roof until the age of si.\teen years, when he 
 went to (3onneaiit Lake, I^ennsylvania, 
 where he served an apprenticeship of three 
 years in learning the wagonmaker's trade. 
 He then returned to Conneaut, Ohio, and 
 worked about three years, and from there 
 went to his old home in Pennsylvania. On 
 the 1 2th of Januar}', 1838, in Crawford 
 county, Pennsylvania, he was united in 
 marriage with Miss Parmelia Decker, Elder 
 (esse Church officiating. She is a native of 
 Manchester, Genesee county. New York, 
 born May 17, 18 17, and a daughter of Fred- 
 erick and Amy (Barney) Decker. She em- 
 igrated to Crawford county, Pennsylvania, 
 with her mother, her father having died in 
 New York. 
 
 Immediately after his marriage Mr. Hol- 
 lembeak came to Boone count), . Illinois, 
 and spent the winter at Shattuck's Gro\e. 
 Leaving his wife at the Grove he went to 
 Chicago and found work at his trade during 
 the winter. On his return in the spring he 
 built a log house on his claim, of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres, which was in De Kalb 
 county, and that season broke twcnt\ 
 acres. Mr. Hollembeak has still his patent 
 from the government, the land never hav- 
 ing been transferred. In his log cabin he 
 put up a bench, using tht- house for a shop 
 as well as dwelling. In an early day Mr. 
 Hollembeak had quite a reputation for cur- 
 ing poll evil in horses. On that farm he 
 resided until 1877, and during the interven- 
 ing \'ears, like ,nll other settlers, had his 
 
A. N. HOLLEMBEAK, 
 
MRS. A. N. HOLLEMBEAK. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 369 
 
 seasons of prosperity and seasons of adver- 
 sity. On the whole he has, however, done 
 better than most men who began as he did 
 with nothing but willing hands and strong 
 heart for capital. Being of an ingenious 
 turn of mind he has invented and taken out 
 patents on barb wire and various other de- 
 vices, inchiding a wind mill, which he man- 
 ufactured for a number of years. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Hollembeak six chil- 
 dren have been born, (i) Delia Ann married 
 F"rederick Totten and they have three chil- 
 dren, Charles, William and Etta. Charles 
 married Zeni P. Ploss and has had four 
 children, George, Fern, Ruth and Frank, 
 deceased. William married Ella Sheely, 
 and they have five children, Ethel, Flossie, 
 Frederick, Annie and Grace. William died 
 in Jul}', 1898. Etta married Frank Cham- 
 plain, and their three children are Blanche. 
 W'illiam and Louie. (2) Alfred S. married 
 Blanche Cohoon. (3) Henry C. first mar- 
 ried Emily Sackville, and they had two 
 children, Emily, deceased, and Oscar. His 
 second union was with Millie Noble. (4) 
 Emily married George Ide, and their chil- 
 dren were Harry and Ralph, both deceased. 
 (5) Ruloff W. married Emma Brown, and 
 their children are Harry and Row (6) 
 Ralph D. married Lily Brown, and they 
 have one child living, Helen. 
 
 In 1877 Mr. Hollembeak erected a com- 
 fortable cottage in Genoa where he moved 
 with his family, and has since been living 
 quietly at peace with the world. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hollembeak, are Spiritualists in re- 
 ligious belief. In politics he is a Repub- 
 lican, and in times passed took an active 
 interest in political affairs. He served as 
 supervisor of his township two terms, sev- 
 eral terms as assessor, and also held other 
 minor offices, and served six years as police 
 
 18 
 
 justice in Genoa. For about fortj' years 
 he has been a member of the Masonic 
 lodge at Genoa. 
 
 On the 1 2th of January, 1898, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hollembeak celebrated their sixtieth 
 wedding anniversary. About thirty relatives 
 were present to partake of the festivities. 
 The day was spent in an enjoyable manner 
 and all had a glorious good time. An 
 elaborate dinner was served, the tables 
 fairly groaning under the load of good 
 things. 
 
 At one table the host and hostess sat 
 with their own family as follows: Mrs. A. 
 N. Pond, Mr. Hollembeak's sister; William 
 Holletnbeak, his brother; Edgar Phelps, 
 son of his sister, Betsey Phelps, and Mrs. 
 Gardner, daughter of his sister, Mrs. Farr. 
 The children sat at the table as they did 
 when they were all living at home. Delia 
 Ann and Alfred sat next their father, while 
 Ralph, Yuluff and Emily were placed next 
 to their mother in the order of their ages, 
 the line being broken by the absence of 
 Henry. Delia Ann is the oldest and Ralph 
 the youngest child. On this table an elegant 
 cake was placed in which sixty candles 
 were burning, emblematic of the number of 
 years of connubial bliss. The other table 
 was surrounded by the rest of the relatives. 
 
 The reception room was beautifully 
 decorated with evergreen, flowers, etc., 
 presenting a very pretty appearance. On 
 the east wall over the parlor door were the 
 words "welcome," on the south wall the 
 words " i838-Anniversary-i898 " and on 
 the west " Sixtieth. ,\s a token of respect 
 the relatives presented Mr. and Mrs. Hol- 
 lembeak with a iiandsomely made oak ex- 
 tension table and their own children gave 
 them a beautiful set of dining-room chairs. 
 It was indeed a pleasant and most unusual 
 
370 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORI). 
 
 affair and those who were in attendance 
 will long remember it as one of the happi- 
 est events of their lives. About dusk the 
 guests departed for their respective homes 
 after wishing the host and hostess many 
 happy returns of the day. 
 
 Those present were: Messrs. and Mes- 
 dames William Hollembeak, Edgar, Phelps, 
 Frank Hollembeak, Abrain Hollembeak, 
 George Blanchard and the Misses Eva 
 Phelp and Grace Hollembeak, of Sycamore; 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Hollembeak and daugh- 
 ter, of Elgin; Messrs. and Mesdames A. H. 
 Pond, D. S. Brown, A. R. Cohoon, A. Co- 
 hoon, Gardner and Ralph Hollembeak, of 
 Genoa; Mr. and Mrs. Will Pond, of DeKalb. 
 
 JOHN TISCHHOUSER, contractor and 
 builder, resides on Ue Kalb avenue. 
 Sycamore, Illinois, is a native of Switzer- 
 land, born in the village of Sevelen, Can- 
 ton St. Gallen, December 29, 1849, a"d is 
 the son of John and Rosa (Gedint) Tisch- 
 houser, the former born in Russia, but was 
 reared in Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland, 
 August 15, 1813, and the latter in Canton 
 Grau-Buenden, Switzerland. The paternal 
 grandfather, Simon Tischhouser, learned 
 the confectioner's trade in Brussels and 
 .\ntwerp, worked many years in England, 
 came to America, and made his way to St. 
 Louis, where he built and operated the first 
 baker's oven in the city, or village as it was 
 then. He recrossed the Atlantic, worked 
 for a time in Spain, then went to Italy, and 
 later joined the army of Napoleon. He was 
 in the Russian campaign, was captured, and 
 later joined the Russian army, and in due 
 time was commissioned captain, a position 
 he held for eight years, and then retired on 
 a pension. He was six feet six inches in 
 
 height, was never sick, ne\er needed glasses, 
 teeth good until his death, heavy head of 
 hair, and very powerful and vigorous during 
 his entire life. He died at the age of ninety- 
 nine years and seven months. 
 
 John Tischhouser, the father of our sub- 
 ject, studied veterinar\' surgery seven years 
 in Switzerland, after which he practiced the 
 profession there until coming to America, 
 and on his arrival here resumed practice, 
 and continued the same until his death. He 
 died at the residence of a daughter in Mich- 
 igan in 1894. I^ike his father before him, 
 he was an exceedingly strong man and 
 could easily carry seven hundred pounds 
 weight. In height he was six feet four 
 inches, and weighed two hundred and fifty 
 pounds. His wife, Rosa Gedint, was the 
 daughter of Casper Gedint, who in middle 
 life was accidentally killed in the forest on the 
 mountain side by a log rolling on him. 
 His wife, Catherina, died in Switzerland at 
 the age of seventy-eight years. Mrs. Rosa 
 Tischhouser died in 1871. She was the 
 mother of seven children, six of whom are 
 yet living. 
 
 |ohn Tischhouser, our subject, lived in 
 Switzerland until the age of sixteen years, 
 and there received his education in the pub- 
 lic schools Leaving home, he went to Ant- 
 werp by rail, thence by canal to the sea, 
 and embarked April 6, 1865, in a three- 
 masted sailing \essel, for the United States. 
 In mid-ocean his vessel spoke a steamer 
 conveying news of I.,incoln's assassination. 
 Our subject was so delighted to see a vessel 
 with other human beings — anjthing from 
 land — that he climbed the mast to watch it 
 as long as visible. Passengers were not 
 allowed in the riggings, but Mr. Tischhouser 
 being a venturesome youth, climbed to the 
 top of the mast and took a gold hall from 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 37 r 
 
 it. He was arrested by a sailor and taken 
 before the captain, but so won his favor 
 that he was not punished, and the captain 
 became a good friend to him during the rest 
 of the voyage. It was a stormy passage, 
 and their vessel was driven nearly to the 
 coast of Greenland. Its masts were blown 
 away, supplies of food ran low, and water 
 was very scarce and very foul — worse than 
 pond water — }et passengers would have 
 been glad to steal even a pint of it had 
 guards not been kept over the water barrels. 
 
 After a voyage of one hundred and four 
 days and four days in quarantine, landed at 
 Castle Garden, New York, June 13, 1865. 
 After a few days spent in New York, by rail he 
 came west to Chicago where he secured 
 work as hostler in a hotel at thirty dollars 
 a month, a munificent income t(^ a foreign 
 born boy. The work kept him up nearly 
 all night, and was too fatiguing, so he quit 
 and worked in a brick yard fcjr a time on 
 Goose Island at two dollars and a half per 
 day, and thought himself a millionaire. He 
 next went to Ivane county, Illinois, and 
 worked on a farm near Dundee the greater 
 part of the year at twenty-five dollars per 
 month. Being a large and strong youth 
 and a good worker he always commanded 
 the highest wages. From Dundee he went 
 to Davenport,' Iowa, and worked on the 
 farm of a fellow countryman at good wages 
 and then went with some friends to St. 
 I^ouis, and from there to southern Illinois 
 where he worked in a saw mill for about 
 eighteen months, after which he spent 
 nearly a year in Wisconsin and Minnesota, 
 and from the latter state returned to Wis- 
 consin, and at Oshkosh worked two sum- 
 mers and spent one winter in saw mills 
 and a lumber camp. 
 
 From the saw mills and, lumber camps 
 
 of Wisconsin he crossed the plains and spent 
 about a year in Oregon and California, 
 then returned east, and at Des Moines, 
 Iowa, worked one year on the water tower, 
 and while there had an exciting experience, 
 narrowly escaping death by stepping off the 
 river bridge a few seconds before it went 
 down under the weight of some six hundred 
 and forty ponies that stampeded, nearly the 
 entire number getting on the bridge at 
 once, instead of a few at a time, as it was 
 intended should be done. From Des Moines 
 he went to West Bend. Wisconsin, where 
 during the next four years he finished 
 learning the carpenter's trade which he had 
 previously begun. After spending two years 
 at Kenosha, Wisconsin, he went to Chicago 
 where he remained until April, 1875, when 
 he removed to Sycamore, Illinois, where he 
 has since continued to reside, engaged in 
 contracting and building. Since removing 
 to Sycamore he has erected eighty-seven 
 barns in the country, thirty-two residences 
 in the citj' of Sycamore, fourteen residences 
 in the country near by, and about twenty 
 residences, stores and school-houses in Rock- 
 ford, Belvidere, Kirkland, Kingston, Hamp- 
 shire and other surrounding towns. For 
 Joseph Glidden, near De Kalb, he erected 
 one of the largest barns in the state, being 
 sixty-five by one hundred and fifty feet. At 
 Kenosha, Wisconsin, he built a barn sixty- 
 four by two hundred feet, with an extension 
 for mill purposes. 
 
 Mr. Tischhouser was united in marriage 
 Januar}' 2, 1872, with Miss Louisa Claire 
 Leech, a native of Kenosha, Wisconsin, 
 and a daughter of John E. Leech, of Lan- 
 caster, England, who married a Miss Tur- 
 ner, of Yorkshire, England, and a daugh- 
 ter of Abraham Turner. By this union 
 there are seven children: Arthur, a gradu- 
 
372 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ate of the Sycamore hi^h school, and now 
 foreman in the can factory; Delford Lee, 
 working in the factory under his brother; 
 Rosa May and Millie Edna, at home; [ohn, 
 deceased; Claretice Raymond and John Ed- 
 ward, at home. Fraternally Mr. Tischhoiis- 
 er is a member of the Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows and of the National Union. 
 In politics he is a Democrat, and is now 
 serving as alderman of the city. 
 
 ARTHUR ALLISON is numbered among 
 the young and progressive farmers of 
 De Ralb county. He is a native of Frank- 
 lin township, born on the farm where he 
 now resides October lo, i S69. His father, 
 James T. Allison, was born in Burnside 
 township, Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, 
 February 22, 1832. The paternal grand- 
 parents, Andrew and Mary (Lee) Allison, 
 were both natives of Pennsylvania and the 
 parents of four children, of whom James T. 
 is the sole survivor. He was left an orphan 
 when but two years old by the death of his 
 mother, and resided with his father until 
 ten years of age and then made his home 
 with his grandfather, Jacob Lee, until he 
 was eighteen years old, his education be- 
 ing received in the district schools of his 
 native state. In 1855 he came to Illinois 
 and settled in Boone county, where he 
 worked by the day and month. He made 
 his first purchase of land in 1861, buying a 
 tract of forty acres, to which he kept adding 
 as his means increased until he has now one 
 hundred and sixty acres of well cultivated 
 land. He was married on the 20th of Sep- 
 tember, i860, to Margaret Wood, a native 
 of Canada, and to them were born three 
 children, Elizabeth, John F. and Arthur. 
 The two sons now run the home farm. 
 
 Elizabeth married Charles Miner, a mer- 
 chant of Kirkland. For twelve years fames 
 C. Allison served as school director and was 
 five years road commissioner. In politics 
 he is a Republican. 
 
 On the home farm Arthur Allison grew 
 to manhood and attended school at Kirk- 
 land for two years after leaving his district 
 school. He then entered the emplov of the 
 Chicago, Milwaukee lV St. Paul Railway 
 Company and was fireman on an engine for 
 five years. On the 7th of July, 1892, he 
 married Myrtle Byers, a daughter of A. B. 
 Byers, of South Grove township, De I\alb 
 county, and they have one daughter, Ruth E. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Allison ha\e a farm of one 
 hundred and twentj' acres of good land, a 
 portion of her father's estate. The}' reside, 
 however, on his father's farm, where he is 
 engaged in general fanning and stock rais- 
 ing. In politics he is an ardent Republican. 
 
 HENRY H. SLATER, who is engaged 
 in the general mercantile business at 
 Genoa, Illinois, is one of the best known 
 citizens in the northern part cjf De Kalb 
 county. He was born in Hunterdon coun- 
 ty. New Jersey, October 31, 183S. and is 
 the son of Samuel Slater, and the grandson of 
 Henry Slater, who spent his entire life in New 
 Jersey, and who died when about seventy-five 
 years of age. The family are of Scotch de- 
 scent. Samuel Slater was born in Hunterdon 
 county, New Jersey, in 181G. He married 
 Rhoda Burroughs a daughter of Timothy and 
 Phebe (Green) Burroughs, the latter being a 
 daughter of Joseph Green of New Jersey, 
 who married Elizabeth Gillis, a native of 
 Ireland, who came to America when about 
 fourteen years old. Timothy Burroughs 
 was a great-grandson of John Burroughs, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 373 
 
 who moved from Long Island to Trenton, 
 New Jersey, and was one of the first sher- 
 iffs of that county. He was followed by 
 his son John, and the latter by a son of the 
 same name, who was the father of Timothy. 
 The third John served in the Revolutionary 
 war, and on that account was a pensioner 
 of the general government. His death oc- 
 curred in 1835, when about eighty-five 
 years old. He married Rhoda Hendrick- 
 son, a daughter of Thomas Hendrickson. 
 They became the parents of five chil- 
 dren, of whom I^hoda, the mother of our 
 subject, was fourth in order of birth. She 
 and the youngest of the family, the now ven- 
 erable Isaac I. Burroughs, are the only sur- 
 vivors. Mrs. Rhoda Burroughs lived to be 
 ninety years of age. Of the children born 
 to Samuel and Rhoda Slater, two survive, 
 our subject and Martha, wife of Chauncey 
 D. Flint, an engineer of Chicago. 
 
 Henry H. Slater spent his boyhood in 
 his native state, and there remained until 
 sixteen years of age. His education was 
 obtained in the district school and in a pri- 
 vate school in Warren county, New Jersey. 
 On coming to Illinois, he went with his 
 father to a farm two and a half miles east 
 of Genoa, an-d worked with him until the 
 age of twenty-one years, when his father 
 gave him a farm which he proceeded to cul- 
 tivate, and in which he continued until the 
 second year of the war for the Union. He 
 enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and 
 Fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, at Genoa, 
 September 2, 1872, and was mustered in 
 with his regiment at Dixon, and was soon 
 afterwards sent to the front. The regiment 
 joined the main army at Louisville, Ken- 
 tucky, and the first battle in which it was 
 engaged was at Resaca, Georgia. It was 
 later in the Atlanta campaign, and with 
 
 Sherman on the march to the sea. 
 While at Raleigh, North Carolina, they 
 heard the news of the surrender of Lee 
 and the fall of Richmond. The regiment 
 then marched through Richmond, Virginia, 
 and after viewing the battle grounds, pro- 
 ceeded to Washington, where it participat- 
 ed in the Grand Review. It was mustered 
 out at Washington, and discharged at Chi- 
 cago, in June, 1865. 
 
 Returning home Mr. Slater opened a 
 general store in Genoa, later adding a stock 
 of drugs. In 1870 he disposed of his store 
 and went into business at Gardner, Illinois, 
 but in 1873 returned to Genoa and again 
 entered into the mercantile business. In 
 I 876 he built a large brick store room and 
 later took his son into partnership. The 
 son is now deceased and the firm name is 
 now H. H. Slater. 
 
 Mr. Slater was married January 23, 
 1867, in Genoa, to Miss Amaretta B. Stiles, 
 born in Fraleysburg, Canada, just across 
 the line from Vermont, and a daughter of 
 Asahel Stiles, a native of Benson, Vermont, 
 born August 14, 1797, and died in Genoa 
 February 7, 1883. He came to Illinois in 
 November, 1848, coming by canal and lakes 
 to Chicago and by teams to De Kalb 
 county, locating in Sycamore township, 
 three miles south of Genoa. He was one 
 of the builders of the court house in Syca- 
 more and was by trade a carpenter. His 
 son, Aaron K. Stiles, was county clerk of De 
 Kalb county for twelve years. Asahel 
 Stiles married Fannie Smith, a native of 
 Sudbury, Vermont, a daughter of Enoch 
 and Mary (Wilson) Smith, natives of Eng- 
 land. To our subject and wife two chil- 
 dren were born, Samuel and Margaret. 
 The former was for a time in business with 
 his father, but is now deceased, 
 
374 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Slater is a member of 
 the Masonic lodge at Genoa, and also of 
 the Grand Ann)' of the Republic. Well 
 known throughout the county, he is a man 
 who has many warm friends and as a busi- 
 ness man has always been enterprising and 
 up with the times. 
 
 JONAS INGMANSON is now living re- 
 tired in the city of Sycamore. He was 
 born March 19, 1828, in the province of 
 Smolen, Sweden, and is the son of Ingman 
 and Elna (Johnson) Swanson, both of whom 
 were natives of Sweden. The father died 
 when our subject was but one year old, and 
 the mother when he was but si.xteen years 
 of age. He was thus left to be brought up 
 by relatives. Until the age of thirteen he 
 was taught by a private teacher, a lady who 
 passed from house to house, hearing recita- 
 tions and giving instructions. In 1841 the 
 state school system extended to Smolen, and 
 our subject attended the public schcjol until 
 his fifteenth year, when he was confirmed. 
 At the age of sixteen our subject com- 
 menced to learn engineering, and from that 
 time until 1857 he ran a boat on a small 
 lake near his birth place. It was while thus 
 employed that the onl}- accident that ever 
 befell him occurred. During a violent 
 storm, Aijril 11, 1S52, the machinery became 
 misplaced, and in his efforts to get it right. 
 the boat pitched in a rough sea, and his left 
 hand was caught in the gearing, severing 
 two fingers. During his twenty years in 
 charge of engines in Sweden, he, never had 
 the slightest accident to machinery or en- 
 gines. During the construction of the first 
 railroad in Sweden, he was employed in the 
 works, and for six years ran an engine on 
 the road. Later he went to Gottenberg, 
 
 and was employed as an engineer in a saw 
 mill until his emigration to America. 
 
 On July 18, 1870, Mr. Ingmanson sailed 
 from Malme, for New Castle, England, 
 thence went by rail to Liverpool, where he 
 took a vessel on the Inman line, for New 
 York. Arriving in the latter city, he came 
 direct to Sycamore, where a brother had 
 preceded him, reaching here August 9, 1870, 
 being nearly a month after sailing from 
 Malme. He secured what labor he could 
 find for a time, then for a year ran an en- 
 gine for the Reuben Ellwood Manufacturhig 
 Company. After the great Chicago fire, he 
 went to that city, and for six or seven 
 months, received the high wages paid for 
 labor after the disaster. On returning to 
 Sycamore, he worked in the Marsh Harvest- 
 er Works for a time, and later ran an en- 
 gine for the Russell Manufacturing Com- 
 pany. 
 
 Leaving the employ of the latter com- 
 pany, Mr. Ingmanson went to Rockford, 
 Illinois, and established a Paint Manufactur- 
 ing Company, which he operated for four 
 years. He then returned to Sycamore for 
 a short time, and then moved to Chicago, to 
 be near his children, who were all employed 
 there, .\fter remaining in Chicago four 
 years, he again returned to Sycamore, and 
 established the Russell N'arnish and Color 
 Company, which he conducted some three 
 or four )ears. He then ran an engine for 
 the Patton Manufacturing Company two 
 years, since which time he has lived retired 
 in his comfortable home in Sycamore. Ac- 
 cording to Swedish custom, he takes his 
 last name from his father's first name. 
 
 Mr. Ingmanson was married in Kristian- 
 stad. Sweden, April 3, 1862, to Miss Elsie 
 funson, who was born on the old family es- 
 tate, known as the Holma District Scone, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 375 
 
 province of Usbue, and a daughter of Juns 
 and Elna (Nelson) Larson. By this union 
 there are nine children, seven of whom are 
 living. Emma married Mongue Selberg, a 
 blacksmith and machinist, by whom she has 
 three children, Oscar, Benjamin and Clar- 
 ence. Albert, who is a machinist by trade, 
 married Tessie Randall, since deceased, and 
 is now living with his parents. Emil, also 
 a machinist by trade, married Ella John- 
 son and has now a position in a wholesale 
 house in Chicago. Emily married Edwin 
 Nelson, a molder by trade. Jennie and 
 Augusta hold positions in mercantile estab- 
 lishments in Chicago. Esther, a graduate 
 of the Sycamore schools, yet remains at 
 home. 
 
 In politics Mr. Ingmanson is a Republic- 
 an, while he and his family are members 
 of the Episcopal church. He is a distant 
 relative of Christine Nillson, the celebrated 
 Swedish singer. His brother, Andrew Ing- 
 manson, first discovered the possibilities of 
 her voice, and gave financial aid to secure 
 her first instruction. When in this country, 
 on one of hep annual tours, she was solicit- 
 ed to give concerts in Sycamore to help the 
 Swedish Lutheran church, but would not 
 consent. Mr. Ingmanson then visited her 
 in Chicago, the result being two concerts in 
 Sycamore which resulted in a large profit 
 for the church. 
 
 JOSEPH EDMOND PARKER is a well 
 known citizen of Sycamore. He was 
 born in Spencer county, Indiana, July 14, 
 1845, ^nd 'S the son of Henry N. and Mary 
 Ann (Stillwell) Parker, the former a native 
 of Ontario county. New York, and the latter 
 of Campbell county, Kentucky. Henr}- 
 
 Parker was born in October, 1814, and was 
 the son of James and Sarah (Hobbs) Parker, 
 a minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, who died in New York, many years 
 ago. Henry N. Parker had five brothers and 
 one sister. The latter, Louisa, married 
 Robert Graham, but both are now deceased. 
 Lorenzo Dow, a Methodist minister, now 
 deceased. He was named after Lorenzo 
 Dow, who was a cousin of J. E. Parker's 
 grandfather. Charles is still living and is a 
 resident of Liberty, Labette county, Kan- 
 sas. The deceased are Parley, Orison and 
 Russell. 
 
 In 1839, Henry N. Parker moved from 
 his native state to Indiana, where he en- 
 gaged in farming and where he resided until 
 1852, when he came to DeKalb county, 
 Illinois, and located in Kingston. Purchas- 
 ing a farm, he operated the same until his 
 death. May 2, 1898. For many years he 
 was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and was an active worker in that 
 body. Politically, he was a Republican 
 from the organization of the party. Physi- 
 cally, he was a large, well built man, six 
 feet, two inches in height. His wife, Mary 
 Ann Stillwell, is the daughter of Joseph 
 Stillwell, a native of Kentucky. Her par- 
 ents died in Kentucky, and Shelbyville, Illi- 
 nois, respectively. Religiously she is also 
 a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. Eight children were born to Henry 
 N. and Mary A. Parker, as follows: Martha, 
 who died in infancy; Sarah Ann, wife of J. 
 D. Woolsey, living in the township of Syca- 
 more; Louisa, wife of Volaski Hix, de- 
 ceased, living in the city of Sycamore; 
 John R. , residing in Chicago; Martha 
 J., a teacher in the public schools of 
 Chicago; Mary Adelaine, wife of Harry 
 Hawks, of Freeport, Illinois; and Fannie, 
 
3/6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 wife of Walter Poust, living; on the old 
 homestead. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was eight 
 years old when he accompanied his parents 
 to Kingston, DeKalb county, Illinois, and 
 on the home farm grew to manhood,, while 
 receiving his education in the district schools. 
 At the age of twenty-two years he began 
 farming for himself on land leased of his 
 father. He continued to be thus employed 
 for about ten years, when he accepted a 
 position with the Eliwood Manufacturing 
 Company of Sycamore, with which com- 
 pany he remained for about fifteen years, 
 having charge of the packing and shipping 
 and also of the collections. Having learned 
 the carpenter's trade in his youth, on leav- 
 ing the Eliwood Manufacturing Company, he 
 engaged at his trade for a time, but is now- 
 living a retired life. 
 
 In September, 1869, Mr. Parker was 
 united in marriage with Miss Mary Jane 
 Parker, born in New York, and a daughter 
 of John and Mary (Anderson) Parker, na- 
 tives of Ireland, who came in their youth 
 with their parents from the old country. 
 She died in June, 1887, bearing one son, 
 Samuel Fay, who is employed in the office 
 of the True Republican at Sycamore, Illi- 
 nois. Mr. Parker was married the second 
 time, April /■, 1892, to Eliza Jane Mackey, 
 a daughter of Harrison and Mary (Hall) 
 Mackey. Her father was a native of Ulster 
 county. New York, and by trade was a 
 blacksmith, which he followed in early life. 
 On coming west in the spring of 1839 he 
 located in Mayfield township, De Kalb 
 county, where he began farming and where 
 his death occurred August 22, 1890. His 
 wife, Mary, died January 22, 1856. They 
 had three children as follows: Mary R. , 
 now Mrs. H. H. Coleman, of Sycamore; 
 
 Eliza Jane, wife of our subject; and Julia 
 Ann, who married John Westlake, and died 
 April 8, 1869. (See Sketch of Harrison 
 Mackey.) 
 
 When he engaged with the Eliwood 
 Manufacturing Company, Mr. Parker re- 
 moved to Sycamore, which has since been 
 his home. He is now living on Main street 
 in a good, comfortable dwelling house, 
 which he has remodeled and which is situ- 
 ated on an attractive ground. Mrs. Parker 
 is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church of Sycamore. Politicall\- he is a 
 Republican, and fraternally a member of 
 Sycamore Lodge, No. 134, A. F. & A. M., 
 Sycamore Chapter, No. 49, R. A. M., and 
 Sycamore Commandery, No. 15, K. T. For 
 many years he has taken an active part in 
 this order and has served as a delegate to 
 the various grand bodies. He has been 
 worshipful master of the blue lodge, and 
 eminent commander of the commandery. 
 
 CAPTAIN WILLIAM VAN WERT, who 
 resides on section 9, Franklin town- 
 ship, is not only a veteran of the war for 
 the Union, but comes of good old Revolu- 
 tionary stock, his great-grandfather, El- 
 dred Van Wert, being a soldier in the Rev- 
 olutionary war. Eldred Van Wert was a 
 cousin to Isaac Van Wert, who captured 
 Major Andre. The Van Werts are of Hol- 
 land-Dutch ancestry, and were early set- 
 tlers of the state of New York, where El- 
 dred Van Wert was born. His son, Abra- 
 ham Van Wert, a farmer by occupation, 
 was also a native of that state. Hugh \'an 
 Wert, the father of our subject, married 
 Sarah Robins, who was also a native of 
 New York. They became the parents of 
 six children, of whom William and Thomas 
 
CAPT. WILLIAM VAN WERT. 
 
MRS. WILLIAM VAN WERT. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 381 
 
 R. are the only survivors. The deceased 
 were Jacob, Susan, Benjamin and Henry. 
 Hugh Van Wert in early life was a farmer 
 and followed agricultural pursuits in his na- 
 tive state. In 1846 he removed to Michi- 
 gan and settled on a farm in Hillsdale coun- 
 ty. He there read medicine and was ad- 
 mitted to practice, and has since followed 
 that profession. He served during the Civil 
 war for a term of two years and was wound- 
 ed at the battle of South Mountain. He 
 died in Hillsdale county, Michigan, Septem- 
 ber 28, 1898, at the age of ninety years. 
 For some years he drew a pension of seven- 
 teen dollars per month for services in the 
 Civil war. 
 
 William Van Wert is a native of Sara- 
 toga county, New York, born April 29, 
 1839. He was but si,\ years of age when 
 he accompanied his parents to Hillsdale 
 county, Michigan, where he grew to man- 
 hood and received his education in the dis- 
 trict schools. On the 20th of April, 1861, 
 at La Porte, Indiana, he enlisted in Com- 
 pany F, Ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, 
 under the first call for three months' men. 
 At the expiration of his term of service he 
 enlisted in Company C, Twenty-ninth In- 
 diana Volunteer Infantry at La Porte, Indi- 
 ana, to serve three years or during the war. 
 He was first made a sergeant of his com- 
 pany, afterward promoted first lieutenant, 
 and later commissioned captain. His regi- 
 ment was in very active service during al- 
 most his entire term of enlistment, and with 
 it he participated in the battles of Phillippi, 
 West Virginia; Shiloh, Stone River, Buz- 
 zard Roost, Resaca, all the battles of the 
 Atlanta campaign; Columbia, Tennessee; 
 Franklin, Nashville, Wise Fork, together 
 with various skirmishes. At the battle of 
 Shiloh Captain Van Wert was badly wound- 
 
 ed, and because of that wound he now 
 draws a pension of twenty dollars per month. 
 With his regiment he was discharged, Sep- 
 tember 27, 1865, at Salisbury, North Caro- 
 lina. 
 
 After his discharge. Captain Van Wert 
 returned to La Porte, Indiana, and then en- 
 gaged in farming until the fall of 1867, 
 when he removed to Boone county, Illinois, 
 and worked on farms by the month for a 
 time. On the 20th of February, 1868, he 
 married Elizabeth A. Shirley, a native of 
 Winnebago county, Illinois, and a daughter 
 of Lewis and Lucinda (Keith) Shirley, both 
 natives of Richland county, Ohio, who came 
 to Illinois, in 1840, and settled on govern- 
 ment land, an eighty-acre tract of which 
 they secured at a dollar and twenty-five 
 cents per acre. That tract was only the 
 beginning, Mr. Shirley acquiring before his 
 death over one thousand acres of good 
 land. He died in Cherry Valley, Winne- 
 bago county. May 13, 1898. The Shirley 
 family were also patriotic, some of the an- 
 cestry of Mr. Shirley serving in the Revolu- 
 tionary war and in the second war with 
 Great Britain. 
 
 In 1875, Captain Van Wert came to De 
 Kalb county, and purchased the farm where 
 he now resides, consisting of one hundred 
 acres of good tillable land. He has been fairly 
 successful in his farming operations, being 
 practical in all his methods. His interest 
 the Civil war is kept alive by membership in 
 Thomas Humphrey Post, No. 530, G. A. R., 
 at Kirkland. He is also a member of Kirk- 
 land Camp, No. 141, M. W. A., of Kirk- 
 land. In politics he is an enthusiastic Re- 
 publican, believing firmly in the principles 
 of the party, and acting up to his convic- 
 tions h\ giving earnest support to its candi- 
 dates. 
 
382 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 JACOB GIVENS is one of the old and 
 substantial farmers of Malta township, 
 his farm being located on section 34. He 
 was born in Charleston, Montgomery coun- 
 ty, New \ork. April 12, 181 5, and is the 
 son of Joseph and Rachel (Stewart) Givens. 
 By occupation Joseph Givens was a miller 
 in early life, but in later years abandoned 
 it for agricultural pursuits. He removed 
 from Charleston to Otsego countv. New 
 York, where he purchased a farm, upon 
 which he spent the remainder of his life. 
 He was a man of pure morals and upright 
 principles, whose life was governed by the 
 golden rule. He died in 1838, at the age 
 of seventy-three years, his wife having pre- 
 ceded him, dying in 1833, at the age of fifty- 
 six years. Their family consisted of ten 
 children, and Jacob is the only surviving 
 member. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 in Otsego county, New York, where he re- 
 ceived a fairly good education for the time. 
 He remained under the parental roof until 
 after he attained his majorit}', assisting in 
 the cultivation of the home farm. When 
 twenty-two years of age, he commenced 
 working out by the day and month. On 
 the i6th of December, 1841, he was united 
 in marriage with Miss Deborah Stewart, a 
 daughter of Daniel and Hannah Stewart. 
 About two years after this event he bought 
 his first farm of fifty acres in Chemung 
 county, New York, where he remained thir- 
 teen years, during which time nine children 
 were born, two of whom died in infancy. 
 Those that grew to mature years were Chris- 
 topher, born June 4, 1843; Loren G., June 
 9, 1845; Sarah A., April 26, 1847; Albert 
 and Adelbert, twins, July 14, 1S48; Har- 
 riet E., February 28, 1853; and Clarence 
 F., August 9, 1855. Of these Loren C, 
 
 died June 24, i860, and Harriet E., June 
 21. 1895. 
 
 In 1855 Mr. Given sold his farm m Che- 
 mung county. New York, and in the fol- 
 lowing year removed to Illinois, locating at 
 Shabbona Grove, De Kalb county. After 
 his removal two more children were born, 
 Fidelia A., January 1, 1858, and Laura E., 
 November i, 1861. After working on a 
 farm in Shabbona Grove for four years, Mr. 
 Given removed to Malta, Illinois, where he 
 lived about three years, and then purchased 
 his present farm of eighty acres which is verj- 
 pleasantly situated. Here he has conducted 
 farming on general prini:iples, not running 
 to any special line. Besides the home 
 farm, he owns one hundred and twenty acres 
 of land in Dakota. Mrs. Givens, who was 
 born at Cayuta, New York, February 14, 
 1 81 8, died at Malta, May i, 1895, aged 
 seventy-seven years. Mr. Givens has never 
 united with any local church, but is an hon- 
 est, upright and conscientious man. Po- 
 litically he is a Republican. 
 
 DD. BROWN, mayor of the city of De 
 Kalb, is one of her choice and trusted 
 citizens. From 1879 to the present time 
 he has held important offices in the city, 
 and has never shrunk from duty, never over- 
 looked trifles as too insignificant to be 
 noticed, nor never faltered in the pursuit of 
 that which inhanced the interest of the peo- 
 ple who placed him in office. His motto 
 has ever been, not only the greatest good 
 to the greatest number, hat the greatest 
 good to all. 
 
 Mr. Brown is well born and is the son of 
 C. M. and Catherine A. (De Pue) Brown, 
 and was horn at Belvidere, New Jersey, Au- 
 gust 26, 1845. His parents were both na- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 383 
 
 tives of New Jersey, his father born in Ches- 
 ter and his mother in Belvidere. The for- 
 mer was of English extraction and the latter 
 of Holland and French parentage. C. M. 
 Brown was one of Belvidere's prominent 
 business men, and in his younger days ac- 
 quired his knowledge of the mercantile busi- 
 ness in the city of Newark, New Jersey. 
 With his family he removed from Belvidere, 
 New Jersey, to Sycamore, Illinois, in 1841, 
 and there engaged in the mercantile busi- 
 ness until 1859, at which time he was 
 elected circuit clerk and recorder of De 
 Kalb county. This position he held and its 
 duties he faithfully and conscientiously dis- 
 charged for four years. At the expiration 
 of this period he removed to Chicago, 
 where he engaged in the stave and heading 
 business, which he successfully pursued un- 
 til 1870, when he returned to Sycamore, 
 where he died in March of the same year. 
 C. M. Brown was twice married, his first 
 wife, Catherine, the mother of D. D. Brown, 
 dying in 1849, when the latter was but four 
 years of age. For his second wife he mar- 
 ried Miss Louise A. Jackman, a native of 
 New York, who survived him, and by whom 
 he had three children, two yet living — Fred 
 C. , of San Antonia, Texas, and M. L. , a 
 commission merchant of Chicago. The 
 De Pues were people noted for their intelli- 
 gence and influence. The youngest brother 
 of Mrs. Brown, Abraham De Pue, was pay- 
 master in the navy, while her eldest brother, 
 David A. De Pue, is judge of one of the 
 courts in Newark, New Jersey. 
 
 D. D. Brown was reared and educated at 
 Sycamore, but took a course at Valparaiso, 
 Indiana. At the conclusion of his school 
 days he entered the dry-goods store of Rog- 
 ers & Wild, where he proved himself an ef- 
 ficient and faithful employee. About this 
 
 time the dark and stormy days of the Re- 
 bellion were on us. Our nation's honor was 
 at stake and men were needed. In obedi- 
 ence to the call Mr. Brown enlisted in 1864 
 (his age preventing him from an earlier en- 
 listment), and served as a member of Com- 
 pany F, One Hundred and Thirty-second 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, O. M. Bunnell, 
 captain, and T. |. Pickett, colonel. With 
 his regiment he served in the Army of the 
 Tennessee, with which they were connected 
 until the close of the war. He was honor- 
 ably discharged at Chicago and returned to 
 his home. 
 
 On his return to civil life Mr. Brown en- 
 tered into the employ of his father, who 
 was at that time engaged in the stave and 
 heading business at Chicago, and there re- 
 mained one year. In 1867 he obtained a 
 position as captain of a passenger steam- 
 boat plying between Paducah, Kentucky, 
 and Eastport, Tennessee. In 1868 he re- 
 turned to Sycamore, where he engaged with 
 George P. Wilde, a member of the firm for 
 which he worked previous to the war. In 
 the spring of 1874 he formed a co-partner- 
 ship with C. A. Tindall, of De Kalb, under 
 the firm name of Tindall & Brown, in the 
 mercantile business, and two years later 
 purchased his partner's interest and took 
 entire charge of the business, in which he 
 continued until 1883, when he sold to 
 Charles Reed, of Elburn. At this time he 
 formed another partnership with P. G. 
 Young in the lumber business, which they 
 extensively and successfully pursued under 
 the firm name of Brown & Young. In the 
 spring of 1892 he sold his interest to Mr, 
 Young, since which time he has been en- 
 gaged as shipping clerk with the Superior 
 Barb Wire Company-, afterwards changed 
 to the Ellwood Wire and Nail Company, 
 
384 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and which has now been absorbed by the 
 American Steel & Wire Company. 
 
 On the 8th of February. 1872, Mr. 
 Brown was united in marriage with Miss 
 Alice E. Ellwood, a daughter of Hiram and 
 Sarah (Dygart) Ellwood, and by this union 
 two children were born, Zaida E., July 29, 
 1878, and Sarah Louise, November 27, 
 1 88 1. Mrs. Brown was born at Herkimer, 
 New York, October 19, 1851. Her educa- 
 tion was begun in the public schools of De 
 Kalb, and completed in Xavier's Academy, 
 Chicago. She is a refined and highly edu- 
 cated lady, and a member of the Eastern 
 Star. 
 
 Mr. Brown is a decided Republican and 
 has been actively interested in the adminis- 
 tration of the municipal affairs of De Kalb. 
 He was elected alderman in 1879 and 
 served faithfully and well in said office. 
 After serving three terms as alderman, in 
 1883, he was elected mayor of the city and 
 served four years. In 1891 and in 1892 he 
 was elected and served as fire marshal of 
 the city. In 1895 he was again elected to 
 the office of mayor and re-elected in 1897, 
 and is yet tilling the position. 
 
 Mr. Brown has the entire confidence, 
 not only of his political associates, but of 
 the entire city of De Kalb. His spotless 
 character, his upright life, his amiable and 
 sociable disposition, make him a desirable 
 companion, and increase his already numer- 
 ous friends, who are willing to place their 
 interests in his hands. He is prominent in 
 the ^Masonic fraternity, and like all good 
 fellows, who have deservedly traveled the 
 way before him, has had conferred upon 
 him the thirty-second degree. He is also a 
 member of the Royal Arcanum and the G. 
 A. R. Post, at De Kalb, in the latter of 
 which he was commander in 1897. in 
 
 1887 he broadened his mind, and added to 
 his already extensive knowledge, by an ex- 
 tended tour through Europe, visiting Eng- 
 land, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Germany, 
 Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, France and 
 Italy. 
 
 LEX] S. HODGE, deceased, was for 
 many years a well-known citizen of 
 De Kalb county. He was born m Che- 
 nango, Broome county. New York, Decem- 
 ber 20, 1815, and was reared in his native 
 state and there resided until 1853, when he 
 came west. When a young man he read 
 medicine, but abandoned the medical pro- 
 fession for that of the law, which he prac- 
 ticed some years in his native state and 
 after coming to Sycauiore, Illinois. He 
 was twice married, first to Harriet Davis, 
 by whom he had five children, only one 
 now surviving, Levi Hodge, of Sitka, 
 Alaska. His second union was with Mrs. 
 Adelia A. Holroyd, widow of James Hol- 
 royd, the wedding ceremony being cele- 
 brated September 20, 1890. 
 
 Mrs. Hodge was born in Mongoquihon 
 Prairie, St. Joseph county, Michigan, in 
 1837. She is the daughter of Daniel M. 
 Thurston, a native of Broome county. New 
 York, born in August, 1S20, and a son of 
 Daniel Thurston. He came to Michigan 
 when three years of age, and to Illinois in 
 1840, residing for the first two years in 
 Chicago. In 1842 he came to De Kalb 
 county and located in Kingston township, 
 where he engaged in farming for eight years, 
 and selling out purchased a farm in Genoa 
 township, where he remained five years. 
 He then went back to Michigan and there 
 lived fi\'e vears, but again returnerl to Genoa 
 township, where he rented a farm one year 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 385 
 
 and then went to Bremer county, Iowa, 
 where he remained four years. From 
 Bremer county he moved to Fort Scott, 
 Kansas, but returned to Iowa and died in 
 Butler county. He married Melissa D. 
 Phelps, daughter of William and Cynthia 
 Phelps. She was probably born in Penn- 
 sjlvania and died at the age of seventy 
 years. 
 
 Mrs. Hodge first married in Genoa town- 
 ship, July 4, 1855, James Holroyd, who was 
 born near Petersborough, Canada, in 1820, 
 and died in iSSi. He was the son of Will- 
 iam and Mary (Anson) Holroyd, natives of 
 Leeds, Yorkshire, England, who emigrated 
 to Canada in the spring of 1820. William 
 Holroyd was the son of Benjamin, a gentle- 
 man farmer in England, who married Grace 
 Hardwick. By her first marriage Mrs. 
 Hodge became the mother of five children. 
 ( I ) Maggie D. is the wife of Frank J. Drake, 
 of Kingston township, by whom she has six 
 children: Alta, Edna, Jennie, Warren, 
 Birdie and Marie. (2) Grace B. married 
 Ira Westover, and they have eight children: 
 Fannie, Byron, Eva, May, Benjamin, 
 Frank, William and Edith. They reside in 
 Cerro Gordo county, Iowa. (3) Herbert 
 H. married Frankie Hawks, and they reside 
 in Kingston, Illinois. (4) Albert J. married 
 Belle Thurlby, and they have one daughter. 
 Myrtle. Their residence is in Martin coun- 
 ty, Minnesota. Guy W. married Nellie 
 McAvoy, and is engaged in the implement 
 business in Sycamore. 
 
 Levi S. Hodge was a very prosperous 
 man and was the owner of several farms in 
 De Kalb county. For four years prior to 
 his death he served as justice of the peace. 
 He died February 25, 1897, leaving many 
 friends in Sycamore and De Kalb county to 
 mourn his loss. Mrs. Hodge is a member 
 
 of the Congregational church of Sycamore 
 and also of the W'oman's Christian Tem- 
 perance Union, in both of which she takes 
 a very active part. She is of an artistic 
 turn of mind and has some fine portrait 
 work of members of her own family. 
 
 HENKY KLINE, a substantial farmer 
 and one of the early settlers of De 
 Kalb county, resides on section 8, Franklin 
 township. He is a native of Richland 
 county, Ohio, born .March 4, 1822, and is 
 the son of Jacob and Susan ( Keith) Kline, 
 both natives of Huntingdon county, Penn- 
 sylvania. They were the parents of ten 
 children, John, Adam, William, Jacob, 
 .Michael, Henrw Simon, Jackson, Margaret 
 and Matilda. All are deceased but Simon 
 and our subject. Thu paternal grandfather, 
 Jacob Kline, was also a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania and a farmer by occupation. In an 
 early day Jacob Kline moved with his fam- 
 ily to Richland county, Ohio, and there our 
 subject was reared and educated. In 1846 
 he came to Illinois and worked by the day 
 on farms in Boone county. On the 22d of 
 November, i S47, he married Maria Keith, a 
 native of Morgan county, Ohio, and a 
 daughter of Bolser and Lucy (Smith) Keith, 
 the former a native of Huntingdon county, 
 Pennsylvania, and the latter of New York 
 state. Of their family of ten children one 
 died in infancy. Those who lived to ma- 
 turity were Phebe, Michael, Lucinda, 
 Rhoda, Maria, Margaret, Bolser, Benjamin 
 and Charlotte. The paternal grandfather 
 of Mrs. Kline, Peter Keith, was a native of 
 Germany and came to America in an early 
 day. Mrs. Kline came west with her pa- 
 rents in 1837 to Winnebago county, Illinois, 
 where her father purchased one hundred 
 
386 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and twent}' acres of government land, to 
 which he later added, giving him a large 
 and excellent farm. 
 
 For some years Mr. Kline worked at the 
 mason's and carpenter's trade, but of late 
 years he has given his attention exclusively 
 to farming. He purchased the farm where 
 he now resides, consisting of one hundrerl 
 and thirty acres, on section 8, Franklin 
 township, in 1851. The improvements 
 which have been made upon it are quite ex- 
 tensive and the farm is now one of the best 
 in the township. To Mr. and Mrs. Kline 
 six children were born, two of whom died 
 in infancy. Those living are Margaret A., 
 Bolser, Jacob and Libby. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Kline are members of the United Brethren 
 church and in politics he is an independent, 
 voting for men rather than party. While 
 he came to this country with but little 
 means, by his industry, assisted by his good 
 wife, he is now in comfortable circum- 
 stances and has the utmost respect of all 
 who know him. 
 
 REV. ALVARO ALLEN CROCKER, of 
 Genoa, Illinois, was born on the Indian 
 reservation, northwest of Batavia, Genesee 
 county. New \'ork, April 27, 1826. His 
 f-ither. Rev. Allen Crocker, was born in 
 Shutesbury, Massachusetts, April 14, 1793, 
 and died February 7, 1871. He began 
 preaching at the age of sixteen, and was a 
 minister of wonderful power, and considered 
 one of the finest sermonizers in the Chris- 
 tian denomination in northern Illinois, as 
 strong in his ministry as Peter Cartwright. 
 He was in active service in the ministry for 
 over sixty years. About seven years before 
 his death he suffered a stroke of paralysis, 
 and at end of that time received two strokes 
 
 in one day. He served in the war of 1812. 
 Allen Crocker was a son of Rev. Theopholis 
 Crocker, a native of Shutesbury, one of the 
 best known ministers in western New York. 
 He was quite famous in his day, and an ex- 
 tended sketch of his life is found in History 
 of the Ministry of \\'estern New York. He 
 had a great memory and could repeat the 
 book of Revelations entire and whole chap- 
 ters in the Gospel. He was a soldier in the 
 Revolutionary war, and also in the war of 
 18 I 2. In stature he was quite large, and 
 weighed about two hundred pounds. He 
 died at the age of ninety two years. The 
 family in this country are descended from 
 three brothers, who came from England in 
 colonial days. For generations the family 
 have been deeply religious, a number of 
 them including two brothers of Allen 
 Crocker, Alfred and Orrin, being in the 
 ministry. 
 
 Allen Crocker married Sophronia Tacles, 
 born July 11;, 1804, near Wyoming, New 
 York. Their marriage v^as solmnized May 
 26, 1825. She was a daughter of Alexan- 
 der Tacles, a farmer bj' occupation and 
 one of the first settlers of Allen's Creek, in 
 Wyoming county, New York. He was born 
 in Massachusetts, and was of Scotch de- 
 scent. He married Philena Howard, born 
 November 26, 1765, their marriage being 
 celebrated April 16, 1800. The Tacles 
 went from Massachusetts to New York, set- 
 tling in Wyoming county, when it was all 
 heavily timbered land. Mrs. Allen Crocker 
 was a well educated woman, a graduate of 
 Wyoming Academy, after which she en- 
 gaged in teaching until after her marriage. 
 She became the mother of six children, 
 three of whom survive, our subject and 
 Philena, widow of Samuel Stephens; Elvira, 
 widow of Gilbert Maxfield. 
 
tHE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 3^7 
 
 When our subject was thirteen years of 
 age the family moved from New York to 
 Ohio and for two years resided five miles 
 west of Oberlin and two years one and one- 
 half miles south of Euclid where his father 
 had a charge. They then moved back to 
 Genesee county, New York, locating at 
 Bethany Center, where they remained two 
 years, and then resided one year six miles 
 west of Rochester, New York, from which 
 place in 1844 our subject emigrated to Ogle 
 county. New York, his father following in 
 the spring of 1845. I" the spring of 1846, 
 Mr. Crocker came to Genoa, and having se- 
 cured a certificate, engaged in teaching, an 
 occupation in which he continued for nine 
 years, five of which he taught in De Kalb 
 county, and four in McHenr}- county. He 
 studied theology at Meadville, Pennsylvania, 
 in the Christian and Unitarian Academy, 
 and was ordained to the ministry in the 
 spring of 1857, in the Christian Chapel, at 
 Belvidere, Illinois, and for thirty years after 
 filled pulpits in various churches near his 
 home. He bought a farm three miles north 
 of Genoa, which was his home until he re- 
 tired from active life in 1882. He has since 
 had no regular charge, but frequently fills 
 pulpits in emergency, and presides at wed- 
 dings and funerals whenever called upon. 
 
 Mr. Crocker was married January i, 
 1856, three miles north of Genoa, to Su- 
 sannah Buck, born in Shrewsbury township, 
 Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and a 
 daughter of Peter Buck, a native of Muncy, 
 Pennsylvania, who came west in 1855, lo- 
 cating near Genoa, where his death occurred 
 at the age of sixty-si.\ years and seven 
 months. In his native state he engaged in 
 farming and in lumbering, having sixteen 
 hundred acres of land in Lycoming county, 
 Pennsylvania. He came west with a view 
 
 of affording better opportunities for his chil- 
 dren, and bought farms for each of his five 
 sons in Ogle county, and a farm of five hun- 
 dred acres for himself, near Marengo. Peter 
 Buck was a son of Henry Buck, a farmer 
 and miller in Pennsylvania, who in early life 
 was by trade a shoemaker, but who died 
 when Peter was ten years old. He married 
 Mary Rotharmal, a native of Holland. 
 Peter Buck married Louisa Holmes, born in 
 the town of Shrewsbury, New Jersey, and 
 who removed with her parents in girlhood 
 to Shrewsbury township, Lycoming county, 
 Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of 
 John and Mary (Knott) Holmes, who traces 
 their anceslry to Thomas Holmes, who came 
 to America with William Penn. Of the 
 fifteen children born to Peter Buck and 
 wife, seven survive. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Crocker three children 
 have been born. ( i ) Ellery Channing, born 
 November 4, 1857, was educated in the 
 common schools, and after completing his 
 education taught school some five or six 
 years. After reading law at Sycamore, with 
 Joseph Stephens, he was admitted to the 
 bar, and for several years was engaged in 
 practice at Sycamore. He married Minne- 
 haha Steele, by whom he has one son. Loyal 
 Ellery. He now resides in Charles Mix 
 county, South Dakota, near Yankton, where 
 he owns one hundred and sixty acres of land, 
 and leases seventeen hundred acres from the 
 Indians. (2) Jennie Virginia married Ed- 
 ward Wilcox, of Elgin, by whom she had 
 one son, Ellery. Mr. Wilcox is now de- 
 ceased. (3) Ora married Fred Smith, sec- 
 retary of the Stover Bicycle Company, of 
 Freeport, Illinois. 
 
 In politics Mr. Crocker is a Republican, 
 and an earnest advocate of the principles of 
 the party. For many years he served as 
 
388 
 
 thp: biographical Record. 
 
 road comtnissioner, and also as school di- 
 rector of his district. Until 1867 he was a 
 member of the Christian church, since which 
 time he has been connected with the Regu- 
 lar Adventists. He was a member of the 
 conference of northern Illinois until he re- 
 tired from active service, in 1890. He is a 
 \()luminous writer for the religious press, 
 his specialty being in writing and expound- 
 ing prophec)' and translation. Fraternally 
 he has been a member of the Masonic lodge 
 at Genoa. 
 
 HON. LUTHER LOWELL, ex-judge 
 of the county and probate courts of 
 De Kalb county, comes of one of the best 
 known families in America. The family is 
 one of the oldest in this country as well as 
 in England. .About the year 1300, if not 
 earlier, Walter and William Lowle (as the 
 name was then spelled) resided at Yeardley, 
 England. Between them and Percival 
 Lowle are nine generations, of whom a rec- 
 ord exists, giving names of each and dates 
 of birth. Percival Lowle, who was born in 
 England in 1571, emigrated to the Ameri- 
 can colonies in 1639 with Rebecca, his wife, 
 and settled in Massachusetts. John Lowle, 
 son of Percival, was also born in England. 
 He emigrated with his wife, Mary, and four 
 children in 1639, and died in 1647. His 
 son Benjamin, born at Newbury, Massachu- 
 setts, September 12, 1642, married Ruth 
 Woodman, of Newbury, Massachusetts, 
 October 17, 1666. With their son, John 
 Lowell, came the change in the spelling of 
 the name. His birth occurred at Newbury, 
 Massachusetts, February 22, 1683. He 
 first married Mary Davis, and after her 
 death married Sarah L. Bailey in 1729. 
 His son David, born January 12, 1716, at 
 
 Haverhill, Massachusetts, married Mary 
 Blood, of Mason, New Hampshire. David's 
 son Peter, born December 28, 1752, at 
 Groton, Massachusetts, died in 1840 at 
 Dempster, New Hampshire. He served 
 through the Revolutionar)' war as a mem- 
 ber of Captain Ezra Towner's company, in 
 Colonel James Reed's regiment. He mar- 
 ried Eunice Funk and to them was born in 
 1793 Martin Luther Lowell, the father of 
 our subject, who died in Sycamore in 1884, 
 at the ripe old age of ninety-one years. He 
 was a farmer by occupation, and about 1831 
 moved from Brookfield, Vermont, to Morel, 
 Vermont, and in 1845 to Bristol, in the 
 same state. He married Malinda C. I-a- 
 porte. who was born June 6, 1798, in New 
 Jersey. Ten of their children reached ma- 
 ture life. After his children had become 
 established in the west he made his home 
 with them and died as already stated. 
 
 Luther Lowell, of this sketch, was born 
 in Brookfield, Vermont, May 14, 1827, and 
 was sixth in order of birth in the family of 
 thirteen children born to his parents. After 
 attending the district schools he entered 
 Hinesburg Academy and, owing to sharp 
 competition, tuition and board being very 
 low in various places where academies had 
 been established, he was offered good board 
 at one dollar per week and changed to 
 Spaulding's Academy at Bakersfield. He 
 began teaching at the age of eighteen years, 
 being large and well developed for his age. 
 Entering the college at Middlebury, \'er- 
 mont, he graduated m 1851 with the degree 
 of A. B., and in 1854 received that of A. M. 
 A friend teaching at EUicottville, New 
 York, about fifty miles south of Buffalo, 
 desiring to return to college, secured the 
 school for our subject, who taught it in the 
 winter of i 8s 1-2. He was then offered the 
 
HON. LUTHER LOWELL. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 391 
 
 principalship of the Rutland Academy and 
 served that school for two years. He was 
 ne.xt professor of Latin, Greek and rhetoric 
 in the academy at Flushing, Long Island, 
 and while there had as a pupil Cornelius 
 Vanderbilt. 
 
 While teaching at Flushing, Mr. Lowell 
 had the misfortune to step off the landing 
 in the dark, and falling down the stairway 
 to the floor, had his arm broken. About 
 this time his sister's husband, who had been 
 living in De Kalb county, died, and for a 
 change of air and to help his sister, he came 
 west, arriving at Sycamore, September 29, 
 1856. Before coming west he had com- 
 menced to read law, and arriving here, he 
 entered the law office of Mayo &James, and 
 continued his reading under their instruction, 
 until April, 1857, when he was admitted to 
 the bar for practice in the various courts of 
 Illinois. In his first year's practice he ex- 
 perienced great inconvenience on account of 
 the panic of 1857. That panic, however, 
 later brought him much business in the legal 
 line. Soon after being admitted to the bar, 
 he formed a partnership with Mayo & 
 James, which continued a few months, when 
 he formed a partnership with Mr. James 
 and Chauncey EUwood, which lasted about 
 two years, when the partnership was dis- 
 solved, and Mr. Lowell associated with him- 
 self, J. Frank Meeker, now a prominent at- 
 torney in the west. 
 
 On the 20th of February, 1S59, at 
 Sycamore, Illinois, Mr. Lowell was united 
 in marri;ige with Miss Ann P. James, who 
 was born May i, 1833, and the daughter of 
 Levi and C3 rene (Batchelder) James. No 
 children came to bless their union, but he 
 and his wife reared to mature years Lavinia 
 S., now wife of George W". Dunton, with 
 whom the ludge makes his home, and Gil- 
 
 19 
 
 bert H. Denton. The latter studied law 
 under the instruction of his adopted father, 
 and is now in the manufacturing business in 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Lowell was elected to the 
 position of county judge, to which he was 
 re-elected in 1873. On the expiration of 
 his second official term, January i, 1878, he 
 formed a partnership with D. J. Carnes, 
 which existed until April 3, 1883, when the 
 Judge was elected to fill a vacancy in the 
 position he had formerly held, made by the 
 resignation of Hon. S. B. Stinson, of Sand- 
 wich, Illinois. 
 
 In his long professional career. Judge 
 Lowell has much to be proud of. He has 
 been eminently successful in the trial of 
 cases, rarely losing a cause he espoused, and 
 his arduous labors have brought him a lib- 
 eral competency. His professional cares 
 have been free from trickery and question- 
 able practices, so often resorted to by mem- 
 bers of the bar. His mind is analytical, 
 logical and inductive. With a thorough and 
 comprehensive knowledge of the funda- 
 mental principles of law, he combines a fa- 
 miliarity with statutory law, and a sober, 
 clear judgment, which makes him not onl}' 
 a formidable adversary in legal combat, but 
 has given the distinction of being a very able 
 jurist. While upon the bench, he showed 
 his peculiar fitness for the position by his 
 cool and even temperament, never being 
 swayed by any of the tricks of the profes- 
 sion, and when his judgment was rendered, 
 it was always found to be correct in law, as 
 well as in sound common sense. 
 
 Judge Lowell has ever been a voracious 
 reader, and his fine library and excellent se- 
 lection of books shows the bent of his mind. 
 He has taken the Cincinnati Tribune since 
 1863, and the Atlantic Monthly since the 
 
39^ 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 same tune. Securing the previous numbers 
 he now has a complete set of the Monthly, 
 comprising eighty volumes, which by his will, 
 at his death, goes to the public library of 
 Sycamore. 
 
 WILLIAM WATSON, who resides on 
 section 26, Paw Paw township, has 
 been a resident of De Kalb county since 
 1 85 1, a period of forty-seven jears. He 
 was born in Sussex, England, April 18, 18 18, 
 and is the son of William Watson, Sr. , also 
 a native of Sussex, England, who there 
 married Elizabeth Jarrett, a native of the 
 same county, and in 1828 emigrated with 
 his family to the New World, taking pas- 
 sage in a sailing vessel from London, and 
 being about one month on the ocean, a 
 very quick passage for those days. He set- 
 tled in Albany, New York, where he found 
 employment in a ship yard, and there spent 
 the remainder of his life. 
 
 Our subject was but ten years of age 
 when he accompanied his parents across the 
 water, and in Albany, New York, grew to 
 manhood. In 1838, when but twenty years 
 old, he married Agnes Ferguson, a native 
 of Ireland, of Scotch and English descent. 
 Her father, W'illiam Ferguson, was of 
 Scotch descent, while her mother was of 
 English parentage. After his marriage he 
 moved to Oswego, New York, where he 
 learned his trade, that of carpenter and 
 joiner, and was employed in his trade until 
 185 1, when he came to De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, joining some old neighbors from 
 New York, among whom was George C. 
 Cooper, who located here some three years 
 previously. His first purchase was seventy 
 acres of unimproved land, on which he 
 erected a small house, and commenced the 
 
 improvement of the place. For about two 
 years he worked at his trade in connection 
 with farming, and later purchased eighty 
 acres adjoining the home place, making him 
 a valuable farm of one hundred and fifty 
 acres. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Watson, six children 
 were born, four of whom are yet living. 
 One died in infancy, and Elizabeth N. grew 
 to womanhood, and died when about twenty- 
 eight years of age. The living are Robert 
 T. , a farmer of Victor township; William, 
 married, and residing in California, where he 
 is engaged in the apiary business; Edward 
 M., married, and residing on the old home 
 farm; and James, a farmer of Paw Paw 
 township. Edward M. married Ann Hare, 
 a native of De Kalb county, by whom he 
 has three living children. One died at the 
 age of nine years. The living are James, 
 Ezra G. and May. 
 
 Politically Mr. Watson is a stanch Re- 
 publican. In early life he was a Democrat, 
 and cast his first presidential ballot for 
 James K. Polk. He voted for Fremont in 
 1856, and has cast his presidential ballot 
 for every nominee of the party from that 
 time to the present. He has never sought 
 nor would he e\'er hold office. His son, 
 Edward M., is also a stanch Republican. 
 For almost half a century he has been a 
 resident of De Kalb county. When became 
 to the county it was little better than a 
 wilderness, and he has lived to see it take 
 rank among the best of the great Prairie 
 state. 
 
 Mr 
 
 YRON M. DEAN is one of the younger 
 mers of De Kalb county, and re- 
 sides on section 3, Sycamore township, 
 where he is engaged in general farming and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 393 
 
 stock raising. He was born in Genoa 
 township, a short distance from his present 
 residence, November 4, 1864, and is the 
 son of Divine Dean, born in Sullivan coun- 
 ty, New York, December 14, 1834, and who 
 died September 16, 1897. Divine Dean 
 grew to manhood in his native state, and 
 came west at the age of twenty-one years. 
 Three years later he married Lucinda 
 Evans, a native of De Kalb county, born in 
 Charter Grove, September 11, 1838, and a 
 daughter of Benjamin and Frances (Perry) 
 E\ans. Benjamin Evans was the son of 
 William and Ola (Mitchell) Evans. Frances 
 Perry was a daughter of William and Char- 
 ity (Dean) Perry, the former a native of 
 Ashe count)'. North Carolina, born October 
 20, 1782, and who died in Virginia at the 
 age of ninety-two years. William Perry 
 was the son of Ebenzer and Christina 
 Perry, and Charity Dean was a daughter of 
 Jacob and Frances Dean. 
 
 Myron M. Dean was reared on the home 
 farm, and began his education in the dis- 
 trict schools, then attended the Sycamore 
 high schools for two years, the Paw Paw 
 seminary one year, and the Genoa high 
 school for two winters. He lived in Syca- 
 more the greater part of the time, from 
 1875 to 1879, and it was during this period 
 that he attended the Sycamore high school. 
 Later he resided at Anamosa, Iowa, for 
 nearly two years, then returned to Syca- 
 more, and subsequently removed to his 
 present farm. He remained with his father 
 until after attaining his majority, then 
 worked for various farmers for a year and a 
 half, after which he rented his father's farm, 
 until the latter's death in September, 1897, 
 since which time he has continued to rent 
 the estate, consisting of one hundred and 
 forty acres of excellent farming land. As a 
 
 stock farmer he has met with success, buy- 
 ing and feeding for the general market. 
 
 Mr. Dean was married in Genoa, Illi- 
 nois, to Miss Lenna Z. Brown, a native of 
 Genoa township, and a daughter of James 
 P. and Susan Brown, of whose family a 
 more extended account is found elsewhere 
 in this work. By this union two children 
 have been born, Jessie and Earl. In poli- 
 tics Mr. Dean is thoroughly independent, 
 voting for men, not party. 
 
 JOHN S. AMES is the owner of a farm 
 comprising one hundred and sixteen and 
 a quarter acres in section 32, Shabbona 
 township. He was born in Norfolk, Eng- 
 land, June 29, 1848, and is the son of Will- 
 iam and Ann (Smith) Ames, both natives 
 of England, where their entire lives were 
 spent, both dying when about ninety years 
 of age. He grew to manhood in Norfolk 
 and Suffolk, and in his boyhood had fair 
 common-school advantages. He was reared 
 on a farm and later was employed on the 
 public works. He was married in Suffolk, 
 October 11, 1868, to Eliza Levell, a native 
 of Suffolk, England, and a daughter of 
 James Levell, who was a contractor on the 
 public works, and also engaged in office 
 work, being a man of fine education. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Ames attended the same school 
 and grew to man and ft'omanhood in the 
 same locality. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ames commenced their 
 domestic life in Suffolk, where he ran a 
 small store which he continued a few years, 
 then sold out and in 1874 came to the Uni- 
 ted States. Landing at New York, they 
 came direct to De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 where some English friends were residing, " 
 and through whose influence thev came to 
 
394 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 this country. On their arrival Mr. Ames 
 went to work on the farm by the day and 
 n^onth at Greentown and there resided for 
 three years. He then rented a farm in 
 Shabbona township for eight years, and in 
 1885 purchased the farm where they now 
 reside. The place was slightly improved, 
 but since locating here he has added to the 
 improvements already made by tiling the 
 land and the erection of a dwelling house 
 and various outbuildings. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ames are the parents of 
 four children. Anna is the wife of Dave 
 Ferguson, a farmer of Shabbona township. 
 Charles J. married and engaged in farming 
 in Shabbona township. Nettie M. is a well- 
 educated young lady and a teacher in the 
 public schools of De Kalb county. George 
 A. is a young man residing at home and as- 
 sisting in the cultivation of the home farm. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. Ames cast his first presi- 
 dential vote for James G. Blaine, and has 
 since given his support to the men and 
 measures of the Republican party. Averse 
 to office holding, he has yet been prevailed 
 upon to serve as director in his school dis- 
 trict, being a stanch advocate of good 
 schools. While not members, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Ames are attendants of the West Shabbona 
 Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally 
 they are both members of the Home Forum. 
 
 HENRY EUHUS is one of that great 
 nuir.ber of men who came from the 
 fatherland to free America, that they might 
 have an opportunity to better their condi- 
 tion in life, and who by their industry and 
 thrift, have added greatly to the material 
 wealth of the country. He was born in 
 Hanover, Prussia, Germany, November 4, 
 1842, and is the son of Jacob and Mary 
 
 (Mylker) Euhus, both natives of the same 
 country. Jacob Euhus was a soldier in the 
 Prussian army for ten years, and had his 
 nose and one ear shot off in battle. In 
 1855 he left his native land for America, and 
 was seven weeks on the ocean. Landing at 
 New Orleans, from there he came up the 
 Mississippi river to St. Louis, then to Du- 
 buque, Iowa, and from there to Freeport, 
 Illinois, where he was accidentally killed on 
 the railroad, leaving a widow and son in a 
 strange land. The widow later married 
 again, choosing for her husband John .'\ckert, 
 also a native of Germany. He enlisted in 
 Company F, Forty-fifth Regiment, Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, at Cherry N'alley, Illi- 
 nois, and was killed in battle at Fort Henry. 
 His widow later received a pension, and 
 two hundred dollars back pay. Henry 
 Euhus was the only son of Jacob and Mary 
 Euhus, and was thirteen years old when he 
 accompanied his parents to the United 
 States. His education was obtained in 
 his native land, having only the privi- 
 lege of attending school for two months 
 after his arrival in this countrw The sud- 
 den death of his father rendered it neces- 
 sary that he should make a living for him- 
 self. He grew to manhood in Winnebago 
 county, and on the lotli of January, 1866, 
 married Miss Rosetta Miller, a native of 
 Switzerland, and a daughter of Rudolph and 
 Elizabeth (Lesher) Miller, both natives of 
 the same countr)', and who were the parents 
 of but two children, Malissa and Rosetta. 
 Mrs. Euhus came to the United States in 
 1859, with her parents, who first located in 
 Portsmouth, Ohio, and in i860 came to 
 De Kalb county, Illinois. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Euhus twelve children 
 have been born, four of whom died in in- 
 fancy. Those living are John, William, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 395 
 
 Lizzie, Emma, Fred, Elmer, Joseph and 
 and Hattie. Religiously he and his wife are 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and in politics he is a Republican. Mr. 
 Euhus started in life without a cent, and 
 for years worked by the month for various 
 farmers and others, and it required some 
 years of toil before he was enabled to make 
 his first purchase of land. In 1S67 he 
 purchased forty acres in Franklin township, 
 near Kirkland, on section 14, and at once 
 commenced its improvement. From time 
 to time he added to his possessions until he 
 has now two hundred and thirty acres, all of 
 which is under the highest state of cultiva- 
 tion, with improvements in keeping with the 
 day and age. 
 
 ALFRED KING, deceased, was a well- 
 known citizen of Genoa township, re- 
 siding on section 34. He was born in the 
 town of Braceville, Trumbull county, Ohio, 
 May 24, 184S, and was the son of William 
 King, born June 6, 18 17, in Essex county, 
 New York, and the grandson of Reuben and 
 Ro.xina (De Wolf) King, both natives of 
 Massachusetts, who in an early day moved 
 to New York. William King married Mrs. 
 Hannah (Dowd) Miller, widow of William 
 Miller, and a native of New York, born De- 
 cember 12, I S 17. Of their five children, 
 Alfred was third in order of birth. William 
 King died at Tilden, Madison countv, Ne- 
 braska, May 5, 1888. 
 
 Alfred King came to Illinois at the age 
 of five years, and was reared on the old 
 homestead taken up by his father on sec- 
 tion 3, Genoa township. His education 
 was obtained in the district schools, and 
 he began farming for himself at the age of 
 eighteen years. He first rented some land, 
 
 but soon purchased eighty acres, with some 
 assistance received from his father. He later 
 sold that tract and put the money out at in- 
 terest and lost it all, and thus had to begin 
 with nothing again. He soon bought a farm 
 in Genoa township, where Mrs. King now 
 resides, and later a farm adjoining, giving 
 him two hundred and forty-eight acres in 
 Genoa township, together with thirty acres 
 of timber land in Sycamore township. He 
 became quite prosperous and a very highly 
 respected man. In politics he was a Republi- 
 can, and served for many years as a school 
 director. At the time of his death, which 
 occurred July 31, 1897, he was a member 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
 took great interest in the Sunday-school 
 work, being a teacher in the school. 
 
 Alfred King was twice married, first with 
 Mar)' Belinda Evans, daughter of Benjamin 
 and Francis (Perry) Evans, and to them 
 were born one son, William L. King, of 
 whom mention is made elsewhere in this 
 work. His second union was with Miss Fan- 
 nie Hunt and the marriage ceremony was 
 celebrated June 14, 18S2. She was born in 
 Lisbon, Kendall county, Illinois, but resided 
 the most of her life near Morris, Grundy 
 county, Illinois, her education being re- 
 ceived in the district school, and a select 
 school at Morris, Illinois. She taught 
 school for many terms in Grundy county. 
 She is a daughter of Peleg T. Hunt, born in 
 the town of West Lebanon, Columbia 
 county. New York, August 10, 1823, and 
 who went to Rensselaer county with his 
 parents in the summer of 1836. where he 
 attended the district school until the age of 
 twenty-one years. His father, William F. 
 Hunt, was also a native of Columbia coun- 
 ty, born in February, 1798, and died in" 
 March, i866, in Grundy county, Illinois, 
 
396 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 William F. Hunt was a son of Capt. Will- 
 iam Hunt, a farmer, born in Norwicii, 
 Connecticut, in 1768 and died in 1853. 
 His wife was Susanna Fellows, born in 
 1768 and died in 1854. His title of cap- 
 tain was derived from service in the war of 
 1 81 2, as commander of a militia company. 
 William F. Hunt married Betsy Tabor, 
 born in Rensselaer, New York, in Septem- 
 ber, 1791, and a daughter of Gresham Ta- 
 bor, who married Anna Finch, a daughter 
 of Joseph Finch. Mrs. Betsy Hunt died in 
 1878. Peleg T. Hunt was married in Nas- 
 sau, Rensselaer county. New York, Decem- 
 ber 3, 1846, to Mary Cummings, a native 
 of that town and county, born February 9, 
 1827, and a daughter of Russell D. and 
 Sophia (Thomas) Cuinmings, her father 
 being a son of Abel Cummings, and her 
 mother a daughter of Silas and Chloe (Very) 
 Thomas. To Peleg T. and Mary Hunt four 
 children were born, as follows: George W., 
 a grain dealer of Charter Grove; Mrs. Leo- 
 nora J. Hutchinson, of Joliet, Illinois; Mrs. 
 Frances King, widow of our subject ; and 
 Mrs. Emma L. Hutchinson, of Joliet. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. King three children 
 were born: Howard Hunt, Harvey Elbert 
 and Edna Jeannette. Mrs. King, who is a 
 woman of superior ability, is yet carrying 
 on the home farm. She is well known and 
 has many friends in Genoa and Sycamore 
 townships. 
 
 JE. STOTT, dealer in real estate and 
 the efficient mayor of Genoa, was born 
 in Maine township, Cook county, Illinois, 
 May 2, 1846. His father, Uriah Stott, was 
 a native of Yorkshire, England, born in 
 1826, and who came to America in 1843, 
 coming direct to Cook county, Illinois, 
 
 where he purchased the farm on which our 
 subject was born. He married Elizabeth 
 M. Thornton, also a native of Yorkshire, 
 England, who was killed in a runaway at 
 Rand's l^ridge, over the Des Plaines river, in 
 Cook count}'. This was in August, 1884, 
 her death occurring when she was sixty- 
 eight years old. By trade Uriah Stott was 
 a tailor and clothier, but engaged in farm- 
 ing in Cook county. In politics he was a 
 Republican, and held many of the local 
 offices in that count\'. He was a Quaker by 
 birth, but united with the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, in which faith he died. After 
 the death of his wife he retired from active 
 business life and moved to Rockford, Illi- 
 nois, where his death occurred January i 3, 
 1892. \\'ith his wife he twice visited his 
 native land after coming to America, but 
 both returned to die in their new home. 
 They were the parents of five children : 
 William T., of Barrington, Illinois ; I.E., 
 our subject ; Joseph \\'., of Des Plaines, 
 Illinois ; Elizabeth Ann, who died at the 
 age of thirteen years, and Charles, residing 
 at Des Plaines. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood on his father's farm in Cook county 
 and attended the district school until the 
 age of eighteen 3'ears. He then spent two 
 years in Danforth's Commercial College in 
 Chicago, after which he clerked in a gro- 
 cery store in that city for a short time. In 
 the spring of 1866, in partnership with a 
 brother, he engaged in merchandising in 
 Chicago, and later removed to Barrington, 
 Cook county, where he continued in the 
 mercantile business until 1875. He then 
 moved to Genoa and engaged in merchan- 
 dising, in which he continued until 1884, 
 when he sold out, since which time he has 
 been in the real-estate business and has 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 397 
 
 hnndled much local real estate, while deal- 
 ing quite extensively in southern and west- 
 ern lands. In 1892 he laid out fortj'-eight 
 acres, which comprises Stott's addition to 
 Genoa. He has a farm of one hundred and 
 thirty-tive acres near the village, in which 
 his sons are interested in the breeding of 
 Shetland ponies and registered stock. He 
 is also interested in Chicago real estate and 
 has some fine holdings in that city. 
 
 Mr. Stott was married in Fremont Cen- 
 ter, Lake county, Illinois, October 30, 1872, 
 to Miss Josephine M. Millard, of that place, 
 born December i i, 1849, and a daughter of 
 Johnson and Arvilla M. (Houghton) Millard, 
 the latter now living in Wauconda, Lake 
 county, Illinois, at the age of sixty-eight 
 years. Johnson Millard was a native of 
 \'ermont, and in 1850 crossed the plains to 
 California, where he remained five years. 
 His death occurred in October, 1882. To 
 our subject and wife eight children have 
 been born, all of whom are yet living. 
 Frank H. is employed in the office of the 
 Swiss consul in Chicago. Gilbert E. read 
 law with Stephens & Early, of Sycamore, 
 was admitted to the bar, June 7, 1897, since 
 which time he has been engaged in practice 
 in Genoa. Grace E., James R. , Zoe A., 
 Alfred VV. , Paul E. and Marcus Victor, yet 
 remain at home. 
 
 In politics Mr. Stott is a thorough Re- 
 publican, and takes an active interest in po- 
 litical affairs. He was township treasurer 
 while residing in Barrington, and since com- 
 ing to Genoa has served some fifteen years 
 as a member of the board of education. 
 For the past six years he has been mayor 
 of the village, the duties of which office he 
 discharges faithfulh' and to the satisfaction 
 of all. Fraternally he is a member of Odd 
 Fellows, including the Rebecca degree, the 
 
 Knights of the Maccabees, and Modern 
 Woodmen of America. As an official he 
 has the best interests of his town at heart, 
 and freely gives of his time to advance its 
 material interests. 
 
 LESTER J. BROWNE, one of the 
 younger and highly esteemed farmers 
 of De Kalb county, owns and cultivates an 
 excellent piece of farm land situated on sec- 
 tion II, Milan township, and comprising one 
 hundred and twenty acres. In improve- 
 ments, yield and fertility, his property ranks 
 with the best in the county. The residence 
 and outbuildings are thoroughly modern, 
 and all the improvements, such as fencing, 
 tiling, and abundance of shade trees, indi- 
 cate a pride and interest in its possession. 
 Mr. Browne is a native of De Kalb coun- 
 ty, born on the farm where he now resides, 
 July 29, i860. His father, Nathaniel 
 Browne, was reared and educated within 
 three miles of Londonderry, Ireland, and 
 comes from a family celebrated for their 
 educational attainments, culture and mteg- 
 rity. His brother, William, a highly re- 
 spected citizen and leading property owner 
 of De Kalb county, is a Methodist preacher 
 of high repute throughout this section, and 
 another brother, who now cultivates the 
 home farm in Ireland, studied and graduated 
 in law and for several years was a success- 
 ful practitioner. Nathaniel was the oldest 
 member of the family, and by English law 
 the right of primogeniture gave him at his 
 father's death all right and title to the fa- 
 ther's property, which was considerable. 
 Being both young and ambitious and desir- 
 ing to see the world, and be the builder of 
 his own fortunes, he relinquished all claim- 
 to his prospective inheritance, and with his 
 
398 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 brother, William, came to America in 1855 
 and located on a quarter section in Milan 
 township, De Kalb county, Illinois. At 
 that time the country was thinly settled, 
 but with persistence born of determination, 
 a healthful vigor and industrious habits, he 
 set about cultivating the wild prairie lands, 
 making such improvements as his means and 
 facilities afforded. On the death of Na- 
 thaniel Browne, .April 19, 1896, his farm 
 land, consisting of two hundred acres, was 
 bequeathed to his son, Lester J., and his 
 daughter, Mrs. A\'. H. Smith, the former 
 securing one hundred and twenty acres, and 
 the latter eighty acres. The mother now 
 resides with her daughter, Mrs. Smith, in 
 Milan township. 
 
 I^ester J. Browne's school days covered 
 the period of his life up to twenty years of 
 age. After an elementary education, se- 
 cured in the neighboring district schools, 
 he entered Jennings Seminary at Aurora and 
 for a period studied to acquire a liberal ed- 
 ucation. Leaving the seminary he returned 
 to the farm and began in earnest the life of 
 a farmer On the 32d of February, 1890, 
 he married an estimable lady. Miss 'Sarah G. 
 Smith, daughter of Henry W. Smith, a well- 
 to-do retired farmer residing at De Kalb. 
 They are the parents of three children, Les- 
 lie N., Henry W. , deceased, and William C. 
 
 Appreciating educational advantages, 
 and fully alive to the fact that the standard 
 of citizenship is raised through and by means 
 of the school room, Mr. Browne has at all 
 times given the public schools his ardent 
 support. His activity in this direction is 
 best understood when it is known that 
 nearly all the intervening years since his ma- 
 jority he has, in his capacity of school di- 
 (lirector, gi\en close attention to educational 
 affairs. 
 
 Mr. Browne is a member of the Repub- 
 lican party, and his ballot is cast in the in- 
 dorsement of its principles and for the nom- 
 inees of the conventions of his party, 
 whether national, state or county. Follow- 
 ing the tradititons and convictions of his 
 ancestors, he is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church and responds promptly to 
 its support by active co-operation in all its 
 work. He is of a quiet and retiring dispo- 
 sition, affable in address and manners, and 
 is one of De Kalb county's younger farmers 
 whose probity and honorable methods find 
 recognition in the esteem in which he is 
 held and spoken of by all who have bad the 
 pleasure of his acquaintance. 
 
 ARCHIE G. KENNEDY, an attorney 
 residing in De Kalb, where he is en- 
 gaged in the active practice of law, was born 
 in Midway, Washington count}', Pennsyl- 
 vania, August 24, 1866, and is the son of 
 Rev. David S. and Nancy W. ( Kelly) Ken- 
 nedy, the former a native of Coitsville, 
 Mahoning county, Ohio, born .April 25, 
 1834, the latter being a native of Indiana, 
 Indiana county, Pennsylvania. David S. 
 Kennedy received his education in Poland 
 Academy, Ohio, and Westminster College, 
 Pennsylvania, graduating from the latter 
 institution in the class of 1858, his wife also 
 graduating in the same class. He received 
 his theological training at the Allegheny 
 Theological Seminary, completing the course 
 in 1 86 1. The degree of D. D. was conferred 
 upon him by Parsons College, of Mt. Pleas- 
 ant, Iowa, in 1884. His work in the min- 
 istry covered a period of thirty-seven years 
 in the United Presbyterian church. David 
 S. Kenned}' and family moved to De Kalb 
 count)- in December, 187S, locating in 
 
A. G. KENNEDY. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 401 
 
 Somonauk township, where he assuined 
 charge of the Somonauk U. P. church. 
 He held the charge until December, 
 1893, when he retired from ministry and 
 moved to Chicago where he remained until 
 March, 1898, when he returned to De Kalb 
 county. He was a man of superior talents, 
 a deep thinker and a fluent speaker. His 
 death occurred May 17, 1898. 
 
 His family consisted of ten children, 
 five girls, namely: Sarah Elizabeth, Bell, 
 Mary, Tillie and Annie Margretta, and five 
 boys, namely: Harry, Reid, Archie G., 
 James B. and Thomas W. Seven of these 
 children are still living, Bell, Mary and 
 James B. having preceded their father to 
 their final rest; Harry, in February, 1898, 
 went to Mariopol, Russia, where he is now 
 superintendent of the interests of the Nico- 
 pol Mariopol Mining and Metallurgical Com- 
 pany; Reid is mayor of Homestead, Penn- 
 sylvania; Sarah E. is married to Thomas C. 
 Hare and resides in Allegheny City, Penn- 
 sylvania; Tillie occupies a position in Chi- 
 cago and Annie M. and Thomas W. reside 
 with their mother in Victor township, this 
 county. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, Archie G. 
 Kennedy, has received an unusually thor- 
 ough and liberal education, in addition to 
 his excellent home training. He com- 
 menced his school education in Sewickle}',- 
 Pennsylvania; later he attended the high 
 school at Sandwich, Illinois, and from 
 1882 to 1884 he attended the State Nor- 
 mal School at Normal, Illinois. He then 
 went to Dakota, where he was engaged as 
 a civil engineer, but returned in the fall of 
 1884. In 1884-6 he taught school in De 
 Kalb county, and in the fall of the latter 
 year entered Monmouth College, where he 
 spent two years. In 1888 he went to 
 
 Homestead, Pennsylvania, where lor two 
 3'ears he was employed in the Carnegie 
 Steel Works. He then returned to Mon- 
 mouth College, where he completed his 
 course and graduated with high honors in 
 June, 1892. After graduating he came to 
 De Kalb county and read law with Carnes 
 & Dunton, prominent attorneys of Sycamore, 
 and took charge of their branch office at De 
 Kalb. He was admitted to the bar June 
 19, 1894, after passing an examination be- 
 fore the appellate court at Ottawa, which 
 was later confirmed by the supreme court. 
 After his admission to the bar Mr. Iven- 
 nedy continued with Carnes & Dunton until 
 January i, 1895, at which time a partner- 
 ship was formed with W. L. Pond, which 
 relation lasted until June i, 1897, when Mr. 
 Pond was elected county judge. Mr. Ken- 
 nedy is one of De Kalb county's promising 
 attorneys, and has that material in him by 
 birth, training and education which makes 
 successful as well as useful and honorable 
 men. His patronage keeps pace with his 
 growth in favor. 
 
 MARSHAL 
 Wherever I 
 
 LL STARK, deceased. — 
 there is pioneer work to be 
 done, men of energy and ability are re- 
 quired, and success or failure depends upon 
 the degree of those qualities that is pos- 
 sessed. In wresting the land from its nat- 
 ural wildness, in fitting it for the habitation 
 of men, in developing the natural resources 
 of the community in which they live, few if 
 any have contributed more largely than 
 Marshall Stark, one of the pioneers of De 
 Kalb county, who has left a name honored 
 and revered. He came to the county in the 
 vanguard of civilization, and by his energy- 
 and industry, and the exercise of fine busi- 
 
402 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ness judgment, he accumulated a comfort- 
 able fortune, giving his children a start in 
 life far beyond that which he possessed. 
 
 Marshall Stark was born in Luzerne 
 county, Pennsyhania, August 12, 181 3, and 
 was reared in his native county, where he 
 received a good practical common school 
 education, and for a time engaged in teach- 
 ing. He was the son of Oliver and Betsy 
 (Di.xon) Stark, both of whom were natives 
 of Pennsylvania, descendants from old New 
 England stock, springing from the same 
 parent stem as General Stark of Benning- 
 ton fame. On attaining his majority, in 
 the summer of 1834, he came west, and 
 located a claim near Rockford, \\'innebago 
 county, Illinois, but made no permanent 
 settleinent. Iveturning to Penn.sylvania, he 
 taught school during the succeeding winter, 
 and there remained until the spring of 1837, 
 when he came to De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 located a claim on what is now sections 20 
 and 21, Sycamore township, which he pur- 
 chased from the general go\ernment as soon 
 as the land came into market. On his ar- 
 rival he built a log house near the timber 
 and began improving his land. 
 
 In the fall of 1841, Mr. Stark re-visited 
 his Pennsylvania home, and on the 5th of 
 October he married Miss Louisa Tyler, a 
 native of Susquehanna county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, born December 16, 1820, in the town 
 of Dimock, and the daughter of Royal and 
 Mary (Southvvich) Tyler. A few weeks 
 later he btou;^ht his young bride to his new 
 home, and in the log cabin they lived for 
 three years, when he erected a comfortable 
 frame house, which was their happy home 
 for many long years. From that time he 
 began that prosperous career that stamped 
 him one of Dc Kalb county's most energetic 
 and thriftv men. No little credit for his 
 
 success in life was due to his faithful wife, 
 who. coming from the refined east, con- 
 tented herself in the lowly cabin, making it 
 as comfortable as possible under the circum- 
 stances, and who naturally stepped from 
 that humble abode to the more pretentious 
 one. She was ever a helpmeet to him, in- 
 deed, and possessed many of the same 
 qualities with which he was endowed. Few 
 women have ever shown more energy and 
 executive ability than Mrs. Stark. During 
 the trip of her husband through the countr}', 
 by her vigorous management affairs at home 
 went on as smoothly as if the head of the 
 house was there. By 1848 Mr. Stark had 
 risen to sufficient prominence to be called 
 upon to fill the office of sherifTof the county, 
 which position he filled for three years. 
 During his incumbency of the office he 
 opened a hotel in Sycamore which he con- 
 ducted for si.x years, and then returned to 
 the farm, which was his home during the 
 remainder of his life. By the citizens of 
 his township he was honored with several 
 local offices, serving as assessor, school 
 commissioner and supervisor, and was a 
 member of the county board at the time of 
 his death. 
 
 Mr. Stark was a man of versatile busi- 
 ness qualifications. While farming was his 
 principal business through life, he became 
 interested in the stock and grajn business 
 and for years was engaged in buying and 
 selling, doing a large and profitable busi- 
 ness. Later in life he turned his attention 
 to the lumber trade, spencing two winters 
 in the pineries of Michigan. In partnership 
 with his son Theron, he opened a large 
 lumber yard in Sj'camore and developed an 
 extensive and profitable business. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Stark ten children 
 were born: Harmon M. is a farmer resid- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 403 
 
 ing in Kingston township. Martha S. mar- 
 ried Hosea W. Alwood, and lives in Jasper 
 county, Iowa. Mary E. married Curtis 
 Harris, of Genoa township. Jefferson O., 
 Henry J., and Theron M. comprise the 
 firm of Stark Bros., dealers in grain, hay and 
 stock, at Sycamore, Illinois. Ada L. mar- 
 ried James Maitland, and they reside in 
 Sycamore township. Ella A. married A. 
 W. Brower, of Sycamore. Emma J. mar- 
 ried Charles Wiggins, of Story county, 
 Iowa. Hattie M. married Burton W. Lee, 
 of Sycamore township. 
 
 Of the ten children, all survive, and it 
 was the parents' pleasure to see them all 
 well married and settled in life. It was a 
 comfort to both in their last moments to 
 have all their children around their bedside, 
 and to have a last look upon each well-loved 
 face ere Death claimed his own. Mr. Stark 
 was called to his rest December 26, 1882, 
 while Mrs. Stark died July i, 1892. They 
 were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church of Sycamore — having contributed 
 very materially to its erection, also assisted 
 in building two other churches in this 
 locality. 
 
 HENRY KOCH, a representative farmer 
 of Franklin township, and founder of 
 the village of Fairdale, was born in Lycoming 
 county, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1S35, and 
 is a son of Freerdick and Julia (Speilman) 
 Koch, the former a native of Pennsylvania 
 and the latter of Germany, who came with 
 her parents to America when but eight years 
 old, being eight weeks on the ocean. Fred- 
 erick and Julia Koch were the parents of 
 ten children, — Henry, Mary, Jacob, John, 
 Washington, Isaac, Levi, Fred and Aman- 
 da, one died in infancy. The paternal 
 
 grandfather, Fred Koch, was a native of 
 Pennsylvania, while the great-grandfather 
 came from Ireland. 
 
 In 1848 Fred Koch came with his family 
 to De Kalb county, Illinois, arriving here 
 on the 1 8th of May. He first purchased 
 eighty acres just across the line in Ogle 
 count}', and kept adding to his original 
 tract until he had over eight hundred acres 
 of good farm land. To each of his sons, 
 as they left the parental home, he gave 
 eighty acres of land. Success followed 
 him in all his undertakings, and, although 
 he came to the state with but five hundred 
 dollars, by his industry and economical hab- 
 its he became a man of wealth. He is still 
 living at the age of eighty-seven years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was thirteen 
 years old when he accompanied his parents 
 to Illinois. He grew to manhood on the 
 farm and did his full share in its cultiva- 
 tion and in the general improvement. His 
 education was but limited and confined to 
 the common schools. On the ist of Janu- 
 ary, 1863, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Julia Rickard, a native of Herkimer 
 county, New York, and a daughter of Jacob 
 Rickard, who came to Illinois and located 
 in Ogle county in a very early day. By 
 this union there are four children, George, 
 Jeannette, Wallace and Frederick Earl. 
 
 In all his business operations Mr. Koch 
 has had the same success that has attended 
 his father. On his farm is located the \'il- 
 lage of Fairdale, which he had surveyed and 
 platted in May, 1875. In politics he is a 
 Democrat, with which party he has been iden- 
 tified since attaining his majority. Thor- 
 oughly enterprising and a practical farmer, 
 he endeavors to keep abreast of the times. 
 Well known and respected by all, he is one . 
 of De Kalb county's best citizens, 
 
404 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 JOHN HADSALL, junior member of the 
 rtrm of Merritt & Hadsall, contractors 
 and builders of Genoa, was born in Riley 
 township, McHenry county, Illinois, Sep- 
 tember 9, 1849. His father, Edwin Had- 
 sall, was born in North Moreland, Wyoming 
 county, Pennsylvania, October 4, 181 5, and 
 died on his farm in Riley township, Mc- 
 Henry county, Illinois, May 17, 1887. He 
 remained in his native county until the age 
 of thirty years, when he came west to Illi- 
 nois, driving through from Pennsylvania, 
 with his wife and three children. The\' 
 left their Pennsylvania home April 26, 1846, 
 and reached McHenry county May 26, 
 1846. They settled on Coon creek, where 
 the father purchased one hundred and 
 twenty acres, but added to his possessions 
 until he had three hundred and eighty 
 acres at the time of his death. In his youth 
 he learned the carpenter's trade, at which 
 he worked before coming to Illinois. Ed- 
 win Hadsall married Elizabeth Daily, a na- 
 tive of Wyoming county and a daughter of 
 Jonathan Daily, who married a Miss Fitch. 
 They became the parents of nine children, 
 three of whom were born in Pennsylvania 
 and the remainder in Illinois. The chil- 
 dren are Mrs. Millie Hewett, who is now 
 deceased; Mrs. Myra Flick, of Los Ang- 
 eles, California; George, a contractor in 
 Chicago; John, onr subject; Charles residing 
 near Los Angeles, California; James, in 
 business in Rockford; Elmer, living near 
 Mason City, Iowa; Rose residing in Maytield 
 township, De Kalb county, IlHnois; and 
 Mrs. Lena McCafferty, of Rockford, Illinois. 
 The paternal grandfather, Amos Had- 
 sall was born in what is now W'yoming 
 county, but then Luzerne county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, in 1791, and died in Kansas in 1S68, 
 at the residence of his son, Charles. He 
 
 was a carpenter and cabinet maker by 
 trade, and was a fifer in the war of 1812, 
 being with Scott at Niagara. He kept his 
 old fife until his death. The paternal 
 great-grandfather, Jonathan Hadsall, with 
 a brother James, were all that were left of 
 a family of ten children, the father, mother 
 and eight children being killed by Indians 
 in the Wyoming massacre. All the men 
 were working in a cornfield at the time of 
 the massacre, but two of the boys escaped. 
 They went to Connecticut from where the 
 family came and there resided until afier 
 the war, then returned to Wyoming county, 
 secured their father's farm and both reared 
 large families. The Hadsalls were parti- 
 sans of Roger Williams and left Massa- 
 chusetts with him for Rhode Island, and 
 later went to Connecticut and from there to 
 Pennsylvania. Amos Hadsall married a 
 Miss Parks, and of their five children, Ed- 
 win, the father of our subject, was the first. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, after attend- 
 ing the district schools in Riley township, 
 McHenrj' county, spent fixe years in the 
 Sycamore grammar and high schools and 
 (jne year at the State University at Cham- 
 paign. He began teaching at the age of 
 eighteen, before completing his education. 
 In all he has taught some twenty-two years. 
 For four years prior to going to Champaign 
 he was engaged in teaching. He taught 
 nine years in I]uck district, Riley township, 
 McHenry county; two years in the Java 
 district in the same township; eight years 
 in his home district; two years in the Pleas- 
 ant Hill district, Mayfield township, De 
 Kalb county, and one year in the Ney dis- 
 trict, De Kalb county. His many years in 
 the same nearby districts attest his proli- 
 ciency as an educator. 
 
 Mr. Hadsall was married September 9, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 405 
 
 1S74. in Sycamore, to Miss Celesta Ben- 
 nett, a native of Lycoming county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and a daughter of John and Lovina 
 (Corson) Bennett, who came west in 1868 
 and settled in Riley township, McHenry 
 county, Illinois, where the father died in 
 the spring of 1891. To Mr. and Mrs. Had- 
 sall two children have been born, Amory D. 
 and Gracie Belle. 
 
 In the spring of 1888 Mr. Hadsall came 
 to Genoa and associated himself with Mr. 
 Merritt in contracting and building, having 
 worked at the carpenter's trade in sum- 
 mers before coming to Genoa. Since the 
 partnership has been formed the business 
 has bepn largely increased and large con- 
 tracts taken. Fraternally Mr. Hadsall is a 
 member of the Masonic order. Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen 
 of America and Knights of the Maccabees. 
 In politics he is an independent Democrat, 
 and when on the farm was collector five 
 years and was a supervisor seven years and 
 was a prominent candidate for county 
 superintendent of schools in 1898. 
 
 GURDON H. DENNIS is a farmer re- 
 siding on section i, De Kalb township, 
 De Kalb county, Illinois. He was born in 
 Eagle township, Allegany county. New 
 York, December 31, 1831, and is the son 
 of George W. and Phebe (Partridge) Den- 
 nis, the former a native of New York, and 
 the latter of Connecticut. The Dennis 
 family are of English parentage, while the 
 Partridges are of French descent. 
 
 George W. Dennis was by trade a car- 
 penter, and a first-class workman. He re- 
 moved west with his family of ten children 
 in July, 1844, locating in Mayfield township, 
 
 De Kalb county, where he purchased a farm 
 of eighty acres on which a primitive log- 
 house had been erected, and about twenty 
 acres under the plow. This farm he im- 
 proved and increased its boundaries by add- 
 ing forty acres more, then twenty of timber. 
 For some years after coming west he devoted 
 the greater portion of his time to his trade, 
 but as age advanced he turned his attention 
 ex'clusively to agricultural pursuits. He 
 was a man of considerable ability, and in 
 his younger days taught school. Religiously 
 he was a Universalist. He lived to be over 
 seventy-si.x years of age. His wife died in 
 about 1 86 1, at the age of fifty-six years. 
 
 In the the family of George \\'. and 
 Phebe Dennis were ten children, of whom 
 our subject was fifth in order of birth. He 
 was twelve years old when he arrived with 
 his parents in Maytield township, and four- 
 teen when he left the parental roof to hew 
 out his own destiny. After working out for 
 three years, and when but seventeen years 
 old, he purchased a farm of eighty acres of 
 wild prairie land, which he at once began 
 to cultivate, and for which he paid in two 
 years. He worked on his farm and for 
 other persons alternately, till he reached 
 his twentj'-third year, when he wearied of 
 living a bachelor's life on the farm. There- 
 fore, on the 29th of August, 1855, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Louise Oster- 
 hout, a native of Mayfield township, born 
 December 7, 1838, and a daughter of Al- 
 bert and Polly Osterhout. By this union 
 si.\ children were born: Fremont A., May 
 6, 1857; Nettie A., January 22, 1859; Mary 
 E., April 6, 1 861; Carrie B., December 10, 
 1864; Mina L. , September 13, 1866, and 
 who died August 3, 1872; Amos H., May 
 18, 1869, and who died in September, _ 
 1895- 
 
4o6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Immediately after marriage, Mr. Dennis 
 located on his farm, where he resided for 
 twenty-five years. In 1880, he sold that 
 farm, and removed to North Sycamore, 
 where he remained two years, then went to 
 Poweshiek county, Iowa, where he pur- 
 chased a farm of two hundred and fifty-tive 
 acres, on which he lived four years. In 
 1 886 he exchanged that farm for his pres- 
 ent one of one hundred and seventy-four 
 acres in section i, De Kalb township. 
 
 The second marriage of Mr. Dennis was 
 solomnized March 16, 1880, when he married 
 Miss Edith Chatfield, a daughter of Robert 
 Chatfield, who was a native of England. 
 She came to this country in 1878. By this 
 union three children were born: Grace C, 
 January 13, 1881; Robert G., April 15, 
 1882; and Myrtle T. , November 21, 1892. 
 Mrs. Dennis was born in London, England, 
 November 10, 1851. Religiously Mr. and 
 Mrs. Dennis are members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church. Both enjoy the respect 
 of all their friends and neighbors. 
 
 CHARLES V.WEDDELL, a prosperous 
 farmer residing on section 20, Paw Paw 
 township, is the owner of seven hundred 
 and thirty acres, lying in sections 18, 20 and 
 21, all of which is under culti\ation. He 
 is a native of Paw Paw township, born on 
 the family homestead August 8, 1853, and 
 is the son of \V. B. and Agnes G. Weddell, 
 whose sketch appears elsewhere in this 
 work. He grew to manhood on the old 
 home place, which adjoins the farm where 
 he now resides. His primary education 
 was obtained in the common schools, after 
 which he entered the Paw Paw Teachers' 
 Institute and Classical Seminary, and later 
 attended Jennings Seminary at Aurora, Illi- 
 
 nois, completing his literary education in 
 the college at Xaperville, Illinois. He re- 
 mained with his father on the farm, assist- 
 ing in the work until he attained his 
 majority. 
 
 On the 29th of March, 1877, in Paw Paw 
 township, Mr. Weddell was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Mary Nisbet, a daughter of 
 Matthew and Agnes Nisbet, who were 
 among the early settlers of Paw Paw town- 
 ship, and who were natives of Scotland and 
 New York, respectively. By this union three 
 children have been born. Nellie \'. is now 
 the wife of Harvey Bullis, a farmer of Paw 
 Paw township. Christain L. is a student 
 in Wheaton College. One died in infancy. 
 
 Soon after his marriage, Mr. Weddell 
 moved to the farm where he now resides, but 
 which at that time comprised but eighty 
 acres, on which was a smali frame house. 
 In this house he resided for two years, while 
 making further improvements upon the 
 place. He then built a more substantial 
 residence, and from time to time added to 
 the area of his farm until he has now seven 
 hundred and thirty acres, which in reality 
 comprises four farms, with four sets of 
 buildings. His farms are well drained with 
 many miles of tiling. Orchard, forest and 
 ornamental trees abound, and he has not 
 only one of the best but one ol the neatest 
 farms in De Kalb county. In addition to 
 general farming, for about si.xteen years he 
 has been engaged in breeding and dealing 
 in Durham cattle and Norman horses. He 
 also buys and feeds about three carloads of 
 cattle and three carloads of hogs annually, 
 which he ships to Chicago markets. 
 
 The first presidential ballot cast by Mr. 
 Weddell was in 1876 for Rutherford B. 
 Hayes. From that time to the present he 
 has been an uncompromising Republican, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 407 
 
 and while he would never accept office, he 
 has assisted others and contributed of his 
 time and means for the success of the party. 
 He and his wife are members of the Rollo 
 Congregational church, in the work of which 
 both are greatly interested, Mr. Weddell 
 being a member of the official board. For 
 four years Mrs. Weddell has been an invalid 
 and not able to walk, notwithstanding, she 
 is always cheerful and in good spirits. 
 
 In connection with Robert Hampton, 
 Mr. Weddell was instrumental m securing 
 the present location of the village of Rollo. 
 By their united efforts it was secured for its 
 present location, after another had been 
 already decided upon some two miles fur- 
 ther south. It took very prompt and active 
 work by Mr. Weddell and others to have 
 the change made. But once determined 
 upon, he was not the man to give up the 
 struggle, but worked earnestly and faithfully 
 with satisfactory results to himself and 
 associates. A man of excellent business 
 and executive ability, his sound judgment, 
 unflagging enterprise and capable manage- 
 ment have brought to him a well merited 
 success. He is a worthy representative of 
 that class of citizens who lead quiet, indus- 
 trious, honest and useful lives, and who 
 constitute the best portion of a community. 
 In manner he is pleasant and cordial, which, 
 combined with his sterling worth, makes 
 him one of the popular citizens of the 
 county. 
 
 JAMES MAITLAND is one of the sub- 
 stantial farmers of De Kalb county, his 
 farm being located in section 35, Sycamore 
 township. He was born in Darlington, 
 Northumberland county, Canada, February 
 28, 1849. His father, James Maitland, Sr., 
 was a Highlander, born in Argyleshire, Scot- 
 
 land, July 20, 18 12, and who emigrated to 
 Canada in 1835, locating near Darlington. 
 He was a carpenter and ship builder by 
 trade, and about 1854 moved to Colburn, 
 Canada, where he was employed at his 
 trade at Cole's wharf some eight years. He 
 then returned to Darlington where he en- 
 gaged in farming until 1868, when he re- 
 moved to Malta, Illinois, where he again, 
 worked at his trade. He first married Mary 
 Brown, of Darlington, and in 1841 married 
 Miss Sarah Renwick, who was the mother 
 of our subject. She was born in Dumfries- 
 shire, Scotland, April 16, 1822, and who 
 came to America in 1835, her parents set- 
 tling near Darlington, Canada. She was 
 the daughter of Walter and Mary (Guthrie) 
 Renwick, also natives of Scotland. Her 
 death occurred in Sycamore, Illinois, Sep- 
 tember 12, 1894. The paternal grandfa- 
 ther, William Maitland, was a native of 
 Scotland, where his death occurred in 18 14. 
 The subject of this sketch was about 
 five years old when the family moved to 
 Colburn, and he there attended school until 
 about the age of tourteen years, when they 
 removed five miles northeast of Colburn, 
 where he resided until coming to Illinois in 
 1868. He arrived at Malta, November 14^ 
 and for one year worked on a farm. He 
 was then emplojed on various farms in the 
 neighborhood for three years, at the expira- 
 tion of which time he went to Sycamore and 
 worked with a hay press and at his trade for 
 a time, and for three seasons engaged in 
 running a threshing machine. He was mar- 
 ried in Sycamore, October 14, 1874, to Miss 
 Ada L. Stark, a native of De Kalb county, 
 and a daughter of Marshall Stark, a sketch 
 of whom appears elsewhere in this work. 
 By this union two children have been born: 
 Howard Henry, who died at the age of four 
 
4o8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 years and eight months, and Everitt P. 
 They have adopted Herbert Harmon Stark, 
 one of the sons of Harmon M. Stark, the 
 eldest brother of Mrs. Maitland. 
 
 Soon after his marriage Mr. Maitland 
 began farming one mile north of Sycamore 
 on a farm of his father-in-law, and there re- 
 sided one year. Removing to Kingston he 
 *here engaged in farming two years, and 
 then returned to his father-in-law's farm, 
 which he operated eight years. He then 
 rented his present farm for two years, hav- 
 ing an option for its purchase. He bought 
 it in 1892, the farm comprising two hun- 
 dred and ten acres, every foot of it tillable 
 land. It is well improved and has between 
 five and six miles of tiling. In addition to 
 general farming Mr. Maitland engages in 
 dairying to some extent, nsually keeping 
 from eighteen to twenty cows. His barn is 
 one of the most substantial in the county, 
 being what is known as a truss barn, and is 
 thirty-six by sixty-four feet. A well one 
 hundred and four feet deep gives an un- 
 failing supply of pure water. He has two 
 orchards on the place, covering about three 
 acres of land, on which he raises apples, 
 peaches, plums, pears, cherries and small 
 fruit in alnmdance. 
 
 In politics Mr. Maitland is a Republican, 
 and has served as road commissioner and 
 school director for some years. He is a 
 member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, of the subordinate lodge, en- 
 campment, and canton of Patriarchs Mili- 
 tant. He has passed all the chairs in the 
 subordinate lodge and encampment, serv- 
 ing as noble grand and chief patriarch. He 
 has also been grand representative for seven 
 years. As a citizen he is enterprising and 
 progressive, and his farm shows the work of 
 a master hand. 
 
 AUSTIN V. PIERCE, a farmer resid- 
 ing on section 13, Kingston township, 
 is a native of Du Page county, Illinois, born 
 January 12, 1859, and is the son of James 
 T. and Sarah L. (Blank) Pierce, both of 
 whom were natives of New York state, who 
 removed to Du Page county, Illinois, in 
 1835. They were pioneers of that county 
 and in the course of a few 3ears after his 
 coming to the county he was the owner of 
 two hundred and fifty acres of land, which 
 he purchased of the government and which 
 he improved to a high degree. He was 
 honored with many of the offices of the 
 township, offices which he held with profit, 
 not to himself, but to the township. In 
 politics he was a Douglas Democrat. While 
 coming west with no financial means, when 
 life's journey was ended he had plenty 
 to leave behind him. He died ia 1895 at 
 the age of S3venty-four years; his wife sur- 
 vives him at the age of seventy }ears. Their 
 family consisted of eight children, all of 
 whom are living, our subject being the first 
 born. 
 
 Austin V. Pierce was reared and edu- 
 cated in Du Page county and has always 
 followed the vocation of a farmer. He re- 
 sided at home until he reached his twenty- 
 seventh year, at which time he rented a 
 farm and began life for himself. He con- 
 tinued to rent farms for a few years, but in 
 1883 came to DeKalb county and purchased 
 his present farm, which contains two hun- 
 dred acres and is well located on a com- 
 manding eminence with good drainage, and, 
 under the practical management of Mr. 
 Pierce, it is growing more productive and 
 becoming more beautiful. 
 
 On the 22d of March, 1S75, Mr. Pierce 
 was united in marriage with Miss Delia 
 Coon, a native of Steuben county, New 
 
A. V. PIERCE, 
 
MRS. A. V. PIERCE. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 413 
 
 York, born October 13, 1856, and a daugh- 
 ter of William and Jane Coon, both of 
 whom are now deceased. Five children 
 were born of this union; Clayton in 1877, 
 Garfield in 1881, Etha in 1883, Charles in 
 1885 and Mabel in 1890. 
 
 Since residing upon his present place 
 Mr. Pierce has built a beautiful house with 
 all the modern improvements of the day. 
 His grounds are neatly kept, indicating the 
 refinement and taste of its owner and of the 
 family. F"or some years he has given his 
 attention almost exclusively to dairy farm- 
 ing. For his choice herd of Durham and 
 Holstein cattle he has erected a commodi- 
 ous barn, which is well ventilated and con- 
 veniently constructed. His house and barns 
 were erected in 1893 and 1895. Mr. Pierce 
 is a practical man of business and keeps 
 abreast of the times. He is a member of 
 the Masonic fraternity, Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of 
 America and Knights of the Globe. Polit- 
 ically he is a Republican and always takes 
 an active interest in the success of his party. 
 
 RALPH N. WILKINSON, the owner of 
 a fine farm of two hundred and fifteen 
 acres in section 28, Mayfield township, is a 
 native of De Kalb county, born on the farm 
 where he now resides, August 28, 1858. His 
 father, Robert Wilkinson, was a native of 
 England, born in Stockton in 1829. John 
 Wilkinson, the paternal grandfather, was 
 also a native of England and removed to 
 Canada about 1831. He resided there a 
 number of years and about 1848 came to 
 DeKalb county and located in Mayfield town- 
 ship, where he purchased a farm of about two 
 hundred acres, which comprised a part of 
 
 the place now owned by our subject. 
 20 
 
 Robert Wilkinson, the father, assisted in 
 developing the old homestead, and later, in 
 Mayfield township, married Julia E. Mace, 
 a native of England and a daughter of 
 William Mace, also a native of that country, 
 who came to the United States in 1850, lo- 
 cating in South Grove township, De Kalb 
 county. After his marriage, Robert Wil- 
 kinson located on a farm where his son now 
 resides, and at once commenced its im- 
 provement. He had a farm of three hun- 
 dred and eighty-one acres, and became one 
 of the most prosperous farmers in Mayfield 
 township. In 1875 he rented the farm, 
 made a trip to Europe for his health, re- 
 turned and bought a lumber yard in Syca- 
 more and carried on the business a few 
 months until his death, December 7, 1875. 
 His wife survived him a number of years 
 and met her death by accident on the 
 streets of Sycamore, September 21, 1897, 
 at the age of seventy years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is one of a 
 family of two sons and si.x daughters, all of 
 whom grew to mature years and all married 
 but one. He grew to manhood on the 
 farm and was educated in the common 
 schools and the Sycamore High School. 
 After his father's death he remained on the 
 farm one year, then went to Sycamore and 
 for two years attended school in that city, 
 then returned and took charge of the farm 
 work. Later he purchased the interest of 
 other heirs in the homestead and became 
 sole proprietor of the farm, and has since 
 been engaged in general farming, feeding 
 and dealing in stock, shipping annually 
 some two or three cars from his farm. He 
 is also engaged to a limited extent in dairy- 
 ing. Since taking possession of the farm, 
 he has made many improvements, which 
 show the practical character of the man. 
 
414 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Wilkinson was married at Maple 
 Park, Kane county, Illinois, November 13, 
 1879, to Miss Hattie Henneghan, a daugh- 
 ter of Manley and Elizabeth Henneghan, 
 early settlers of De Kalb county, both now 
 deceased. Mrs. Wilkinson was reared and 
 educated in Sycamore. . By this union their 
 is one son, David S., now a student in the 
 Aurora Business College. Politically, Mr. 
 Wilkinson is a Jeffersonian Democrat, his 
 first presidential ballot being cast in 1880 
 for General W'inheld S. Hancock. He has 
 taken an active part in local politics and 
 local campaigns, serving as a delegate to 
 various county and congressional conven- 
 tions. He was elected justice of the peace 
 in 1893 and re-elected in 1897, '^nd has 
 transacted the business of that important 
 office in a very satisfactory manner. For 
 eighteen years he has been a member of 
 the school board, having always manifested 
 an interest in the public school system and 
 in securing good schools for his district. 
 Fraternally he is a member of the Knights 
 of the Globe, being a charter member of 
 the order in Sycamore, and has served 
 through all the chairs. A lifelong resident 
 of the county and township, he has labored 
 earnestly and faithfully not only in the dis- 
 charge of his own private affairs, but for 
 the public good. 
 
 GEORGE W. WELCH is a farmer re- 
 siding on section 27, Malta township, 
 and is one of De Kalb county's promising 
 young farmers. He was born in Malta 
 township on the farm where he now resides, 
 in 1873, and is the son of James and Mary 
 (Watson) Welch, both natives of Ireland, 
 who emigrated to this country in 1854. On 
 their arrival in America they came directly 
 
 to De Kalb county, which has since contin- 
 ued to be their home. They are people of 
 respectability and have by hard labor and 
 economy secured for themselves sufficient 
 means for their coming old age. |ames 
 Welch is the owner of a neat city property 
 in De Kalb, where he and his wife reside, 
 and in riddition is the owner of a farm upiMi 
 which our subject resides and which will 
 eventually fall to him. 
 
 George W. Welch grew to manhood 
 upon the old homestead and was educated 
 in the public schools of Malta, where he 
 showed great proficiency in the various 
 branches taught therein. Previous and sub- 
 sequent to his school days he engaged m 
 agricultural pursuits, and has always made 
 his home upon the farm where he now re- 
 sides. He makes no specialty of any par- 
 ticular line of farming, but succeeds in rais- 
 ing a general crop in abundance. On Sep- 
 tember II, 1895, he married Miss Lyda 
 Delbridge, who was born in Malta, De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, in 1874, and the daughter 
 of Thomas and Ellen Delbridge, both of 
 whom are natives of England and are num- 
 bered among the substantial people of Malta. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Welch one child has been 
 born, Earl D., March 30, 1897. Both Mr. 
 and Mrs. Welch are members of the Con- 
 gregational church, in which they take spe- 
 cial interest. Fraternally he is a worthy 
 member of the I\nights of Pythias. 
 
 JOHN N. HILL, who resides on section 
 25, Paw Paw township, owns and cul- 
 tivates a farm of eighty acres of valuable 
 and well improved land, three and a half 
 miles from the village of Leland. He was 
 born in La Salle county, Illinois, April y, 
 1857, and is the son of N. J. Hill, a native 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 415 
 
 of Norway, whose sketch may be found in 
 this work. With his parents he resided 
 until twenty-one years of age, during which 
 time he assisted in the cultivation of the 
 home farm, and attended the district school. 
 When he attained his majority he com- 
 menced life for himself by renting the farm 
 of eighty acres which he now owns, and 
 boarding with his parents while engaged in 
 its cultivation. 
 
 On the 7th of February, 1884, Mr. Hill 
 was united in marriage with Miss Anna 
 Watne, a native of Norway, and a daughter 
 of Tobias Watne, also a native of that coun- 
 try. By this union seven children have 
 been born — Nora, Jessie, Amos, Theodore, 
 Albert, Mamy and Esther, all of whom vet 
 remain at home, and five of the number at- 
 tending the home school. 
 
 Mr. Hill purchased his present farm in 
 1886, and has here since continued to reside, 
 engaged in general farming. He has been 
 fairly successful in all that he has done, and 
 feels that he has no reason to complain. 
 He is a member of the Lutheran church, of 
 which body his wife is also a member. In 
 politics he is a Republican, but has never 
 cared for office, preferring to devote his 
 time and attention to his business interests 
 and to his family. He is well known in the 
 southwestern part of the county as a man 
 whose word is as good as his bond. 
 
 SAMUEL STEPHENS, deceased, was 
 one of the pioneers of De Kalb county, 
 who lived to see the great changes that 
 were made in the development of the coun- 
 try. He was born at Harrisburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania, September g, 1809, and was the son 
 of Benjamin and Elizabeth Stephens. The 
 former died in 1S34 and the latter in 1839. 
 
 When our subject was quite young his par- 
 ents moved to Ohio, and later still farther 
 west to Indiana. His boyhood and youth 
 were spent in the three states and, as he 
 was always on the frontier, his educational 
 advantages were very limited. In 1837 he 
 came to where Genoa now stands and took 
 up a tract of land and there resided during 
 the remainder of his life, dying August 14, 
 1 891, at the age of eighty-two years. 
 
 Mr. Stephens was twice married, his 
 first union being with Rebecca Patterson, 
 who died October 25, 1851, leaving one son, 
 Joseph B. Stephens, a prominent attorne}' 
 of Sycamore. His second union was with 
 Miss Philena Crocker, December 14, 1852, 
 and by that union two children were born, 
 but both are now deceased. Mrs. Stephens 
 was born in Bethany, Genesee county. New 
 York, January i, 1830, and is a daughter of 
 Rev. Allen Crocker, of whom further men- 
 tion is made in the sketch of her brother. 
 Rev. A. A. Crocker. At the age of six- 
 teen years she came to Illinois and began 
 teaching in a barn for lack of a schooihouse. 
 She became homesick in this new country 
 and returned to New York on a visit, and 
 after coming back to Illinois was thoroughly 
 contented. On her marriage with Mr. 
 Stephens she came to Genoa and has here 
 since continued to reside. She is a devoted 
 member of the Advent Christian church and 
 is well posted in the scriptures. 
 
 Mr. Stephens was an enterprising man, 
 liberal and broad-minded, always willing to 
 assist others. He made two additions to 
 the tov\'n and gave liberally to every public 
 enterprise. When the railroad was being 
 built through the place he gave of his means 
 and assisted in the erection of the depot. 
 He built the band stand in the park and_ 
 gave the use of the grove for park purposes. 
 
4i6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 On the formation of the party he became a 
 Republican and with that party affiliated 
 for many years, but later in life was a strong 
 and active Prohibitionist. For many years 
 he served as justice of the peace and held 
 other minor official positions. He was a 
 member of Advent Christian church and a 
 strong believer in the principles of that 
 denomination. 
 
 CHARLES 1JA\IE is a farmer residing 
 on section S, Sycamore township. He 
 was born in Cornwall, England, June 8, 
 1855, and is the son of James and Maria 
 (Yoe) Davie, both of whom were nati\es of 
 Cornwall, where they yet reside. The 
 father is farming a leasehold which contains 
 about one hundred and sixty acres, and is 
 devoted to stock and grain and dairy prod- 
 ucts. He is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church and of the Order of For- 
 resters. His wife is the daughter of John 
 and Elizabeth Yoe. The paterr.al grand- 
 parents were James and Jane Davie, both 
 of whom are now deceased. James and 
 Maria Davie are the parents of five chil- 
 dren, all sons. NN'illiam is a blacksmith, 
 residing in New Zealand. Charles is the 
 subject of this sketch. John is engaged in 
 farming in the town of St. Anstell, Corn- 
 wall, England. Arthur and Sidney Her- 
 bert yet reside with their parents. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 his native town and attended private schools 
 until about the time of his emigration to 
 America, in the meantime, however, assist- 
 ing his father in the blacksmith shop. 
 Early in June, 1882, he left his home in 
 company with a friend, who was then on a 
 visit to his native land, and sailing from 
 Liverpool, he landed at Ouebec, from 
 
 which place he came directly west to Chi- 
 cago and from there to De Kalb. For 
 thirteen years he worked on the farm of 
 Mr. Triscott, in Sycamore township, during 
 which time, however, he twice visited his 
 native land, spending four months the first 
 visit and six months in his last visit. 
 
 Mr. Davie was united in marriage 
 October 23, 1895, with Miss Eunice Divine, 
 since which time he has resided on his pres- 
 ent farm of one hundred and forty-five acres, 
 in section 8, Sycamore township, where he 
 is engaged in general farming. In politics 
 he is a Democrat, with which party he has 
 acted since becoming a naturalized citizen. 
 He is now serving as school director of his 
 district. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 Knights of Pythias. 
 
 GEORGE L. TAYLOR is now living a 
 retired life at Hinckley, Illinois, en- 
 joying the fruits of years of former toil. He 
 is a native of Illinois, born in ICane county, 
 December 17, 1845, ^^nd is the son of Percy 
 Taylor, a native of \'ermont, born in 1801, 
 and who grew to manhood in his native 
 state, going from thence to New York when 
 a young man, where, in St. Lawrence coun- 
 ty, he married Miss Rebecca Lawrence. In 
 1836 he came west to Illinois and located 
 in the township of Big Rock, Kane county, 
 where he made claim to one hundred and 
 sixty acres, which he cleared and on which 
 he lived for forty years. In 1876 he moved 
 to Aurora and there spent the last years of 
 his life, dying in 1884 at the age of eighty- 
 three years. His wife passed away in May, 
 1885. Of their family of two sons and five 
 daughters, our subject and three daughters 
 are the only ones living. Charles grew to 
 manhood, marrieil, located on a farm in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 417 
 
 Blackberry township, Kane county, Illinois, 
 where his death occurred. Mrs. Sarah Burt 
 is a widow residing in Ue Kaib, Illinois. 
 Mrs. Harriet Seavey is also a widow and 
 now resides in Sugar Grove township, Kane 
 county. Mrs. E. C. Whilden resides in 
 Big Rock township, Kane county, her hus- 
 band being one of the supervisors of that 
 county. 
 
 George Taylor, our subject, grew to ma- 
 ture years on his father's farm in Big Rock 
 township, Kane county, Illinois, and as 
 soon as able he was required to do his share 
 of farm work. His educational advantages 
 were limited to the common school, yet, 
 notwithstanding, he is to-day a well in- 
 formed man. He remained under the pa- 
 rental roof until twenty-three years of age, 
 when he was united in marriage in Sugar 
 Grove township, Kane county, December 3, 
 1868, with Miss Mary Thompson, a native 
 of Sugar Grove township, where she was 
 reared and educated, and a daughter of 
 Edward Thompson, a pioneer of Kane 
 county, but a native of New York, who on 
 coming west first located in Ottawa, Illi- 
 nois, and later moved to Sugar Grove, 
 Kane county. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Taylor located on 
 a farm, which he leased for a few years, 
 and in 1876 purchased the old home farm 
 which he operated for four years, then sold 
 and purchased a farm near Waterman, De 
 Kaib county, Illinois, in 1880, a place of 
 one hundred and twenty acres. To that 
 farm he moved and there resided for two 
 years. While living there his wife passed 
 away, dying May 28, 1881. He soon after- 
 ward sold the farm and on the 13th of De- 
 cember, 1883, in Kaneville, Illinois, was 
 united in marriage to Mrs. Jennie Spencer, 
 widow of James Spencer, and a sister of 
 
 his first wife. She is a native of New York, 
 who came to Illinois when a child with her 
 parents. By her first husband Mrs. Tay- 
 lor has three children: Elmer, who is mar- 
 ried and engaged in farming in Kaneville 
 township, Kane county; Millie, wife of C. 
 O. Dean, of Hinckley; and Hattie, young 
 lady at home. 
 
 For about one year after their marriage, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Taylor resided at Kaneville, 
 and in 1885 moved to Hinckley, where he 
 purchased a residence lot, built a neat and 
 substantial residence, into which they moved 
 and where they have since continued to re- 
 side. Politically Mr. Taylor is identified with 
 the Republican party and gives his earnest 
 support to its men and measures. Since mov- 
 ing to Hinckley he has served as assessor of 
 the township, and also on the village board, 
 being two years a trustee, and one year 
 president of the board. His entire life has 
 been spent in Kane and De Kaib counties, 
 and his acquaintance is e.xtensive in both 
 counties, and wherever known he has the 
 confidence and respect of all. In his life he 
 endeavors to live in accordance with the 
 golden rule, doing as he would be done by. 
 
 ELEAZER DIVINE, deceased, was born 
 in the town of Grahamville, Sullivan 
 county, New York, March i, 1820. His fa- 
 ther, David Divine, was also born in Sulli- 
 van county, January 6, 1800. He married 
 Harriet Lowe, who died at the age of ninety- 
 seven years. She was a daughter of Cor- 
 nelius and Hannah (Hornbeak) Lowe, who 
 both lived to a green old age. David Divine 
 was engaged in farming and lumbering to a 
 great extent in his native county. He died 
 about 1866. The paternal grandfather, 
 Eleazer Divine, married Lydia Betelbrunt, 
 
4i8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and for many years was an inn keeper in 
 Sullivan county. His death occurred when 
 about seventy-five years old. 
 
 Eleazer Divine was reared in his native 
 county and attended the district schools un- 
 til the age of twenty years. He then bought 
 a leasehold of one hundred acres, and after- 
 ward bought the feesimple to the land, and 
 there engaged in farming for twelve years. 
 In June, 1852, he came west and purchased 
 three hundred acres at Charter Grove, De 
 Kalb county, then returned to his eastern 
 home, sold out, and moved with his family 
 to De Kalb county in the fall of the same 
 year. For the first few years after his ar- 
 rival in De Kalb county he raised grain and 
 stock, and was quite successful in his farm- 
 ing operations. As time passed he purchased 
 more land, until he had six hundred acres, 
 the greater part of which was under cultiva- 
 tion. During the latter years of his life, 
 he traded in cattle and other live stock, buy- 
 ing and shipping to Chicago and other mark- 
 ets. In politics he was a Democrat. When 
 he first settled in De Kalb county there was 
 some open country, but the greater part was 
 partially improved land. 
 
 Mr. Divine married Sallie Ann Sheely, 
 who was born in Grahamville, Sullivan 
 county. New York, September 26, 1822, 
 and a daughter of Elisha Sheely, also a na- 
 tive of Sullivan county, who died in the 
 early sixties, when eighty-four years old. 
 By occupation he was a farmer, and cleared 
 much timber land for agricultural purposes. 
 He was the son of Conrad and Elizabeth 
 (Hornbeak) Sheely, the latter dying in the 
 twenties, a very old lady. Conrad Sheel}- 
 settled in the wilderness, pealed tan bark 
 for the market, and cut and marketed lum- 
 ber, but did very little in agriculture. He 
 died when about eighty years of age. Elisha 
 
 Sheely married Dorothy Grant, of Scotch 
 descent, who died at the age of eighty-two 
 years, two weeks after the death of her hus- 
 band. 
 
 To Eleazer Divine and wife eight chil- 
 dren were born, seven of whom are yet liv- 
 ing. Nancy is the wife of Ira Evans, of 
 Sycamore township. Mar\- married Richard 
 Triscott, who is now deceased. David lives 
 in Sycamore township. Frank resides at 
 Charter Grove, Illinois. Samuel died in in- 
 fancy. Eunice married Charles Davie, a 
 sketch of whom appears in this work. 
 James and John are twins, living at Charter 
 Grove, on the old home place. 
 
 WILLIAM H. MASON, who is oper- 
 ating a fine farm of two hundred and 
 fifty-five acres in South Grove township, is 
 a native of the Prairie state, born in Syca- 
 more, February 11, 1859, and is the son of 
 Henry B. and Lucy (Orput) Mason, the 
 latter a native of Ohio. They were the 
 parents of five children, of whom Anna and 
 James L. are deceased. The living are 
 Ida, Rosa L. and William H. 
 
 In his native city our subject spent his 
 boyhood and when ten years old, accompa- 
 nied by his parents, he removed to Atchi- 
 son, Kansas. From there his father later 
 went to Wyoming to prospect and was 
 never again heard from. In 1877 he accom- 
 panied his mother on her return to Illinois, 
 and with her located in Rockford, where he 
 soon afterwards commenced work on a farm 
 b\' the month, an occupation at which he 
 continued for some years. On the 7th of 
 October, 1885, he married Mary E. Crist- 
 man, a native of South Grove township 
 and a daughter of Henry Cristman, an early 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 419 
 
 settler and prominent man of the township. 
 By this union two children have been born, 
 William C. and Bertha. By a former mar- 
 riage Mrs. Mason had two children, L. M. 
 and H. Berta. The latter died at the age of 
 fourteen years. 
 
 Henry Cristman, the father of Mrs. 
 Mason, married Louisa C. Pooler, by whom 
 he had three children. Emily M. married 
 Amos Willis, of Kingston township. Ida 
 married Fred S. Goodrich, of South Grove 
 township. Mary E. is the wife of our sub- 
 ject. Henry Cristman was born February 
 I, 1830, in Herkimer county, New York, 
 where he grew to manhood and obtained 
 his education in the common school. His 
 parents were of German e.xtraction and have 
 long since been deceased. He was married 
 December 29, 1853, to Louisa Pooler, born 
 February 6, 1837, on the German Flats, in 
 Herkimer county, and a daughter of Henry 
 Pooler, a prominent citizen in that county, 
 who later came to De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 and located in Cortland township, where he 
 purchased three hundred acres of land. 
 About one year after his marriage Mr. 
 Cristman came to De Kalb county and pur- 
 chased one hundred and twenty-eight acres 
 of improved land. From time to time he 
 added to his possessions, until he had si.\ 
 hundred acres, all of which was under culti- 
 vation and devoted to general farming and 
 stock raising. For some years, however, 
 Mr. Cristman engaged in buying and ship- 
 ping horses to the eastern markets and had 
 a wide reputation as a judge of horses and 
 stock generally. His death occurred Jan- 
 uary 4, 1883, in the prime of his life and 
 usefulness. In politics he was a Republican 
 and had held various responsible local posi- 
 tions. He was a popular man and his death 
 was sincerel}' mourned by a large circle of 
 
 friends. Mrs. Cristman died October 26, 
 1896, at the age of fifty-nine years. 
 
 In politics Mr. Mason is a Republican, 
 with which party he has been a life-long 
 member. Religiously he and his wife are 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 EZRA ABEL, who resides on section 29, 
 Shabbona township, has been a resi- 
 dent of De Kalb county since November, 
 1852. He was born in the town of West- 
 haven, Rutland county, Vermont, April 13, 
 1830, and is the son of Ezra Abel, Sr., who 
 was born m Swanton, Vermont, and a 
 grandson of Asa Abel, of German parentage, 
 and whose parents were pioneers of Ver- 
 mont. Ezra Abel, Sr., grew to manhood in 
 Vermont, and there married Susan Talmage, 
 a native of that state, and later moved 
 across Lake Champlain into New York, 
 where he engaged in farming until his death, 
 when only twenty-si.x years of age. Mrs. 
 Abel later married Lyman Sherwood, and 
 the family all came to Illinois in 1852. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in Washington county. New 
 York, and in the public schools received a 
 fair education. He there learned the car- 
 penter's and joiner's trade, at which he 
 worked until his removal to Illinois and for 
 the first three years after his arrival here. 
 In 1853 he entered one hundred and sixt}' 
 acres of land with a land warrant, and after 
 the erection of a small house on the place, 
 his step-father and his mother removed 
 there, and he at once began to improve the 
 place. He later built a large and substan- 
 tial residence and a large barn, and as the 
 years went by he set out an orchard, planted- 
 shade trees and translormed the place from 
 
420 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 its wild state intoone of tlie most productive 
 farms in the county. 
 
 Mr. Abel has been twice married, first in 
 F"ebruary, 1854, to Miss Minerva Brown, a 
 native of Ohio, who died in 1868, leaving 
 two children. Ettie is now the wife of 
 Charles G. Houf^htby, a farmer who owns 
 and operates a farm adjoining that of Mr. 
 Abel. Harriet E. is the wife of W. M. 
 Ellsworth, who is engaged in operating the 
 Abel farm. Mr. Abel later married Clara 
 Palm, a native of Ohio, who came to De 
 Kalb county when but eight or nine }'ears 
 of age. They were married in 1871, and 
 six years later Mrs. Abel was called to her 
 reward, and, dying, left one daughter, Effie 
 A. , who yet resides at home. 
 
 The first presidential ballot of our sub- 
 ject was cast in 1856 for John C. Fremont, 
 and he has never failed to vote the party 
 ticket from that time to the present. 
 For two terms he ser\ed as collector of his 
 township, and has also served as highway 
 commissioner. His influence has always 
 been used in securing good schools, and for 
 twenty years he served as a member of the 
 school board. While not a member of any 
 church, he is an attendant of the West Shab- 
 bona Methodist Episcopal church, and 
 gives of his means to its support. Frater- 
 nally he is a Master Mason, a member of 
 Shabbona Lodge. In the forty-six years 
 that he has resided in De Kalb county, he 
 has made many friends who esteem him for 
 his genuine uorth. 
 
 HIRAM F. BRANCH is one of the lead- 
 ing farmers of Kingston township, one 
 thoroughly versed in all the branches of his 
 vocation. His surroundings testify to the 
 fact that he is abreast with the times. His 
 
 well arranged and fertile faim, with its fine 
 herd of Jersey cattle, is located on section 
 10, Kingston township, about two miles 
 north of the village of I-iingston, where his 
 birth occurred, July 27, 1843. His parents 
 were Charles W. and Esther (Hait) Branch, 
 the former a native of Vermont, born in 
 1 8 12, and the latter of Delaware county, 
 New York, burn in 1S15. Their marriage 
 occurred in De Ivalb county in 1838. 
 
 Charles W. Branch was a blacksmith by 
 trade and a first-class mechanic in his day. 
 He removed from \'ermont to St. I^awrence 
 county. New York, where he remained for 
 sometime, and in 1835 removed to Kings- 
 ton township, De Kalb county, and located 
 on the farm now owned and occupied by his 
 son, our subject. The same year in which 
 he came to the county he repaired to War- 
 renville, where he made his tools and then 
 returned to his farm, or what was soon to 
 be a farm. Erecting a shop he there ham- 
 mered away the rest of his life. By hard 
 work and close application to business he 
 succeeded in building a home, a name and 
 an infiuence, which has outlived himself, and 
 will outlive other generations. He was not 
 only a good mechanic, but a good and faith- 
 ful citizen. He was honored by being ap- 
 pointed postmaster and serving as such for 
 fifteen years. For several terms he served 
 as supervisor of his township and was justice 
 of the peace under six different governors, 
 three of his commissions being from one 
 governor. He was faithful in the discharge 
 of e\er}' duty and conscientious in all his 
 dealmg with his fellow men. A man of 
 few words, but many deeds, he was always 
 willing to do what he could for the advance- 
 ment of his adopted county. He was a 
 strict anti-slavery man and a stanch l\epub- 
 lican. His farm consisted of one hundred 
 
HIRAM F. BRANCH. 
 
MRS HIRAM F. BRANCH. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 425 
 
 and sixty acres, upon which he made many 
 improvements. Previous to his death he 
 disposed of eighty acres of the original one 
 hundred and sixty acres, and bought an- 
 other eighty to make his farm more com- 
 plete and to his liking. He died Septem- 
 ber II, 1S79, at the age of sixty-seven 
 years, eight months and two days. His 
 wife died November 18, 1854, at the age of 
 thirty-nine years, seven months and sixteen 
 days. Their family consisted of nine chil- 
 dren, eight of whom grew to maturity, five 
 yet living. Two of their sons were in the 
 army in defense of the Union, William 
 Henry and Edwin H. both losing their 
 lives in the service, the former dying by 
 disease in the hospital, and the latter by the 
 bullet of the enemy in the battle of Tupello, 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Hiram F. Branch is third in order of 
 birth of the children born to his parents. 
 He was reared in his native township and 
 educated in the district schools. Farming 
 has been his life-long vocation, and that he 
 has made a good farmer all will testify. When 
 he reached his majority he began to work 
 his father's farm on the shares, and contin- 
 ued to do so for eleven years. After the 
 lapse of this time he purchased the old 
 homestead and to its area he has added at 
 various times until he now owns two hun- 
 dred and five acres of first class land. In 
 1897 he built a dwelling house of modern 
 construction, beautiful and commodious, 
 fitted with the improveiients of the da}'. 
 His barns and other outbuildings have been 
 recently built and are convenient and well 
 ventilated. His stock is well collected and 
 of the best breed, and at present he is giv- 
 ing himself especially to dairy farming. 
 
 On the 6th of May, 1876, Mr. Branch 
 was united in marriage with Miss Amy C. 
 
 Witter, daughter of William and Polly Wit- 
 ter, and to them four children have been 
 born: Charles R., February 7, 1877; Lloyd 
 H., January 22, 1879; Louise, December 
 5, 1880; and Polly E, , February 25, 1883. 
 Mrs. Branch was born in Boone county, 
 Illinois, March i6, 1851, and is a highly es- 
 teemed lad}', full}' equipped by nature and 
 training to gracefully go\ern her beautiful 
 home. Politically Mr. Branch is a Repub- 
 lican, the principles of which party he has 
 advocated since attaining his majority. 
 Like his honored father before him, he 
 enjoys the good will and esteem of his 
 neighbors. He has been honored and 
 trusted with the office of supervisor of his 
 township for four years, and has held other 
 minor local offices. 
 
 W MARSHALL SEBREE.— The state 
 of Illinois owes its high standing 
 among the sovereign commonwealths that 
 make up the United States, to the high 
 character and dauntless spirit of the settlers 
 who made their homes within her borders 
 in the early days. To their inspiration and 
 work is due her progress in agriculture, 
 manufacturing and the arts. They trans- 
 formed the wilderness into fertile farms, es- 
 tablished churches and schools in the savage 
 wilds, and laid the foundation for the grand 
 institutions of philanthrophy and learning, 
 which are the glory of the state at the pres- 
 ent day. Among these brave and far- 
 sighted pioneers, the Sebree family of De 
 Kalb county deserves prominent mention. 
 
 W. Marshall Sebree dates his residence 
 in De Kalb county from 1834. He was 
 born in Floyd county, IndiauR, February 7, 
 1833, and is the son of John S. Sebree, a 
 
426 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 native of Virginia, born in 1808, and the 
 grandson of Robert Sebree, a native of Vir- 
 ginia of English descent. Robert Sebree 
 removed with his family from \"irginia to 
 Kentucky, becoming one of the pioneers of 
 that state. For two years he and his son, 
 John S. Sebree, ran a snag boat on the 
 Mississippi river. The latter then went to 
 Floyd county, Indiana, where he located, 
 and there married Sarah Jane Bateman, a 
 native. of Indiana, but of German parent- 
 age, her father, William ' Bateman, being a 
 native of German)' and one of the pioneer 
 settlers of Indiana. 
 
 After his marriage John S. Sebree en- 
 gaged in farming in Floyd county, Indiana, 
 for two years, then came to De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, locating in what is now Squaw 
 Grove township, and being one of the very 
 first settlers of the countw He took up a 
 claim of about four hundred and eighty 
 acres, on which he built a log house si.xteen 
 by eighteen feet, to which an addition was 
 made the following year. On locating here 
 there were no white settlers for miles around, 
 and Indians were quite common through the 
 country. The first winter after his arrival, 
 he ran out of supplies, and started with a 
 team for Bloomington for provisions to 
 carr)' them through the remainder of the 
 winter. The roads, if such they might be 
 called, were perfectly horrible and the 
 weather was fearfully bad. He was gone 
 three weeks, during which time his wife was 
 left with two small children. Before his re- 
 turn, she ran out of all kinds of provisions, 
 and had but a small quantity of corn which 
 she pounded into meal and grits with an 
 iron wedge, in a hole in a stump. The re- 
 turn of her husband with supplies was 
 hailed with great joy. 
 
 Mr. Sebree erected one of the first build- 
 
 ings in the county, near De Kalb. For 
 years his house was made a place of enter- 
 tainment by the traveling public. It being 
 located on the old state road, he had many 
 travelers to entertain him. The land to 
 which he made claim he entered as soon as 
 it came into market and in due time he had 
 a large and valuable farm, the old log house 
 giving place to a substantial brick residence. 
 A large barn was erected with stone base- 
 ment and for many years he was regarded 
 as one of the most enterprising farmers in 
 De Kalb county. On the old farm he passed 
 his last days, dying in April, 1873, his wife 
 surviving him a number of years, dying in 
 October, 1887. Of their family of two sons 
 and three daughters the subject of this 
 sketch was first in order of birth. Matilda 
 grew to womanhood, married, but is now 
 deceased. James Harrison grew to man- 
 hood, married and died in 1872. Mary 
 Alice also grew to womanhood, married and 
 is now deceased. Ellen Augusta is the wife 
 of S. V. Howell, a farmer and business man 
 of De Kalb county. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but one 
 year old when he came with his parents to 
 De Kalb county, and here his entire life has 
 since been passed. He was educated in the 
 pioneer schools and until after attaining his 
 majority assisted his father in the cultivation 
 of the home farm. He was married Sep- 
 tember 26, 1855, to Miss Rosetta Donald- 
 son, a native of Steubenville, Jefferson 
 county, Ohio, born May 23, 1837, and the 
 daughter of James and Jane (Conei Donald- 
 son, the former a native of Ireland and the 
 latter of New York city. Her parents lo- 
 cated in De Kalb county in 1S46, and in 
 less than two years her father died. Later 
 her mother moved to Elgin, Illinois, where 
 she reared her two childien, giving them a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 427 
 
 fair education, as there was no school near 
 at that time. 
 
 After marriage Mr. Sebree located on a 
 part of the old home place, but took charge 
 of the farm and business and cared for his 
 parents in their declining years. After the 
 death of the father he succeeded to the en- 
 tire estate and has since very much improved 
 the farm, building a large and substantial 
 residence, good barns and outbuildings and 
 tiling about two miles. Success has crowned 
 his efforts in life and in addition to the home 
 place he has owned farms in Indiana, Iowa, 
 Dakota and Kansas and also owned another 
 farm in De Kalb county. 
 
 In addition to his general farming inter- 
 ests Mr. Sebree has been quite successful in 
 his real-estate ventures. He also met with 
 good success in breeding and dealing in Red 
 Polled-Angus cattle and was a breeder and 
 dealer in this stock for years. He has also 
 engaged in raising line horses, sheep, Poland 
 China and Yorkshire hogs, and was well 
 known throughout Illinois and the northwest 
 as a breeder and dealer in tine stock. He 
 has lent a helping hand to numerous enter- 
 prises calculated to advance the interests of 
 his section of the country. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Sebree live children 
 have been born, one of whom is deceased. 
 The living are Alice, wife of Fernando 
 Slater, a farmer of De Kalb county; Nellie, 
 wife of W. A. Fay, editor of the De Kalb 
 Review; Effie, wife of A. J. Coster, a sub- 
 stantial farmer of De Kalb county; and Ray 
 M., who owns and operates a part of the 
 old farm. Mr. and Mrs. Sebree have also 
 four grandchildren — Roy and Elva Slater, 
 Earl Fay and Donald Coster. 
 
 Politically • Mr. Sebree is thoroughly in- 
 dependent, casting his ballot for the one he 
 considers the best man regardless of his 
 
 politics. For some years he served as com- 
 missioner of highways, and in his early 
 manhood was elected and served as con- 
 stable and township collector. He has 
 been a friend of education and the public 
 schools, and served some si.x or eight years 
 as a member of the school board. Years 
 ago he joined the Masonic lodge at Hinck- 
 ley, but has since been demitted. For six- 
 ty-four long years he has been a resident of 
 De Kalb county, and is now the oldest liv- 
 ing resident of the county. He is one of 
 the few living pioneers who have witnessed 
 the great changes that have been made in 
 making the vast wilderness to blossom as 
 the rose, and to make Illinois the most pro- 
 ductive state in the Union and third in 
 wealth and population. In the great changes 
 that have been made he has taken no in- 
 considerable part, and is justly entitled to 
 all the honors that can be conferred upon 
 one who has endured the trials of pioneer 
 life. 
 
 FRED. T. ROBINSON, druggist, of 
 Genoa, Illinois, was born in Keysville, 
 New York, July 19, 1850, and is the son of 
 Hiram Robinson, Sr., born in the north- 
 eastern part of New York, December 31, 
 1 8 19, and who died at the age of sixty-nine 
 years. His entire life was spent in north- 
 eastern New York, with the exception of five 
 years in the early childhood of our subject. 
 He married Aurilla Cutler, born in Jay, 
 New York, April 22, 1822, and a daughter 
 of John Cutler, Jr., who was a son of John 
 Cutler, Sr., who married Catherine Priest, 
 a daughter of John and Catherine (Wil- 
 liams) Priest. They became the parents of 
 six children: Hiram, of Plattsburg, New' 
 York; Fred T. , our subject; Dr. E. A., of 
 
428 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Genoa; Anna L ; Dr. John, of Plattsburg, 
 New York; and Sarah. 
 
 The paternal grandfather, Hirarn Rob- 
 inson, Sr. , settled in northern New York in 
 the last century and was engaged in trading 
 with the Indians in that state and in Cana- 
 da. He married Marie Julia Subray, whose 
 brother, Louis Subrav', owned one of the 
 largest stores in Montreal at that time. 
 She was born in Paris, France, and was a 
 well educated woman. The grandfather 
 died when his son Hiram was only six years 
 of age, and his wife three years later at the 
 age of thirty-five years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in his native state, and at- 
 tended school in or near Keysville until the 
 age of fourteen years. He then spent one 
 year at Masson College, Terrebonne, near 
 Montreal, and in an academy at Plattsburg, 
 New York. After leaving school he clerked 
 for a time at Saramac and Clayburg, New 
 York, and in 1 874 came west to Chicago 
 where he again engaged as a clerk in a drug 
 store, in the meantime studying pharmacy. 
 In 1 88 1 he came to Genoa where he formed 
 a partnership with W. P. Van Alstine in the 
 drug business, and in the meantime con- 
 tinuing his studies in pharmacy, graduating 
 from the Chicago College of Pharmacy in 
 1885. He then bought his partner's inter- 
 est in the store, since which time he has 
 continued the business alone. 
 
 Mr. Robinson was first married in Genoa 
 in 1879 to Miss Ada Van Alstine, who died 
 in 1885, leaving one son, Frank Garfield. 
 In 1886 he married Miss Anna McCormack, 
 a daughter of Richard McCormack. She 
 flied in April, 1894, leaving one daughter, 
 Hazel Frances. Fraternally Mr. Robinson 
 is a member of Genoa Lodge, A. F. & A. 
 M. ; the chapter and commander)', of Syca- 
 
 more; the consistory of Freeport; the Teba- 
 la Temple, Mystic Shrine, at Rockford; the 
 Eastern Star lodge of Genoa; the subor- 
 dinate and Rebecca degree lodge, I. O. O. 
 F. , of Genoa, and the Knights of the Macca- 
 bees. 
 
 In February, 1864, Mr. Robinson enlist- 
 ed in the Sixteenth New York Cavalry, and 
 served until 1866, principally in \'irginia. 
 He was in the engagements in the Wilder- 
 ness, and at Culpeper Courthouse and up- 
 wards of fifty skirmishes. He enlisted as a 
 bugler, but soon went into the ranks and 
 served as orderly. His record was an ex- 
 cellent one. 
 
 JOHN SULLIVAN GIBSON, deceased, 
 was born in Warsaw, New York, in 
 1 8 10. He was of Scotch and English de- 
 scent, and in his youth learned the tinsmith's 
 trade, an occupation which he followed dur- 
 ing his entire life. He was twice married. 
 By the first marriage there were six chil- 
 dren, all deceased but one son, Arthur Vin- 
 cent Gibson, a noted bass singer, and man- 
 ager of an opera company in New York. 
 Charles Gibson was a member of a band in 
 the military service during the Civil war, and 
 while yet in the service died of typhoid 
 fever. Porter Gibson, also a member of the 
 band, went through his term of service, but 
 died shortly after the close of the war. His 
 second union was in 1869, when he wedded 
 Mrs. Harriet Marshall, widow of John Mar- 
 shall, who died May 6, 1865, and who was 
 a native of Nottinghamshire, England, born 
 May 12, 1815, and who came to America in 
 June, 1848, sailing from Liverpool and land- 
 ing in New York, after a voyage of thirty- 
 two days. By the Hudson river, the Erie 
 canal and the great lakes he came west to 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 429 
 
 Chicago and from there to St. Charles, 
 Kane county, Illinois, and later located near 
 Charter Grove, in De Kalb county. (For 
 the genealogy of the Marshall family, see 
 sketch of John Marshall on another page of 
 this work.) After the death of Mr. Mar- 
 shall his widow purchased residence prop- 
 erty in Sycamore, to which she removed, 
 and was there residing at the time of her 
 marriage with Mr. Gibson. She then re- 
 moved with him to Batavia, where she re- 
 sided until his death, and then returned to 
 her home in Sycamore, where she now lives. 
 
 Mrs. Gibson's maiden name was Harriet 
 Ashley. She was born in the village of 
 Cottonwood, Shropshire, England, about 
 thirty miles east of Liverpool, June 15, 
 1826, and a daughter of William Ashley, a 
 farmer of Shropshire, who was the son of 
 Robert Ashley, of Crew Hall, England. 
 William Ashley married Ann Fairclay, who 
 died at the age of seventy-seven years. He 
 also died at the age of seventy-seven years. 
 They came to America early in 1848, ac- 
 companied by their family. Their daughter 
 Harriet married George Marshall, February 
 29, 1848, a few weeks after her arrival in 
 America. Mrs. Gibson has two sisters and 
 a brother living in England, while another 
 sister is living in Aurora, Illinois. She is 
 quite a traveler, and spends much of her 
 time in that way. She has passed one win- 
 ter in California, one in Florida, visited 
 much in Canada, and through the south, and 
 in 1896 crossed the ocean and visited her 
 old home in England. 
 
 John Sullivan Gibson for twenty-iive 
 years was with Meredith Brothers, hard- 
 ware dealers in Bata\ia, and was with them 
 until his death. He was an active man, of 
 very strong mind, a fine singer and Christian 
 gentleman, and for many years was a leader 
 
 in prayer- meeting. He was also a member 
 of the Masonic order and of the Independ- 
 ent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he 
 was an ardent Republican, and was well 
 posted on national affairs. His death re- 
 sulted from paralysis, in 1882, at the age 
 of seventy-two years. 
 
 MYRON E. LAKE is one of the younger 
 and enterprising farmers of Paw Paw 
 township, residing on section 25, where he 
 has a fine farm of one hundred and twenty 
 acres of well-improved land. He was born 
 on the farm where he now resides, which 
 belongs to his father and contains one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres, January 15, 1863, and 
 is the son of Almon W. Lake, a native of 
 Sterling, Cayuga county. New York, born 
 October 13, 1829, and who is the son of 
 John and Catherine (Van Tasselj Lake, the 
 former of English and the latter of German 
 parentage. The family moved to Illinois 
 in 1840, and settled in Hancock county, 
 taking up their residence there on the 
 31st of May. In 1845 they came to Paw 
 Paw township, where John Lake entered 
 eighty acres of land and where our subject 
 now resides. Almon Lake worked by the 
 month to get a start in life and pay for 
 his first land. He was married in Paw 
 Paw township, January 5, i860, to Miss 
 Mary E. Dennis, a native of Argyle town- 
 ship, Washington county. New York, born 
 April 16, 1842, and a daughter of John and 
 Margaret (McFarlandj Dennis. On the 
 farm which he had previously purchased, 
 he took his young bride and they there re- 
 sided until 1890, when he turned his farm 
 over to his son, our subject, removed to 
 Sandwich, purchased residence property 
 
430 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and is now living a retired life. He was 
 one of tfie progressive farmers of tfie town- 
 ship and placed his farm under a high 
 state of cultivation, with good improve- 
 ments, including a good substantial resi- 
 dence, good barns, various outbuildings, 
 fruit and ornamental trees. 
 
 Myron E. Lake grew to manhood on 
 the home farm and was educated in the 
 home schools. He remained with his 
 father until twenty-two years of age, and 
 in February, 1885, married Miss Ella M. 
 Holmes, a daughter of George R. Holmes, 
 then a substantial farmer in Paw Paw town- 
 ship, but who is now engaged in the livery 
 business at De Kalb. f3y this union there 
 are four children: Arthur H., Bessie May, 
 Margaret and F"rances. After marriage Mr. 
 Lake worked a rented farm for one year, 
 then returned to the home farm, where he 
 has since continued to reside, and where 
 success has crowned his efforts. In addi- 
 tion to general farming, he has engaged 
 in stock-raising, feeding annually for the 
 market about three carloads of stock. He 
 has likewise engaged in the dairy business 
 to some extent, an occupation which he has 
 followed for some years. 
 
 Politically Mr. I^ake has ever been a 
 stanch Republican, and an earnest advocate 
 of the principles of the party. He was 
 elected and served one year as road com- 
 missioner, but has never desired public 
 office. A believer in the public schools, he 
 has used his influence to secure good schools 
 and good teachers, and is now a member 
 of the school board. Progressive in all 
 things, he endeavors to do his work faith- 
 fully and well, and in his quiet life he en- 
 joys the respect and confidence of the entire 
 community, in which he has been a life- 
 long resident. 
 
 JAMES HALLETT is a farmer residing 
 on section 30, Mayfield township, and 
 who came to De Kalb county in 1855. He 
 is a native of England, born near Taunton, 
 Somersetshire, September 7, 1833, and 
 there resided until eighteen years of age, 
 assisting in farm work, and at intervals at- 
 tending the common schools, where he re- 
 ceived a fair education. A young man of 
 twenty-two years, he crossed the ocean and 
 came direct to De ICalb county, locating in 
 South Grove township, where he com- 
 menced work on a farm by the month, con- 
 tining in that occupation for seven years at 
 two hundred dollars per year. His earn- 
 ings were saved, and, loaning out the money, 
 at the end of seven years, he had seventeen 
 hundred dollars. He then returned to his 
 native land, and remamed at his old home 
 in Somersetshire for two years assisting his 
 father in farming and gardening. 
 
 The old country had but little attractions 
 to our subject, after a seven years residence 
 in the new world, and in the spring of 1865, 
 he again crossed the ocean, and made his 
 way to South Grove township, De Kalb 
 county, and worked on a farm by the month 
 for six months. Early in the spring of 
 1867, he bought a farm of eighty acres in 
 Mayfield township, on which a small house 
 had been erected and the place otherwise 
 partially improved. Moving to the farm, 
 he began its further improvement, and has 
 since rebuilt and remodeled the house, 
 built a good large barn, set out an orchard, 
 and enclosed the farm with a well trimmed 
 hedge fence, making it a \'ery neat and at- 
 tractive place, and it has always been kept 
 under the highest state of cultivation. 
 
 In November, 1868, in De Kalb county, 
 Mr. Hallett was united in marriage with 
 Miss Mary Jane Hall, a native of Wiscon- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 431 
 
 sin, born near the city of Madison. Her 
 father was a native of Vermont, and one of 
 the earl}' settlers in Wisconsin, where Mrs. 
 Hallett was principally reared. She died 
 in October, 1890, leaving five children. 
 Eliza is now the wife of Malcolm Doane, of 
 South Gro\e township. luiiily Jane is the 
 wife of W. E. Crmkshank, a telegraph oper- 
 ator on the Illinois Central Railroad at Col- 
 vin Park, Illinois. John is a young man re- 
 siding at home, and operating the farm. 
 Sarah Belle and Olive May also reside at 
 home. William Payne died at the age of 
 nine years. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hallett is a Republican, 
 a party into which he naturally drifted on 
 his arrival in this country. After receiving 
 his naturalization papers, Mr. Hallett cast 
 his first presidential ballot for Rutherford 
 B. Hayes. He and his family attend the 
 Methodist Episcopal church at South Grove, 
 and contribute of their means to its sup- 
 port. They are well known in Sycamore 
 and in the northern part of De l\alb county, 
 and are among the most highly esteemed of 
 the citizens of Mayfield township. 
 
 T P. REDMOND, a prosperous and enter- 
 k^J prising farmer of De Kalb county, took 
 up his residence within its precincts in 1872, 
 and owns and operates a valuable and well 
 improved farm of two hundred acres in sec- 
 tions 25 and 36, Milan township. He is the 
 son of Murt and Elizabeth (Harris) Red- 
 mond, and was born in 1856, in Penn's 
 Park, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Murt 
 Redmond was born in Ireland in 1826, and 
 when twenty-four years of age came to the 
 United States and settled in Penn's Park, 
 Pennsylvania, where, in iS55,hewas united 
 in marriage with Elizabeth Harris, and gave 
 
 his time and attention to the cultivation of 
 a small farm. It was there that all his eight 
 children were born, of whom our subject is 
 the oldest. Learning of the possibilities of 
 Illinois, its fertile fields and splendid oppor- 
 tunities, in the spring of 1872 he moved with 
 his family to Malta township, De Kalb coun- 
 ty, Illinois, and, purchasing one hundred and 
 sixty acres of select land, proceeded to culti- 
 vate and improve it, and to-day it is an ex- 
 cellent piece of farm property. After a life 
 full of industry and persevering efforts, which 
 have been rewarded b}- successful results, 
 he retired from active life in 1885, and lives 
 in quiet, free from care and responsibility in 
 De Kalb. 
 
 At the time of his father's removal west, 
 J. P. Redmond was a\outh of sixteen years 
 and when not in school was assisting his fa- 
 ther in the many labors that farm life im- 
 pose. With an inborn thirst for knowledge, 
 he was not content with the limited training 
 acquired in the neighboring schools, and for 
 several seasons he attended the higher 
 graded schools of De Kalb, and supple- 
 mented this by a course of study at the Me- 
 tropolitan Business College, Chicago. At 
 the age of twenty-two years he began teach- 
 ing in the district schools and served in this 
 capacity for three years, to which were sub- 
 sequently added several winter terms. 
 
 Mr. Redmond was united in marriage in 
 June, 1887, with Miss Catherine Lyons, 
 daughter of John Lyons, a prosperous farmer 
 of Afton township, now retired and residing 
 in Aurora. By this union there are four 
 children, John, Elizabeth, Allen and Ruth. 
 In 1895 he moved with his family from 
 Malta township, where he had resided on 
 the old homestead and cultivated the farm, 
 to Milan township and purchased a tract of 
 land consisting of two hundred acres, which 
 
432 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he now cultivates. This farm is well im- 
 proved in outbuildings and fences, is thor- 
 oughly tiled, with an excellent orchard and 
 an abundance of shade trees, is well stocked 
 and is among the best pieces of farm prop- 
 erty in De Kalb county. 
 
 With a laudable ambition to build for 
 himself, Mr. Redmond has coupled indus- 
 trious habits with a will and determination 
 to overcome all obstacles thrown across the 
 path to success. The result is apparent. 
 He is still a young man and his start in life 
 can not but lead up to greater and more far 
 reaching opportunities. He is a man who 
 thinks for himself, and this is especially so in 
 all political matters, and at the election he 
 votes his convictions independent of party. 
 He has never sought political office nor 
 preferment, his time and attention being 
 engrossed in the many duties of his busi- 
 ness, and its success was his sole and only 
 absorbing desire. 
 
 With Mr. Redmond's attainments in mat- 
 ters educational, it is but natural that his 
 sympathy and support go out to increase 
 and improve the standard of education in 
 the public school, and as an ardent sup- 
 porter of popular education he is always to 
 be relied on. He is a member of the De 
 Kalb lodge, Knights of Pythias, and also of 
 the Modern Woodmen of America. He is 
 courteous and hospitable, and the esteem and 
 popularity which are connected with his 
 name are but the natural results of sincerity 
 of purpose, thorough integrity and a kindly 
 disposition. 
 
 JAMES L. LITTLE, residing on section 
 4, Kingston township has been engaged 
 in farming for the greater part of his life. 
 He was born in Aurora, Erie county, New 
 
 York, November 8, 1834, and is the son of 
 Henry and Amy (Bingham) Little. Henry 
 Little was a native of Washington county. 
 New York, born in 1789 and his wife a 
 native of Vermont, born in 1804. The 
 Littles are of French extraction, while the 
 Binghams were originally from England. 
 Henry Little and wife moved to the west in 
 1845, landing '" Milwaukee, May 10, of that 
 year, coming over the Great Lakes to that 
 city. They remained one year in Racine 
 county, and in 1846 came to De I\alb 
 county, locating in Kingston township, 
 where they resided for the remainder of 
 their lives. They took up a cjuarter section 
 of wild land, which by hard work and close 
 application to business they soon succeeded 
 in subduing. He always followed agri- 
 cultural pursuits, and understood farming 
 in all its details. They owned considerable 
 property, but gave much of it to the chil- 
 dren, ownuig at the time of their death 
 about eighty acres. Mr. Little passed away 
 August 18, 185S, his wife surviving him 
 many years, dying September 5, 1891. They 
 were both devout members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church. Their family consisted 
 of nine children as follows: Henry H., 
 Amanda, Rachel, Lydia, James L. , Sarah, 
 .\nn, Emma and Erastus. 
 
 James L. Little was reared and edu- 
 cated in Erie county, New York, and De 
 Kalb county, Illinois. He resided under 
 the parental roof until reaching his twenty- 
 first anniversary, at which timehecommenced 
 life for himself. In course of time his uncle, 
 Horace Bingham, gave him eighty acres, to 
 which he added forty more, which would 
 make, deducting for the railroad, one hun- 
 dred and fourteen acres of excellent farming 
 land, bordering on Boone county. Mr. 
 Little is a practical farmer in the full sense 
 
JAMES L. LITTLE. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 435 
 
 of the term, and has been fairly successful 
 in his life work. In political faith he is a 
 Republican, and religiously a Baptist. 
 
 At the time of his arrival in De Kalb 
 county there were yet many Indians, He 
 well remembers breaking the virgin prairie 
 and of many battles with the rattlesnakes 
 which infested the long grass; also talks en- 
 tertainingly of all the hardships and pleas- 
 ures incident to pioneer life. In the fifty- 
 two years of his residence in De Kalb 
 county Mr. Little has earned the respect 
 and esteem of the people among whom he 
 has lived. 
 
 ALFRED L. CLARKE, who resides on 
 section 29, Mayfield township, is a life- 
 long, resident of the county, being born in 
 Mayfield township, July 20, 1855. His 
 father. Rev. George Clarke, is a native of 
 England, born in Walthamstoe, Essex 
 county, February 2, 1823. He there grew 
 to manhood, and received a classical educa- 
 tion. He married, in Essex county, Louisa 
 Lucy Munt, a daughter of Samuel Munt, 
 and in 1846 emigrated to the United States 
 with his 3'oung bride, and first located in 
 Du Page county, Illinois. He was a minis- 
 ter of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
 commenced preaching when but sixteen 
 years of age. After locating in Da Page 
 county he was a circuit rider for two years, 
 his salary for that period not exceeding 
 eighty dollars. In 1848 he came to De 
 Kalb county and entered a tract of one 
 hundred and sixty acres in Mayfield town- 
 ship and commenced farm life. Success 
 crowned his efforts from the beginning, and 
 from time to time he added to his posses- 
 sions until he was the owner of sixteen hun- 
 dred acres of as fine land as can be found in 
 21 
 
 De Kalb county. While attending to his 
 farming operations, he did not neglect the 
 ministry of the Word, but served as a local 
 preacher in the neighborhood during his en- 
 tire residence there. In 1884 he turned 
 over the old place to his son, George E. , 
 and moved to Chicago, where he is living 
 practically a retired life, although dealing 
 to some extent in real estate. For a few 
 years after his removal to that city he was 
 quite extensively engaged in the real estate 
 business, and was fairly successful. His 
 wife died on the old homestead in February, 
 1895, and her remains were laid to rest in 
 the Brush Point cemetery, Mayfield town- 
 ship. Of their four children, William E. is 
 a substantial farmer of Mayfield township; 
 Alfred L. is the subject of this review; 
 George E. owns and operates the old home- 
 stead; and Louisa L. is the wife of Orlando 
 Drake. They also adopted a daughter, 
 Alice B., who married William Beaman, 
 but is now deceased. 
 
 Alfred L. Clarke grew to manhood on 
 the old homestead, and was educated in 
 the home schools. He remained with his 
 parents until twenty-six years of age and 
 materially assisted in the farm work. He 
 was married in Sycamore, November 30, 
 1 88 1, to Miss Ella A. I\nipp, born in I-iome, 
 New York, and who came with her father, 
 George Knipp, when a child of eight years, 
 to Sycamore, Illinois, where he engaged in 
 business. By this union there are three 
 children — Ethel Pearl, Amelia Priscilla and 
 Marcia Ella. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Clarke located 
 on the farm where he now resides, com- 
 mencing on eighty acres, but has since 
 added to the area of his farm until it now 
 comprises three hundred and thirty acres 
 and is one of the neatest and most home- ' 
 
436 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 like places in De Kalb county. On the farm 
 is a neat and substantial residence, which 
 has lately been remodeled, large barns, good 
 orchard, and the grounds ornamented with 
 fine forest trees, flowers and shrubs. The 
 house is heated with a furnace and hot and 
 cold water is supplied to the various rooms, 
 and in fact it has all the modern con- 
 veniences of the present day. 
 
 Politically Mr. Clarke is a lifelong Re- 
 publican, his first presidential ballot being 
 cast for U. S. Grant in 1876. From that 
 time to the present the party has always 
 had his earnest support, and while he cares 
 nothing for official position, he manifests an 
 active interest in the success of his party, 
 attending its conventions and contributing 
 of his means to its success. For a number 
 of years he has served on the school board, 
 a part of which time he has been its presid- 
 ing officer. He and his wife attend the 
 Methodist Episcopal church of Sycamore, 
 in which faith they were reared. Both are 
 well known and their home is the abode of 
 hospitality. 
 
 HIRAM GILKERSON is a representative 
 of the farming interests of De Kalb 
 county, and resides on section 12, Genoa 
 township. He was born on the farm where 
 he now resides, October 15, 1853. His fa- 
 ther, John Gilkerson, was born in Carlyle, 
 England, November 16, 18 16, and came to 
 America in 1841. He sailed from Liver- 
 pool, landed at New York, and for seven 
 years remained in Homer, Cortland county, 
 working six years for Israel Boies. In 1848 
 he came west to Kane county, Illinois, and 
 lived on the farm of a brother one year, 
 and then purchased the farm where our sub- 
 ject now resides, in De Kalb county, adding 
 
 to his first purchase, however, until he was 
 the owner of three hundred and sixtj- acres. 
 He married Frances Elizabeth Williams, 
 born July 8, 1832, in Grafton county, New 
 Hampshire, and who came to De Kalb 
 county with her parents about 1849. She 
 is the daughter of Samuel and Pernel B. 
 (Worth) Williams. They became the par- 
 ents of three children: Hiram, our subject; 
 John, residing with our subject; and Ida 
 Mary, wife of W. S. Campbell, of Genoa 
 township. The paternal grandparents, John 
 and Mary (Twentyman) Gilkerson, also na- 
 tives of England, came to America in 1840, 
 where their death occurred. John Gilker- 
 son died March 28, 1865, and his wife Janu- 
 ary 31, 1890. 
 
 Hiram Gilkerson grew to manhood on 
 the home farm, and received his primary 
 education in the district school, after which 
 he attended schools in Marengo and Syca- 
 more, and later entered the University of 
 Illinois, at Champaign, from which he was 
 graduated in 1877. Returning home from 
 college, he took his place upon the farm, 
 and on the 14th of October, 1877, near 
 Waverly, Macoupin county, Illinois, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Portia Moffet, 
 a native of Bell county, Texas, and a 
 daughter of Dr. Chauncey and .Amelia E. 
 (Vancil) Moffet. 
 
 Dr. Moffet was born in the state of New 
 York, and when four years of age accom- 
 panied his parents to Brussels, Ohio, where 
 he grew to manhood. He was the son of 
 Hosea Moffet, who was also probably a na- 
 tive of New York. He was a graduate of 
 the Ohio Medical College, and commenced 
 the practice of his profession near Hills- 
 boro, Illinois. In 1849 he took up his resi- 
 dence in Macoupin county, where he mar- 
 ried, and one year later removed to Texas, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 437 
 
 where he was residing at the outbreak of 
 the Civil war. Because of his northern 
 sympath}', iiis life was in danger, and leav- 
 ing Texas he quietly made his way to Ar- 
 kansas, where he was pressed into service 
 by the guerrillas, and was in the battle of 
 Waldron. He escaped from the rebels and 
 went into the Union service, and was later 
 discharged for disability and returned to 
 Macoupin county, Illinois, where lie en- 
 gaged in farming. 
 
 Amelia E. Vancil, the wife of Dr. Moffet, 
 and the mother of Mrs. Gilkerson, was a 
 native of Macoupin county, and a daughter 
 of Edmund C. Vancil, a well known capi- 
 talist, and one of the earliest settlers of that 
 county, born in Kentucky in 1799. With 
 his parents he moved to Logan county, Illi- 
 nois, in 1817, and in 1822, soon after at- 
 taining his majority, went to Union county, 
 Illini)is, descending the Ohio river in a flat 
 boat to Golconda. He remained there, 
 however, but a short time and then went to 
 Jackson county, where, after many discour- 
 agements, he thought best to make another 
 removal and went to Sangamon county, 
 Illinois, in the fall of 1827, and shortly aft- 
 erwards moved to Macoupin county, where, 
 by his energy, thrift and good judgment he 
 became one of the wealthiest landowners in 
 the county. He was married in Jackson 
 county, Illinois, to Mary Byers, a daughter 
 of Judge Byers of that county. On leaving 
 Sangamon county he settled in Apple Creek 
 township, Greene county, but which is now 
 Macoupin county, and entered the third 
 piece of land taken up in that township. 
 There were then only seven or eight families 
 in the entire county. In 1828 he moved to 
 the farm which was his home for so many 
 years. In securing his start he borrowed 
 money at twenty-five per cent interest, not 
 
 an uncommon rate in those days. He had 
 to go twenty miles to mill, sometimes hav- 
 ing to wait two days for his turn. The 
 nearest store was at Carrollton, thirty miles 
 away. In the famous deep snow of 1830 
 he suffered some loss, but was not discour- 
 aged. In the spring of 1833 he built a mill, 
 and a distillery in 1835. He was a man of 
 unusual executive ability and business judg- 
 ment. He died December 31, 1891, and 
 his wife May 25, 1890. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Gilkerson began 
 fanning for himself, and first purchased five 
 hundred and sixty acres of land in Genoa 
 township, to which he has since added 
 until he has now eight hundred and eighty 
 acres. On his farms are four dwellings, 
 four large barns, several of which were built 
 by himself. The land is drained by about 
 fifteen miles of tiling; what was once 
 swamp, is now fertile farming land. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Gilkerson four chil- 
 dren have been born : Aletha A. , Francis E. , 
 Thomas John, and Portia E. ;the first named 
 is a graduate of the Marengo high school, in 
 the class of 1898, and is now attending the 
 University of Illinois, and the second will 
 graduate in 1899. In politics Mr. Gilker- 
 son is an independent Republican, and, by 
 reason of his interest in the public schools, 
 he has served as school director for nine 
 years. A practical farmer and good busi- 
 ness man, he has been uniformly successful. 
 
 THEODORE D. DRISCOLL, a substan- 
 tial farmer residing on section 1 1 , South 
 Grove township, has the honor of being the 
 first white child born in the township, his 
 birth occurring April 5, 1838, and on the 
 farm where he now resides, and which has 
 principally been his home for more than 
 
438 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 sixty years. He is a son of William and 
 Margaret (Losier) Driscoll, the former a na- 
 tive of Ohio, and the latter of Pennsylvania. 
 Thev were the parents of eight children, 
 only two of whom are living, Elizabeth and 
 Theodore D. 
 
 In 1 836 William Driscoll left his native 
 state and with his family came to De Kalb 
 county and located in South Grove town- 
 ship, where he made claim to one hundred 
 and forty acres, which he purchased when 
 the land later came into market. His was 
 the first claim made in the township by a 
 permanent settler. At that time settle- 
 ments were few and far between, the near- 
 est mill being at Ottawa, fifty miles away. 
 With ox team they hauled their wheat to 
 the mill, and in fact used oxen for all pur- 
 poses of travel. Three years after making 
 his settlement William Driscoll died, leav- 
 ing a widow and eight children to make 
 their way alone in the world, and in a new 
 country, with but few of the comforts ob- 
 tained in the older states. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained at 
 home and assisted in the cultivation of the 
 farm, in the meantime attending the primi- 
 tive schools of this new country. In those 
 schools he obtained a fair education, and is 
 to-day a well-informed man and recognized 
 as one of the best farmers in De Ivalb coun- 
 ty. In 1859, on attaining his majority, he 
 came into possession of the old homestead, 
 and from time to time he has added to its 
 area, until he has now over eight hundred 
 acres of well-improved and valuable land, 
 together with a large amount of personal 
 property. 
 
 Mr. Driscoll was married January 6, 
 1875, to Miss Harriet L. Tindall, also a 
 native of South Gro\e township, and a 
 daughter of Jesse Tindall, who was also one 
 
 of the pioneers of De Kalb county. Mrs. 
 Driscoll was born January 21, 1843, and re- 
 ceived a good education and for some years 
 followed the profession of teacher prior to 
 her marriage. Her parents, Jesse and Mary 
 (Harberj Tindall, were natives of New Jersej- 
 and New York, respectively. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Driscoll four children have been born: 
 Jesse, Elizabeth, Harriet and Arthur. 
 
 In politics Mr. Driscoll is a Republican, 
 with which party he has been identified 
 since casting his first presidential vote for 
 Abraham Lincoln in i860. While he is a 
 thoroughgoing Republican and gives of his 
 time and means to advance the interest of 
 his party, he has never himself been an 
 office seeker. He has, however, been pre- 
 vailed upon to accept some of the township 
 offices and is at present township treasurer 
 and school director. Religiously he is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 of which body his wife is also a member. 
 A lifelong resident of the county he has 
 done much to advance its growth and devel- 
 opment. When he was born Indians were 
 still numerous in the vicinity, but they have 
 long since disappeared and the oldest inhab- 
 itant can scarcely realize that they were 
 ever here. Villages, towns and cities have 
 sprung up and nearly every acre of land has 
 been placed under cultivation and evidences 
 of thrift are everywhere at hand. To such 
 men as Theodore Driscoll and his pioneer 
 father the credit is due for the wonderful 
 changes that have been made. 
 
 JOHN MARSHALL, who is a prosper- 
 ous farmer, residing on section 1 1, Syc- 
 amore township, was born in North Clifton, 
 Nottinghamshire, England, September 21, 
 1825, and is the son of William and Mary 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 439 
 
 (Bingham) Marshall, the former born in the 
 parish of Dunham, Nottinghamshire, Eng- 
 land, in 1789. He was a farm laborer in 
 England, and came to America in 1S52, and 
 lived with his sons until his death, in 1876. 
 He was a member of the Wesleyan Method- 
 ist church in which he took great interest. 
 He never became a naturalized citizen. His 
 sympathies were with prohibition princi- 
 ples. His wife was born in the parish of 
 Taxilby, Nottinghamshire, England, in 1790. 
 She was a daughter of George Bingham, 
 also a native of England, who died about 
 1830, when probably eighty years old. She 
 died in 1 88 1, in Sycamore township, at the 
 age of ninety-one years. She was the 
 mother of eleven children, five of whom 
 are still living: William, residing in St. 
 Charles, Illinois; John, our subject; Ann, wife 
 of John Lawrence, of Sycamore; Thomas, 
 residing in Sycamore township ; and Me- 
 lissa, wife of I^dward Lawrence, of Elgin, 
 Illinois. 
 
 John Marshall grew to manhood in his 
 native country, and attended the subscrip- 
 tion schools, when the opportunity was af- 
 forded him, until ten years of age. The 
 school facilities in England at that time were 
 not very good, especially for poor people. 
 When grown he purchased many books, 
 although at first he could not read very 
 well. This was true even after he came to 
 America. In his native land he worked as 
 a farm laborer at forty cents a day. He 
 kept a wife and two children on twelve 
 pounds per year, the highest wages he ever 
 received before coming to America. He 
 was married in North Clifton, England, in 
 1848, to Eliza Baker, a daughter of Will- 
 iam and Mary (Moody) Baker. Two chil- 
 dren were born of this union, before they 
 left their native land: Mary, who died at 
 
 the age of twelve years, and William, who 
 died in infancy. 
 
 Realizing that England was no place for 
 a poor man, Mr. Marshall determined on 
 coming to America. With his family he 
 sailed from Liverpool in the latter part of 
 April, 185 I, in the vessel Trumbull, and after 
 a voyage of twenty-nine days landed at 
 New York, where he took a boat up the 
 Hudson river to Albany, and by canal went 
 to Buffalo, and from there by the lakes to 
 Chicago. For seven weeks he slept every 
 night on the water. He finally reached 
 St. Charles, Illinois, June 9, 185 1. After 
 working one week in a brickyard he secured 
 work as a mason's helper in the erection of a 
 large mill. He was a \ery strong man, 
 and his employer wagered that he could 
 wheel more stone on the building in one day 
 than any other man. In England he had 
 easily shouldered four bushels of wheat. 
 
 In the fall after his arrival Mr. Marshall 
 hired to a merchant to work a small farm 
 near St. Charles. He continued in that 
 employment for three years, then rented a 
 farm on shares for two years. He then 
 came to Sycamore township and rented a 
 farm on shares for eight years, and in 1865 
 purchased his present farm of one hundred 
 and thirty acres. For a time he ga\e spe- 
 cial attention to dairying, but of late has 
 devoted his time more especially to stock 
 and grain. All the buildings now upon the 
 place were erected by him, including the 
 dwelling, barn, granary, cornhouse, hay- 
 house and woodhouse. His land is well 
 drained with some five or six miles of tiling. 
 
 After their arrival in America, to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Marshall five children were born. Jane 
 died at the age of three years. Charles 
 married Ann Westlake and they have four 
 children — John Henry, Lester David, Eliza 
 
440 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Catherine and Merrill Westlake. They re- 
 side in Sycamore township. John died at 
 the age of three years. George died when 
 two months old. Emma Ann married New- 
 ton Darnell, and they have four children — 
 George, Arthur, Nellie and Alice. They 
 also reside in Sycamore township. The 
 mother of these children died April 5, 1878, 
 and Mr. Marshall was again married April 
 13, 18S0, to Mary E. Slothower, a native 
 of Frederick county, Maryland, born De- 
 cember I, 1847, and a daughter of John D. 
 and Sarah E. (Hartsook) Slothower, the 
 latter a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth 
 (Lookenbill) Hartsook. John D. Slothower 
 was the son of Stephen Slothower, who mar- 
 ried a Miss Diehl. 
 
 In politics Mr. Marshall is an uncompro- 
 mising Prohibitionist and for some years 
 held the office of road commissioner and 
 also of school director. He is a member 
 of the United Brethren church, in the work 
 of which he has taken an active part. 
 
 OLE N. HILL resides on section 29, 
 Victor township, where he operates a 
 farm of one hundred and twenty acres of 
 valuable and well-improved land, the farm 
 lying within tw(j and a half miles of the 
 village of Leland. He is a native of De 
 Kalb county, born November 7, 1866, and 
 is the son of N. J. Hill, a sketch of whom 
 appears elsewhere in this work. In the 
 common schools of \'ictor township, he re- 
 ceived his education and until he attained 
 his majority assisted his father in the culti- 
 vation of the home farm. He was married 
 February 2, 1887, to Miss Elizabeth Hub- 
 bert, a native of Norway, and to them si.\ 
 children have been born, one of wiiom died 
 in infancy. The living are Mabel M., Ella 
 
 O., Oscar N., Gertie and Elizabeth L. , 
 three of whom are attending the common 
 schools. 
 
 Immediatel}- after marriage, Mr. Hill 
 rented a farm of one hundred acres in La 
 Salle county, Illinois, which he worked one 
 \'ear, and then moved to an adjoining farm 
 of one hundred and twenty acres, which he 
 cultivated for one year. Returning to Do 
 Kalb county he rented a farm of two hun- 
 dred and four acres, which he cnlti\ated 
 two years, then moved to the old home- 
 stead, where he has since continued to re- 
 side. The family are members of the 
 Lutheran church, and in politics he has 
 always been a stanch Republican. While 
 yet in the prime of life, Mr. Hill has shown 
 good business abilit}', is a thoroughgoing 
 practical farmer, and success will undoubt- 
 edl}' crown his efforts. 
 
 AMERICUS H. POND, is a well known 
 farmer of Genoa township, but now 
 living a retired life. He traces his ancestry 
 back to colonial days. The first know'n is 
 Samuel Pond of Windsor, Connecticut, 
 whose coming to America was in the earliest 
 days of the colony. Samuel, the earliest 
 ancestor of our subject positively known, 
 from a number of corroborating circum- 
 stances, is supposed to be the second son of 
 the hrst named. He had a son, born in 
 1679, whom he also named Samuel. The 
 next in line was Phillip, born 1706, whose 
 son Daniel, born in 1726, was known as the 
 patriarch, because of his large family of 
 seventeen children, most of whom lived to 
 maturity. He moved with his family to 
 Poultney, \'errnont, when that region was a 
 \ast wilderness, and there ac(]uired a large 
 estate. Pond Hill, near that place, was 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 441 
 
 named in his honor. William, son of Dan- 
 iel, born 1763, married Ruth ^^'ood. He 
 rerved in the Revolutionary war, and died 
 in 1838. Harry Pond, son of William, was 
 born in Lenox, Berkshire county, Massa- 
 chusetts, in 1798. He removed with his 
 father's family to Poultney, later moved to 
 New York state and from there to Spring- 
 boro, Pennsylvania, where his death oc- 
 curred. His wife was Lovina Hollembeak, 
 a native of Ticonderoga county, New York. 
 Their son, Americus H. Pond, is the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. 
 
 Americus H. Pond was born in Spring- 
 boro, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, Jan- 
 uary 20, 1 83 I. After attending the common 
 schools he spent one year and a half in the 
 Grand River Institute, at Austinburg, Ash- 
 tabula county, Ohio. In September, 1851, 
 he came west and located in Genoa town- 
 ship, De Kalb county, Illinois. He began 
 life for himself with nothing but his energy 
 as capital. During his first winter in the 
 county he taught school for eighteen dollars 
 per month in South Grove. 
 
 On the 24th of January, 1852, Mr. Pond 
 was united in marriage with Miss Amy N. 
 Hollembeak, a daughter of Ruloff W. and 
 Electa (Ames) Hollembeak. Ruloff was the 
 son of Abraham Hollembeak, whose father 
 was one of three brothers who came from 
 Holland in colonial days. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Pond eight children have been born. 
 Emily married Dillon S. Brown, of the firm 
 of Brown & Brown, bankers, Genoa. Leon 
 is deceased. Charles C. is engaged in the 
 insurance business at Sycamore. Mary 
 died in infancy. William L. is the present 
 county judge of De Kalb county, and resides 
 in the city of De Kalb. Harry is now liv- 
 ing at Fayette, Iowa, and is a traveling 
 salesman. Elizabeth married Henry S. Bur- 
 
 roughs, who is operating our subject's farm. 
 George died in infancy. 
 
 For a number of years after his mar- 
 riage Mr. Pond cultivated rented land, it 
 seeming almost impossible for him to get a 
 substantial start in life. His first purchase 
 of land was in 1859, when he secured a tract 
 of one hundred and twenty acres, which he 
 greatly improved, and on which he resided 
 until 1865, when he sold the same and pur- 
 chased a part of his present fine farm, to 
 which he added until he has now about three 
 hundred acres of excellent farm land, which 
 is under the highest state of cultivation. 
 Politically he is a prohibitionist. 
 
 ANDREW LOVELL, who is practically 
 living a retired life on his farm in sec- 
 tion 25, Sycamore township, was born in 
 the town of Newfield, Tompkins county. 
 New York, June 5. 1823. His father, 
 James Lovell, was in Binghamton, New 
 York, July 15, 1799, and died in Cortland 
 township, De Kalb county, Illinois, April 6, 
 1878. By occupation he was a farmer, 
 which vocation he followed all his life, al- 
 though working for a time, in certain sea- 
 sons of the year, at the Cooper's trade. 
 He married Catherine Linderman, a native 
 of Orange county. New York, born Septem- 
 ber 12, 1799, and a daughter of Ezekial 
 Linderman. She died January 29, 1882. 
 The subject of this sketch remained in 
 his native state, until in his sixteenth year, 
 in the meantime receiving a limited educa- 
 tion in the common schools. After reach- 
 ing the age mentioned^ he came west to St. 
 Charles, Ivane county, Illinois, where he re- 
 mained one year and a half, and then ac- 
 companied his parents to Ohio Grove, Cort- 
 land township, De Kalb county, and there 
 
443 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 remained with them until the age of twenty- 
 one years. He then went to Wisconsin, in 
 the lumber regions, and for six or seven 
 years was engaged in lumbering in that 
 state, and during the summer farmed or 
 worked at the cooper's trade in Cortland. 
 About 1853, he occupied his present farm, 
 where at one time he had three hundred 
 acres, but has since sold all but one hundred 
 and twenty acres. He established acream- 
 cry upon his place for the manufacture of 
 butter and cheese, and continued tiiat in 
 connection with farming for some years. 
 About 1888, he retired from active farm 
 work. 
 
 On the 29th of November,- 1849, ^'^ 
 Cortland township, Mr. Lovell was united 
 in marriage with Miss Sallie Ann Finley, 
 born in the town of Burlington, Delaware 
 county, Ohio, November 10, 1824, and a 
 daughter of David and Mary (Lowrie) Fin- 
 ley. The former, a native of X'irginia, born 
 February 6, 1798, and died November 26, 
 1872. The latter, born July 28, 1796. and 
 died March 9, 1856. To Mr. and Mrs. Lovell 
 four children have been born: Addie, 
 wife of William Stamm; Mary, wife of 
 Alfred Stowe, a farmer of Cortland town- 
 ship; and .Andrew, who married Lottie \'arty, 
 and is engaged in farming in Cortland town- 
 ship. 
 
 William Stamm was born in Water- 
 town, Massachusetts, November 22, 1847, 
 and moved from there to Milwaukee with 
 his parents in 1848. In 1852 the family 
 moved to California, leaving William with 
 some friends on a farm, and he there re- 
 mained until 1874. He then went to Mil- 
 waukee and worked in an agricultural im- 
 plement manufactory for some si.\ or seven 
 jears, going from there to Batavia, Illinois, 
 where he spent four or live years working 
 
 on a farm and in a creamery. From Bata- 
 via he went to Montgomery, Illinois, where 
 he remained three years, then came to Syc- 
 amore townshi]) and lived four and a iialf 
 years, going from here to Rochester, Min- 
 nesota, for six years, returning to Sycamore 
 township in September, 1894, and is now 
 engaged in operating the farm and cream- 
 ery of Mr. Lovell. He was married Novem- 
 ber 12, 1890. In politics he is a Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 Andrew Lovell is well known througii- 
 out De Kalb county as a man of good busi- 
 ness ability, one thoroughly reliable in every 
 respect. While he did not enter the service 
 himself, two of his brothers assisted in 
 maintaining the Union by service in the 
 Civil war. In politics he is a thorough Re- 
 publican. 
 
 RALPH A. HOUCK is a retired farmer 
 and engineer residing in Sandwich, Illi- 
 nois, and who has been a resident of the 
 state since 1843. He was born in Jefferson 
 county. New York, in 1837, and is the son 
 of Elijah and Lucy (McCune) Houck, the 
 latter being a sister of Harvey McCune, a 
 wealthy merchant and very popular man, 
 who had a wide acquaintance throughout 
 the whole country. Elijah Houck, the 
 father, was by occupation a farmer, and a 
 man of sterling integrity, with great vigor of 
 mind. From Jefferson county. New York, 
 in 1838, he removed to Chautauqua county, 
 in the same state, and in 1843 came to Illi- 
 nois, and located on a farm in Rane county, 
 about four miles west of Geneva. That 
 season was a very rainy one, and cne long 
 to 1)2 reme ubered. He took up about 
 three hundred acres on Mill creek, and made 
 of it one of the model farms of the county. 
 
RALPH A. HOUCK. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 445 
 
 Our subject owns one hundred and fifty 
 acres of ths same, all of which is finely iin- 
 proved with good pasture land and a bluff to 
 protect the house L;nd orchard. The farm 
 he lents. 
 
 To Elijah and Lucy Houck S2\en chil- 
 dren were born. Amanda married Dr. 
 Sykes, and died in 1874, at the age of fifty 
 years. She was a member of the Presbyte- 
 rian church, one who greatly delighted in 
 all church and benevolent work. Marvin 
 married Parmelia Marks, and died in 1884, 
 at the age of seventy-four years. Mary mar- 
 ried Mr. Harding and died recently at the 
 age of sixty years. She was a friend of the 
 poor, and did much to relieve their suffer- 
 ings. Araminda, unmarried, died at the 
 age of thirty-five years. Alma, also unmar- 
 ried, died at the age of thirty years. Sarah 
 died unmarried at the age of twenty-seven 
 years. Ralph A., the subject of this ske'ch, 
 is the youngest of the family. 
 
 The subject of this biography came west 
 in 1843, and received his education in the 
 common schools, supplemented by instruc- 
 tions in a private school, taught by Richard 
 Ellis, of Belleville, New York. John Paul- 
 ton was another one of his teachers, who 
 later became an eminent preacher of the 
 f^ospel. His mother died when he was but 
 two and a half yeirs of age, but his father 
 lived for many years afterwari.,s, and gave 
 special attention to his training. He died 
 in 1880, at the age of seventy-four years. 
 '1 hey were both members of the Presbyte- 
 rian church and died in the full assurance of 
 faith. 
 
 On coming to Sandwich, Mr. Houck en- 
 gaged with the Sandwicli Manufacturing 
 Company as an engineer, and continued in 
 that position for ten years, giving entire sat- 
 isfaction to his employer. Previous to this. 
 
 however, he was the first engineer of the 
 Sandwich Flouring Mills, and remained with 
 that concern for ten years. He is the 
 owner of considerable stock in the Sand- 
 wich Manufacturing Company, which is re- 
 garded as a good investment. In addition 
 to his farm he owns a good house and four 
 acres of land within the city limits of Sand- 
 wich, and there engages in gardening, giving 
 the proceeds to the poor. On Thanks- 
 giving day, 1897, he had teams distribute 
 over one hundred bushels of potatoes among 
 the deserving poor of his adopted city. He 
 is a large hearted and generous man, and 
 giving much to the Lord's poor. For the 
 past twenty-one years he has donated to the 
 Bible society from twenty to one hundred 
 and fifty dollars per year. From the pro- 
 ceeds of these donations Bibles are furnished 
 to many who could not afford their pur- 
 chase. A worthy and prosperous citizen, 
 much praise is accorded him for generous 
 and timely gifts to widows and orphans and 
 the poor generally. He is a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, ; nd was con- 
 verted at a very early age. 
 
 EDWARD BYRO is among the younger 
 of De Kalb county's farmers whose in- 
 dustry and good management have resulted 
 in his ownership of an excellent farm of one 
 hundred and si.xty acres thoroughly tiled 
 and fenced, a neat and substantial residence 
 and various outbuildings. His farm and 
 residence is located on section 10, Milan 
 township. He is a native of Stavanger, 
 Norway, and was born April 20, i860. It 
 was there he was reared and educated and 
 assisted his father in cultivating the home 
 farm, until he arrived at the age of twentj- 
 one years, when in 1881 he set out for Amer- 
 
446 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ica and after landing in New York came di- 
 rect to Kendall county, Illinois, where for 
 three years he was employed at farm work 
 for several farmers. In 1884 he moved to 
 Grundy county, Illinois, and for two years 
 he worked by the month on the Hoge farm. 
 Later he rented a part of the Hoge farm, 
 and began its culti\ation on his own account. 
 He remained there until 1 8y i , at which time 
 his accumulated earnings, the result of hard 
 work, strict economy and e.Ncellent manage- 
 ment, which pro\ ided the means to purchase 
 a farm for himself, and he accordingly moved 
 to De Kalb county and purchased the farm 
 on which he now resides. 
 
 Mr. Byro's father, Ole Byro, was a na- 
 tive of Stavanger, Norway, where he was 
 reared and educated. He was a successful 
 farmer and a man universally respected in 
 the community. His wife was a Miss Ellen 
 Serene Nesxem, daughter of Ole Nesxem, a 
 farmer and native of Norway, who resided 
 near the Byro family in the neighborhood 
 of Stavanger. Edward Byro is the young- 
 est of their family of three children, the 
 others being Ellen and Ole. The eldest child, 
 Ellen, married in Stavanger, Gunter John- 
 son, a shoemaker by trade, and at her death 
 was the mother of two daughters. Ole is a 
 prosperous farmer residing in Shabbona 
 township, De Kalb county, Illinois. 
 
 Edward Byro married Miss Emily John- 
 son, daughter of Thomas and Bertha (At- 
 letved) Johnson, a farmer residing near Sta- 
 vanger, Norway. Her parents came to 
 America in 1866, and settled in La Salle 
 county, Illinois, where her father was em- 
 ployed, working on various farms by the 
 month. Later he moved to Nebraska, but 
 subsequently returned to Illinois locating in 
 Lee county. They now reside on their own 
 farm in Webster count}-, Iowa. Mrs. Byro 
 
 is one of a family of eight children, and was 
 born in La Salle county, Illinois, April 21, 
 1868. Her education was received in the 
 various schools in the localities in which at 
 different times her parents resided. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Byro four children have l)een born 
 — Ollie, Burt Elias, Severt Thurnian and 
 Alfred, all of whom are attending school. 
 
 Mr. Byro is an ardent Republican and 
 cast his first presidential vote for Benjamin 
 Harrison, and at all elections supports with- 
 out qualification the nominees of his party. 
 The entire family are members of the 
 Lutheran church, and attend services at 
 the chapel, located in the west part of the 
 township. He deserves much credit for the 
 progress that he has made and which after 
 all is the reward of diligent and persevering 
 effort. Starting in life in a strange country 
 and unable to speak the language, he had 
 much to contend with and many obstacles 
 to overcome. He had determination and 
 was always industrious, and these qual- 
 ities with his excellent habits has enabled 
 him to make material progress in acquir- 
 ing valuable farm lands, and above all, in 
 enjoying and possessing the esteem and 
 well wishes and confidence of the general 
 public. 
 
 EZEKIEL NOBLE, an old and highly 
 respected citizen of Afton township, 
 resides upon a farm which he purchased 
 nearly half a century ago. He is a native 
 of Rutland county, Vermont, born May 31, 
 1S18, and is the son of Ezekiel and Hannah 
 (Gates) Noble, who were also natives of 
 Rutland county, and who were the parents 
 of seven children, our subject being the 
 only one of the number now living. The 
 paternal grandfather, Captam David Noble, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 447 
 
 was a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 
 and served as a captain in the Revolution- 
 ary war. The family are descended from 
 John Noble, who came from England to 
 America in a very early da\', locating in 
 Massachusetts. The father of our subject 
 followed the vocation of a farmer in Ver- 
 mont, and died at the age of sixty-two 
 years, honored and respected by all men. 
 
 Ezekial Noble, our subject, grew to 
 manhood in his native county and state, 
 and after passing through the common 
 schools, attended a school at Castleton, 
 Vermont, three years, and later read medi- 
 cine for two years, but never engaged in 
 practice. In 1840 he went to New York 
 where he engaged in teaching for one year 
 in the district schools. In 1S42 he located 
 at Owego, New York, where he engaged in 
 the manufacture of woodenware with a fair 
 degree of success. In 1S54 he came to De 
 Kalb count}', Illinois, and purchased the 
 farm where he now resides, and has since 
 given his attention to agricultural pursuits. 
 
 On the /th of December, 1842, Mr. 
 Noble was united in marriage with Miss 
 Nancy A. Tyler, and to them were born 
 eleven children, si.x of whom were deceased. 
 The living are William M., Arthur G.. 
 Charles P., Horner E. and Mertie M. 
 Mrs. Noble died November 3, 1874, at the 
 age of fifty years. She was a devout mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, one 
 whose hope was steadfast and who died in 
 the hope of a resurrection and a life be\ond 
 the gra\'e. Mr. Noble was again married, 
 his second union being with Miss Mary E. 
 Ingersoll, a native of New York. Their 
 marriage was solemnized August 20, 1876. 
 
 Political]}' Mr. Noble is a Republican 
 and has been an earnest advocate of the 
 principles of the party since its organiza- 
 
 tion. He has been a leader in his party in 
 Afton township and has often served as a 
 delegate in its various conventions. For 
 thirteen years he served as supervisor of 
 Afton township, making a valuable mem- 
 ber and serving on the most important com- 
 mittees. For more than thirty years he 
 has served as justice of the peace and still 
 holds the office, the duties of which he has 
 discharged in a most satisfactory manner. 
 He is now serving as township school trus- 
 tee, a position he has held for three years. 
 Religiously he is associated with the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, of which body his 
 wife is also a member, and they are both 
 devoted to the Master's work. Mrs. Noble 
 has held the office of secretary and treas- 
 urer of the County Sunda\'-school Associ- 
 ation, and also is superintendent of the 
 Afton Union Sunday school, and is the 
 president of the W. C. T. U., and is very 
 zealous in the work of the society. 
 
 CG. WILLRETT is a prosperous 
 farmer, whose farm lies on section r, 
 Milan, and section 36, Malta township. He 
 is a native of Germany, born August 6, 
 1866, and is the son of P"rederick and Car- 
 rie \\'illrett, both natives of the same coun- 
 try, where their entire lives were spent. 
 Their family consisted of six children, of 
 whom our subject is fourth in order of birth. 
 In his native land he remained until se\en- 
 teen years of age, and there received his 
 education in the public and parochial 
 schools, and from the time he was able to 
 assist, did his full share in the work of 
 farming. In February, 1883, he came to 
 the United States, and soon after his arrixal 
 went to Malta township, where he worked 
 on a rented farm for one year. Continuing 
 
44^ 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 farm work, he toiled year by year, laying 
 by a certain sum yearly, and, being indus- 
 trious and enterprising, success crowned his 
 efforts, and he was enabled to purchase the 
 farm of Peter Benson in the fall of 1893, 
 and which comprised two hundred acres of 
 well improved land. 
 
 On the J 5th of June, iSy2, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Mary Gomel, 
 also a native of Germany, born March 20, 
 1865, and the daughter of John and Fred- 
 ericka (Centner) Gomel. They have now 
 three children, John, Elmer and Lizzie. 
 
 Mr. Willrett has followed farming dur- 
 ing his entire life, and understands it in all 
 its branches. In the old country he was 
 trained to be methodical in his work, and 
 since coining to this country he has endeav- 
 ored to make use of the training received in 
 early life. His farm is pleasantly situated, 
 and every acre of it is thoroughly cultivated 
 or used for stock purposes. He is loyal to 
 his adopted country, and has already held 
 some township offices, including road com- 
 missioner from 1 89O to 1897. 
 
 HENRY O. WHITMORE, now living re- 
 tired in the city of Sycamore, but who 
 tor many years was engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits in Mayheld township, was born in 
 the town of Pomfret, Windsor county, Ver- 
 mont, October iS, 1843, His father, Enos 
 Whitmore, was born in W'eathersfieKf, Wind- 
 sor county, Vermont, November 27, 1805, 
 and there grew to iiKmlKxjd and acquired a 
 common-school education. He was mar- 
 ried April 7, 1836, to Miss Celiiia Reed, also 
 a native of Windsor county, N'ermont, born 
 November 23, 1815. While in X'ermont he 
 was for several years proprietor of a woolen 
 factory. In 1841 they moved from Weath- 
 
 ersfield to Pomfret, \'ermont, and there re- 
 mained until 1847, when they came to De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, the father purchasing 
 one hundred and si.xty acres of unimproved 
 land on section 35, Mayfield township, where 
 he built a good frame house and at once 
 commenced the improvement of the farm. 
 He there died May i, 1877. His wife died 
 August 16, 1 86 1. Previous to his death, 
 however, in 1867, he married Livonia Skeels, 
 who died December i, 1876. To Enos and 
 Celina Whitmore five children were born — 
 Louisa, Howard, Harrison, Henry O. and 
 Lavina. Mrs. W'hitmore was a daughter of 
 Daniel Reed, who was probably a native of 
 Vermont and who died there about 1850 at 
 the age of sixty-five years. In politics Enos 
 Whitmore was first a Whig, then an Aboli- 
 tionist and later a Republican. While in 
 the east he was a mem.ber of the Methodist 
 church. During his life time he assisted 
 his children in securing farms and property. 
 The subject of this sketch was but four 
 3'ears of age when he accompanied his par- 
 ents to De Kalb county. He attended a 
 select school taught by Miss Hapgood and 
 also one by Dr. and Mrs. Woodward. At 
 the age of eighteen years he began teaching, 
 but in the following spring, February 26, 
 1862, in Sycamore he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Esther V. Andrews, born in 
 Glen Falls, W'arren county. New York, 
 October 28, 1844, and a daughter of Luman 
 Andrews, also a native of the same county, 
 born February 18, 1809, and who died Sep- 
 tember 10, 1864. By trade he was a car- 
 jfentt-r and machinist and followed the trade 
 of a millwright until his removal to De Kalb 
 countw about 1848. His first wife died be- 
 fore his remo\al and he was again married. 
 He followed his trade in De Kalb citw and 
 while in Indiana placing machinery in a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 449 
 
 mill his death occurred. The paternal 
 grandfather of Mrs. Whitniore was Allen 
 Andrews, who was so named in honor of 
 Ethan Allen, with whom his father, Chris- 
 topher Allen, fought in the Revolutionary 
 war. Christopher Andrews was born in 
 1749 and died in 181 3. His wife was born 
 1753 and died in 1837. He was a licensed 
 e.xhorter of the Methodist lipiscopal church 
 and traveled all through the Adirondack 
 regions with his gun, hunting and exhorting. 
 When old enough his son Allen accom.pari- 
 ied him and also became an e.xhorter. 
 Christopher Andrews enlisted with Ethan 
 Allen in 1775, when twenty-six years old. 
 He married Eleanor Brown, of Saratoga 
 county. New York. Lumaii Andrews mar- 
 ried Sophronia Collins, also a native of 
 Warren county, New York, and a daughter 
 of Joseph and Esther (Euller) Collins, the 
 latter from near Fort Edward, New York, 
 the family being early settlers of Warren 
 county. Joseph Collins died when about 
 eighty-five years old and Esther Collins 
 when ninety-three years old. Luman and 
 Sophronia Andrews were the parents of ten 
 children, only four of whom lived past in- 
 fancy. There are only two now li\-ing, Mrs. 
 Almira Button, of New York, and Mrs. 
 Whitmore. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore two chil- 
 dren have been born, ^^'allace W., born 
 in Mayfield township, February 11, 1863, 
 grew to manhood on the old home farm, 
 and after attending the district schools, en- 
 tered the high school at Sycamore, and 
 later took a course in a business college in 
 Chicago. He married Jessie E. Almy. He 
 was justice of the peace for several years. 
 In 1890 he became deputy county clerk, and 
 has since lived in Sycamore. Cora C. grew 
 to womanhood, and after attending the 
 
 Sycamore schools, entered Cumnock's 
 School of Oratory, in Chicago, and after a 
 two years' course for several years gave pub:- 
 lie readings. She was married in Novem- 
 ber, 1S90, to Professor Clyde W. Votaw, a 
 teacher of Greek and Biblical research in 
 Northwestern University. They have one 
 child, Claire. Just prior to her marriage, 
 Mrs. 'Votaw taught elocution and reading in 
 the Princeton High School. 
 
 Mr. Whitmore has been a farmer during 
 his entire life. For eight weeks he was a 
 traveling salesman for the Ellwoods, but 
 the comforts of home were to him much 
 greater than the pleasures of the road, and 
 he therefore resigned. In politics he is a 
 Republican and for several j'ears was super- 
 visor in Mayfield township, and has served 
 in other minor offices. Fraternally he is a 
 , member of the Knights of Pythias, and re- 
 ligiously he and Mrs. Whitmore are mem- 
 bers of the Uni\'ersalist church. 
 
 \\T H. THOMAS, who is engaged in the 
 V V grain, coal and live stock business at 
 Clare Station, Mayfield township, first came 
 to De Kalb county in 1883. He is a nati\e 
 of Iowa, born in Dallas county, October 24, 
 1858, and is the son of William Thomas, 
 born in Vernon, Indiana, about 1837. The 
 family are of Welsh descent, Andrew 
 Thomas, the grandfather of our subject, lo- 
 cating in Jennings county, Indiana, at a very 
 early day. In 1854 William Thomas lo- 
 cated in Dallas county, Iowa, and there 
 married Elizabeth Rhoades, a native of 
 Ohio, but reared in Dallas county, Iowa, 
 and a daughter of Daniel Rhoades, one of 
 the early settlers of Dallas county. After his 
 marriage lie purchased a farm in Dallas coun- 
 ty, remained there for some years, reared" 
 
45° 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 his family, and later sold out and mo\ed to 
 southwestern Kansas, where his death oc- 
 curred in August, 1.S87. His wife survives 
 liiin and now resides with a son in De Kalb 
 county. Of their five sons and four daugh- 
 ters who grew to mature years, all the sons 
 and three of the daughters are yet living. 
 In order of birth they are as follows: W. 
 H., of this review; I->. F., residing in Genoa, 
 Illinois; D. M., a farmer of De Kalb coun- 
 ty; L. T. , also a farmer of De Kalb county; 
 Cecil, wife of Thomas Baker, of Genoa; 
 Celia, wife of Robert McPherson, of Clare; 
 Fannie, wife of Charles Graham, of Syca- 
 more; and Charles, of Sycamore. Effie 
 grew to womanhood and married Arthur 
 Brown, of Cienoa, but is now deceased. 
 After the father's death, the mother and 
 children all came to De Kalb county, and 
 all are now residing here. 
 
 In his native county, our subject grew 
 to manhood, and in his boyhood and youth 
 attended the common schools and assisted 
 his father in the cultivation of the home 
 farm. He also learned the mason's trade 
 in his youth, at which he worked in connec- 
 tion with farming, after arriving at mature 
 years. He made his home with his parents 
 
 until 188- 
 
 /hen he came to De Kalb 
 
 county, and commenced work on a farm by 
 the month. On the 19th of February, 1884, 
 he was united in marriage, in De Kalb 
 county, with Miss Ida H. Peterson, a native 
 of Stockholm, Sweden, who came to this 
 country when seventeen years of age. Her 
 parents, who were also natives of Sweden, 
 both died in their native land. 
 
 In 1885, Mr. Thomas rented a farm, 
 which he operated for a time, and later 
 purchased eighty acres north of Sycamore, 
 which he continued to cultivate until 1893, 
 when he sold and purchased a farm of two 
 
 hundred and forty-five acres on section 21, 
 Mayfield township, to which he removed 
 and began the further improvement of the 
 place. In the past five years he has made 
 some very substantial improvements in the 
 place, tiling much of the land, fencing, and 
 the erection of granaries, etc. On coming 
 to the county he was possessed of but little 
 means, but by his industry and thrifty habits 
 is now in comfortable circumstances. For 
 several years, in connection with general 
 farming, he has engaged in Ijuying, feeding 
 and shipping stock. In the spring of 1898, 
 he added grain and coal to his line of busi- 
 ness, and is meeting with good success in 
 every department of his work. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have two chil- 
 dren, Irvin H. and Esther E. Politically he 
 is a Republican, with which party he has 
 been identified since attaining his majority. 
 He takes an active interest in political 
 affairs, attending the conventions of his 
 party, and doing all he can to advance its 
 interests. In him the public school has a 
 friend, and for nine years he served as a 
 member of the school board, being presi- 
 dent one term, and clerk two terms. He 
 also served as township assessor one term. 
 While residing in De Kalb county but fifteen 
 years, his active business life has brought 
 him in contact with man}' persons, and he 
 is universail}' respected wherever known. 
 
 JOHN R. CORSON, who resides on sec- 
 lJ tion 9. Genoa township, is a native of 
 Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, born in 
 Hughsville October 13, 1825. He is the 
 son of Peter Corson, Jr., a native of I^ycom- 
 ing county, Pennsylvania, born in 1797, 
 and Margaret (McCarthy) Corson, born near 
 Muncie Creek, in the same county, and a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 451 
 
 daughter of Isaac and Martha (Figgles) 
 McCarthy, who were of the Quaker faith. 
 Peter Corson, Jr., was by trade a black- 
 smith and followed that vocation during his 
 entire life. He was the father of fourteen 
 children, of whom our subject was second 
 in order of birth. His death occurred in 
 1847 in his native county. The paternal 
 grandfather, Peter Corson, Sr. , was by trade 
 a shoemaker. He married a Miss Dudder. 
 
 John R. Corson grew to manhood in his 
 native county, where he received his educa- 
 tion in the district schools, attending during 
 the winter months. Before the age of thir- 
 teen he had learned the blacksmith's trade 
 in his father's shop, beginning so young that 
 he had to stand on a step to blow the bel- 
 lows. At the age of thirteen he was an ex- 
 pert horseshoer and, during the busy sea- 
 son, has made thirty-two horseshoes and 
 two hundred nails in a night. He worked 
 all day and had little sleep or rest. For a 
 number of years the family moved from 
 place to place and he accompanied them. 
 At the age of twenty-one he left home and 
 went to Culpeper county, Virginia, where 
 he remained three months and then opened 
 a shop at Tivola, Pennsylvania, where he 
 remained six years. In the fall of 1855 he 
 came to Illinois, and after spending a few 
 months in Kane county, in the spring of 
 1856 he came to De Kalb county and 
 bought his present farm, at which time one 
 could not have cut a riding whip on the en- 
 tire place, it all being covered with waving 
 prairie grass. 
 
 On the 15th of February, 1849, '" Mun- 
 cie, Pennsylvania, Mr. Corson was united in 
 marriage with Miss Sarah M. Craft, a native 
 of Muncie, born January 8, 1831, and a 
 daughter of Samuel Craft, a native of the 
 same county, who married Margaret Hart- 
 
 man, a daughter of John and Margaret 
 (Spring) Hartman, from near Reading, 
 Berks county, Pennsylvania. Samuel Craft 
 was the son of William Craft, a native of 
 Connecticut, who married Sarah Alward. 
 They became the parents of thirteen chil- 
 dren, of whom four sons and three daugh- 
 ters are now living. To Mr. and Mrs. Cor- 
 son six children have been born, the first 
 dying in infancy unnamed. (2) Clara M. 
 grew to womanhood and May 15, 1890, 
 married David Piper, born near Rutland, 
 Vermont, November 18, 1833. (3) Caro- 
 line C. married Robert M. Williams and 
 now lives in Bedford. Iowa, and they have 
 six children, Jennie E., Bertha M., Harry 
 E., Earl, Sadie and Winifred. (4) Mari- 
 etta married Albert Williams, now residing 
 in Bedford, Iowa, and they have had five 
 children, four of whom are living, Gracia L., 
 Roy D., Dell and Carrie L. Sarah E. is de- 
 ceased. (5) Charles is engaged in farming 
 in McHenry county, Illinois. He married 
 Caddie Patterson and they have had three 
 children, two living, Maggie May and Guyla 
 P. Myrtie B. is deceased. (6) Milton J. 
 married Emma J. Patterson and they reside 
 on the home farm. They have four chil- 
 dren, Zada B., John D., George S. and 
 Maynard D. 
 
 From raw prairie land, Mr. Corson de- 
 veloped a fine farm with groves and orchards, 
 barns and outbuildings, and all of a substan- 
 tial character. He built a shop on his 
 place, and worked at his trade in connection 
 with farming, until 1886, when he aban- 
 doned his trade, but still continued farming 
 until 1890, since which time his son has 
 carried on the farm, the shop being closed 
 except for occasional repair work. Politic- 
 ally he is independent, but was formerly a 
 Democrat. For many years he served as ' 
 
452 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 school director, and was offered other town- 
 ship offices, but would never accept. For 
 nineteen years a post office was retained at 
 his residence, Mrs. Corson acting as post- 
 mistress. Religiously both are members of 
 the Ney Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 HON. WESTEL W. SEDGWICK, pres- 
 ident of the Sedgwick Bank, of Sand- 
 wich, Illinois, was born in Oneida county. 
 New York, June 7, 1827, and is the son of 
 Dr. Samuel and Kuhama P. (Knight) Sedg- 
 wick, both of whom \vere natives of New 
 York. Samuel Sedgwick was a physician 
 and surgeon, and attended the medical 
 school of Fairfield College, Fairfield, New 
 York, which was presided over by Professor 
 Willoughby, after whom our subject is 
 named. Dr. Samuel Sedgwick had two 
 brothers who were also practicing physicians. 
 Dr. Elijah Sedgwick came west, locating in 
 r^lgin, Kane county, Illinois, where he en- 
 gaged in practice for a short time, and then 
 went into other business. Dr. Parker Sedg- 
 wick located at Bloomingdale, Du Page 
 county, Illinois, where he built up a large 
 practice, and was recognized among the best 
 practitioners of his day and this part of the 
 state. 
 
 Dr. Samuel Sedgwick, the father of our 
 subject, commenced the practice of his pro- 
 fession at Black Creek, New York, from 
 which place in 1837 he removed to Hart- 
 ford, Licking county, Ohio, where he lived 
 and engaged in practice for three years, 
 then moved to East Union, Coshocton 
 county, the same state, and was there four 
 years in practice, during which time lie 
 served as postmaster of the village for two 
 years under President Tyler. He then 
 moved to Little Rock, Kendall count}', IIH- 
 
 nois, where he continued to reside until his 
 death about i84i,at the age of forly-five 
 years. He was a member of the Congrega- 
 tional church and was much interested in 
 religious work. His wife survived him 
 many years, dying in Sandwich when eighty- 
 three years old. In early life she united 
 with the Congregational church, and was a 
 devout member of that body for many 
 years, but later in life, with her daughter, 
 united with the Baptist church at Sandwich, 
 in which faith she passed to her reward. 
 When Dr. Samuel Sedgwick located at Lit- 
 tle Rock, it was the most important town 
 west of Aurora for some years. His prac- 
 tice extended a radius of twenty-five miles 
 around Little Rock. In his family were 
 seven children, of whom our subject was 
 the eldest. The others were Elizabeth, 
 widow of Oliver S. Hendee, of Sandwich; 
 Sarah A., wife of William Brewer, residing 
 in the west; Louisa J., who married James 
 H. La}', but is now deceased; Maria, who 
 died in Sandwich, a single lady; James H., 
 a prominent attorney of Peoria, Illinois; and 
 one who died in infancy. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 the various towns where his father resided. 
 In his youth he read medicine under the 
 instruction of his father, and later with 
 his uncle Parker, at Bloomingdale, Illinois. 
 Entering Rush Medical College, at Chi- 
 cago, he pursued the course and was grad- 
 uated from that institution in the class of 
 1848. Before graduating, however, he en- 
 gaged in practice with his father, and was 
 with him one year before the latter's death. 
 That year was known as the sickl}' season, 
 with fever and ague, typhoid and other 
 fevers being quite prevalent. The father 
 and son had all they could possibly do. 
 The winter following the father took dnwn 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 455 
 
 with typhoid fever, from which he never 
 recovered. Our subject continued and re- 
 tained both his own and his father's prac- 
 tice. He continued to follow his profes- 
 sion until 1857, at Little Rock, and then 
 moved to Sandwich, where he practied for 
 a short time, then read law and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar about 1S62. For several 
 years he engaged in active practice of that 
 profession and yet gives attention to office 
 practice, but does not engage in the trial of 
 causes owing to ill health. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. Sedgwick began the bank- 
 ing business, purchasing the private bank of 
 Culver Brothers. While the bank is a 
 private institution, with no stated capital, 
 our subject has seventy-five thousand dol- 
 lars invested in the business. At present 
 he is the president of the concern, with S. 
 P. Sedgwick, as cashier, and C. F. Sedg- 
 wick, assistant cashier. The bank has the 
 confidence of the people of Sandwich, and 
 does a safe and reliable business with a good 
 line of deposits. 
 
 On the 7th of June, 1848, his twenty- 
 first birthday. Dr. Sedgwick was united in 
 marriage with Miss Sarah A. Toombs, 
 daughter of William Toombs, a resident of 
 Little Rock, where he was engaged in the 
 hotel business for a number of years. He 
 was from Michigan and located in Little 
 Rock about 1846. By this union nine chil- 
 dren were born, of whom three died in 
 early childhood. The others are: Agnes, 
 at home; Caroline Gertrude, wife of Web- 
 ster M. Dyas, and they have one child, 
 Clair, who with his mother resides in De- 
 troit, Michigan; S. P., cashier of the Sedg- 
 wick Bank, who married Bessie Robertson, 
 by whom he has three children — Ray H., 
 Westel W. and Marjorie; Harvey, who died 
 
 at the age of fifteen years; Charles F., 
 22 
 
 assistant cashier of the Sedgwick Bank, 
 who married Anna Patterson, by whom he 
 has one child — Marie; and Jennie May, 
 wife of Eugene Hill, residing in Chicago. 
 The mother, who was a consistent member 
 of the Sandwich Presbyterian church, died 
 in 1895, at the age of sixty-seven years. 
 The Doctor was again married February 
 22, 1898, to Miss Vina Scudder, whose par- 
 ents died before her recollection. 
 
 Dr. Sedgwick is a member of the 
 Presbyterian church, being an elder in the 
 church at Sandwich. In politics he has 
 usually voted the Republican ticket, but is 
 inclined to vote independently. In 1862 
 he was elected a member of the legislature 
 and served one term. In 1869 he was 
 elected a member of the constitutional con- 
 vention, which formed the present constitu- 
 tion, which was adopted in 1870. When 
 Sandwich was incorporated as a city he was 
 elect d its first mayor and served several 
 terms. He is recognized as one of the 
 sound and reliable business men of De Kalb 
 county, and his many admirable qualities 
 have tended to make him a favorite with 
 all classes. As a public man he has won 
 an enviable reputation, and as a private 
 citizen he is greatly esteemed, having the 
 confidence of the entire community. 
 
 DENNIS McGIRR, who resides upon a 
 fine farm of one hundred and si.xty 
 acres of well improved land on section 26, 
 and owns one hundred and sixty acres on 
 section 25, Afton township, and which com- 
 prises a part of the old McGirr hom.estead, 
 is a native of that township, born March 2, 
 1 85 5, and is the son of John and Mary 
 (Powers) McGirr, of whom further mention 
 is made in the sketch of John McGirr, found 
 
456 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 elsewhere in this worlc. In his native town- 
 ship he grew to manhood, and was edu- 
 cated in the district schools. From the 
 time old enough to use the hoe and handle 
 the plow, he has done his full share of farm 
 work. He is now recognized as one of the 
 most enterprising and practical farmers of 
 the township. He was married November 
 26, 1 891, to Miss Sarah Gallagher, a native 
 of Pierce township, and a daughter of 
 Thomas and Sarah Gallagher, natives of 
 Ireland. Four children have been born of 
 this union, two of whom died in infancy. 
 The living are Mary and Emmet F. 
 
 Religiously Mr. McGirr and his wife are 
 members of the Roman Catholic church, 
 and believe strongly in its teachings and are 
 devoted to the work set before them. Fra- 
 ternally he is a member of the Modern 
 Woodmen of America, and in politics he is 
 a Democrat. For four years he has served 
 acceptably as assessor of the township, doing 
 his best in the assessment of all property, 
 both real and personal, to render exact 
 justice to all alike. 
 
 RICHARD F. JONES, residing on sec- 
 tion 18, Mayfield township, is one of 
 the most enterprising farmers of De Kalb 
 county, of which he has been a resident 
 since June, 1880. He is a native of Ire- 
 land, born in county Wicklow, some forty- 
 eight years ago. In his native county he 
 grew to manhood, and received a good 
 common school education. His boyhood 
 and youth were spent on the farm, and he 
 grew up a practical farmer, which is evi- 
 denced by the success attending him later in 
 life. His native land did not give him the 
 opportunities that he desired for advance- 
 ment in life, and he therefore determined 
 
 to come to the United States. In 1880, he 
 took ship at Liverpool for New York, and 
 came direct by way of Chicago to Syca- 
 more, and commenced work on the farm by 
 the month in Mayfield township, a farm ad- 
 joining the one where he now resides. The 
 next year he rented a farm of two hundred 
 acres, which he operated one year, and 
 then purchased a farm of one hundred and 
 sixty-four acres, on which he located, and 
 there resided for several years. After 
 making some permanent improvements on 
 the place, he sold it at a nice advance. He 
 then rented the farm where he now resides, 
 comprising three hundred and twenty-six 
 acres. He also rented other lands, and is 
 one of the largest farmers in Mayfield town- 
 ship. 
 
 In addition to general farming, Mr. 
 Jones engages in breeding and feeding stock 
 for the general market. He commenced in a 
 small way, and increased the stock from 
 year to year, and now feeds about two hun- 
 dred head of hogs and' about one hundred 
 head of cattle. He is also engaged in the 
 dairy business, milking from forty to fifty 
 cows, being one of the largest milk pro- 
 ducers in the township. In the spring of 
 1898 he sold twenty-three head of yearlings 
 that averaged eleven hundred and eighteen 
 pounds, a record hard to beat in the state. 
 While residing on his own farm, he was en- 
 gaged in breeding and dealing in Poland- 
 China hogs, and was known as a breeder of 
 pure-blooded stock, which he shipped over 
 the state and as far west as Oregon. He 
 has also raised some pure-grade Norman 
 horses. 
 
 In 1880, just prior to leaving his native 
 land, Mr. Jones was united in marriage 
 with Miss Catherine Traynor, a native of 
 Ireland, and their wedding journey was 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 457 
 
 their trip across the water to their Illinois 
 home. This wife died in De Kalb county 
 in 1885, leaving three daughters, Flora, 
 Katie and Maude, all students of the home 
 school. In 1887, Mr. Jones returned to 
 Ireland, and after spending a few months 
 in visiting friends, was united in marrige 
 with Miss Eliza Piggott, also a native of 
 Ireland, and with his bride returned to his 
 western home. By this union there are six 
 children, Lillie, Alice, William, Eva, Fred- 
 die and Hazel. 
 
 Politically Mr. Jones is a Republican, 
 and secured his naturalization papers in 
 time to cast his first presidential vote for 
 General Harrison in 1888. He has never 
 held office, nor has he ever desired official 
 honors. He and his wife were reared in 
 the Episcopal faith, and are members of 
 the Episcopal church. While residing in 
 the new world but a comparatively short 
 time, Mr. Jones has been very active and is 
 well known in Sycamore, and the northern 
 hall of De Kalb county, and has always 
 maintained the respect and good will of 
 those with whom he has been brought in 
 contact. 
 
 GEORGE W. NESBITT, M. D.,was for 
 years one of the most popular physi- 
 cians and surgeons residing in S3'camore, or 
 in the entire county. He was a native of 
 New York, born in Attica, August 20, 1837, 
 and was a son of Henry and Eleanor (Smyth) 
 Nesbitt. The former a native of county 
 Cavan, Ulster, Ireland, born in 1803, and 
 the latter of Washington county, New York, 
 born in the town of Argyle, in 1802. 
 Her father was of Scottish birth, while 
 her mother was a native of Connecticut, 
 and was probably of German origin. After 
 
 his marriage, Henry Nesbitt settled in At- 
 tica, where he engaged in farming, and 
 there died in June, 1883. His wife died in 
 Wyoming county. New York, in 1862. 
 They were the parents of eight children, of 
 whom our subject was fourth in order of 
 birth. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of our subject 
 was spent upon the farm, and his primary 
 education was obtained in neighboring 
 schools. He later entered the Genesee 
 and Wyoming Seminary, at Alexandria, 
 Genesee county. New York, from which in- 
 stitution he was graduated with honors. He 
 then came west, and at Genoa, Illinois, 
 spent one winter engaged in teaching. In 
 the following spring, he traveled quite ex- 
 tensively, and during the summer was with 
 a government surveying party on the Red 
 River of the North, operating principally in 
 Minnesota. In the winter following he 
 taught school in Boone county, Illinois, aft- 
 er which he went to Arkansas, and other 
 states, and pursued the same vocation. It 
 was at first his design to engage in the legal 
 profession, and to that end he commenced 
 reading law in the office and under the in- 
 struction of Hon. Charles Kellum, of Syc- 
 amore, but in i860, he commenced the 
 study of medicine, in the office of Dr. H. 
 H. Rice, of Randolph county, Illinois, 
 where he remained nearly a year, and then 
 returned to Alexandria, New York, and 
 continued his studies under the supervision 
 of Dr. H. B. Miller. Later he attended 
 lectures at the Buffalo Medical College, 
 from which he was graduated February 21, 
 1865. He then entered into business with 
 Dr. G. W. McCray, of Buffalo, New York, 
 in the wholesale and retail drug trade, and at 
 the same time engaged in the practice of 
 his profession. 
 
458 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In the fall of 1866 he sold his interest in 
 the drug business and began a prospecting 
 tour with a view of securing a permanent 
 location. By lake and canal he went to 
 Pittsburg, thence by river to St. Louis, and 
 then through various states of the South, 
 remaining a few days or weeks at a place. 
 Returning to St. Louis, he traveled on horse- 
 back through Illinois, finally reaching Syca- 
 more, where he wisely concluded to remain. 
 He at once opened an office, and soon es- 
 tablished a reputation as a physician and 
 surgeon second to none in northern Illinois. 
 Shortly after locating in Sycamore, he was 
 in front of Waterman's store when a box of 
 soldiers' clothes was opened. The war hav- 
 ing closed a large quantity of army clothing 
 was thrown upon the market, and one case 
 had been purchased by Sycamore dealers. 
 In a spirit of fun Dr. Nesbitt mounted the 
 box, and being a fluent speaker, delivered a 
 patriotic address, and then began to auction 
 off one suit of the clothes. He was sur- 
 prisingly successful, and soon sold the entire 
 shipment, the unexpected result of a joke. 
 He was then engaged by the Arm to sell 
 elsewhere, and was in partnership with them 
 in this branch of business for about six 
 months, as long as the supply lasted. He 
 did a thriving business, and declared that 
 he made money faster than at any period of 
 his life'. 
 
 In addition to his medical practice, Dr. 
 Nesbitt engaged in the breeding of tine 
 stock, and at one time had a fine string of 
 thoroughbreds, but foreseeing a falling off in 
 demand and price of stock, sold a portion 
 and traded the balance for twelve hundred 
 acres of land in Kansas. He named his 
 ranch Bally Haise, in honor of his father's 
 birth place in Ireland. 
 
 On the 23rd of June, 1864, at Buffalo, 
 
 New York, Dr. Nesbitt was united in mar- 
 riage with Mirs Mary H. Davis, a native of 
 Chippewa, Canada, and by this union three 
 children were born, one of whom died in in- 
 fancy. The living are George W., Jr., and 
 John B. The former was born March 13, 
 1869, in Sycamore, and grew to manhood 
 in his native city, attending its public 
 schools and graduating from the high school. 
 Reading medicine under the instruction of 
 his father, lie later attended the Chicago 
 Medical College, from which he graduated 
 April 22, 1892. He immediately began 
 practice with his father, and succeeded to 
 the practice after his father's death. He 
 was married August 16, 1894, to Miss Cora 
 Whittemore, a native of Sycamore, and a 
 daughter of Captain H. C. Whittemore, 
 whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. 
 The Doctor is a member of the Masonic or- 
 der, and in politics is thoroughly independ- 
 ent. He is now examiner for the Equitable, 
 New York Mutual and New York Life Insur- 
 ance Companies. As a physician he stands 
 high in the estimation of the people, and re- 
 tains the practice of his lamented father. 
 John B. Nesbitt was born in Sycamore, 
 January 31, 1873, and after receiving his 
 education in the Sycamore schools, attended 
 the Chicago Medical College, from which 
 he was graduated in June, 1897. After his 
 graduation he formed a partnership with his 
 brother, and the two have now an extensive 
 practice. In politics he is also independent. 
 Dr. Nesbitt was well read in medical lit- 
 erature, and as a lecturer and contributor 
 to the medical press, had an excellent repu- 
 tation. He was a member of the Illinois 
 State Medical Society, and also of the 
 American Medical Association, in both of 
 which he took an active part, contributing 
 to them man}' valuable papers. For two 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 459 
 
 years he served as vice-president of the 
 State Medical Society. Fraternally he was 
 a Mason, and in the work of the order took 
 an especial interest. His death occurred at 
 his late home in Sycamore, April 29, 1894. 
 Thus passed away a well beloved physician, 
 whose many years of faithful toil in his pro- 
 fession made his name a household word 
 throughout De Kalb county and northern 
 Illinois. His influence and efforts were not 
 confined to professional lines only, for in 
 all the varied activities of our common life 
 he took a helpful part, as a loyal citizen, 
 devoting his abilities to the cause of prog- 
 ress. At the time of his death he was 
 mayor of Sycamore. Dr. Xesbitt was a 
 man whose death was felt as a loss among 
 all classes as well as to his devoted wife 
 and sons. 
 
 CHARLES P. BENSON, of South Grove 
 township, is a prosperous farmer and 
 the owner of three hundred acres of arable 
 land, which he keeps under a high state of 
 cultivation. He is a native of Ogle county, 
 Illinois, born October 12, 1859, and is the 
 son of Robert P. and Mary (Wesley) Ben- 
 son, the former a native of Cumberland 
 county, England, at d the latter of Hanover, 
 Germany. The}' were the parents of three 
 children, Charles P., John W. and Lena M. 
 In 1826, Robert Benson left his native 
 land, crossed the ocean, and for thirteen 
 years made his home in Canada, coming 
 from that country to De Kalb county, Illi- 
 nois, and locating in Sycamore. He later 
 engaged in railroad building as a contractor 
 on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. 
 Subsequently he purchased three hundred 
 and twenty acres of government land in 
 Ogle county, Illinois, and at once com- 
 
 menced its improvement. He was an in- 
 dustrious man and a practical farmer, and 
 was fairly successful in life. He became 
 quite prominent in his township, and served 
 in various local offices. On the Ogle county 
 farm he spent the remainder of his life, 
 dying in 1881, at the age of seventy-two 
 years. 
 
 On the farm in Ogle county, cur subject 
 grew to manhood, and after obtaining his 
 primary education in the district schools, 
 spent some eighteen months in Wheaton 
 College, thus giving him a good practical 
 education. Reared to farm life, he has con- 
 tinued that occupation up to the present 
 time. On the 15th of September, 1881, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Anna M. 
 Crozier, a native of New York state, and 
 by this union three children have been born, 
 Earl W., Robert I. and Orva M. 
 
 In politics Mr. Benson is independent, 
 voting for the man he thinks best qualified 
 to fill the office. He has not sought office 
 for himself and cares for none. He was 
 however elected road commissioner in 1893, 
 for a term of three years, and re-elected in 
 i8g6. Fraternally he is a Mason, and also 
 a member of the Modern Woodmen of 
 America, and of the Knights of the Globe. 
 As a farmer he is regarded as one of tiie 
 best in South Grove township, and as a 
 citizen he is highly esteemed. 
 
 ALVA F. POST, who for a period of 
 nearly forty years has been one of the 
 active enterprising farmers of De Kalb coun- 
 ty, but who, since 1887, has been living a 
 retired life in the village of Shabbona, is 
 numbered among the settlers of 1851. He 
 was born in St. Lawrence county. New 
 York, April 20, 1826. His father, John 
 
460 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Post, was a native of Vermont, who, when 
 a young man, moved to New York, and lo- 
 cated in St. Lawrence county, where he 
 married Jerusha Fuller, a daughter of Jacob 
 Fuller. He lived but a few years after mar- 
 riage, dying in 1828. His widow, the 
 mother of our subject, some years later 
 married David Hamilton, who subsequently 
 removed to Illinois, becoming a pioneer 
 settler of De Kalb county. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was thrown 
 upon his own resources at an early age. He 
 went to work on a farm for a very small 
 compensation, working during the summer 
 months and attending the common schools 
 during the winter months. He saved his 
 earnings and was thus enabled to attend a 
 seminary, where, by diligent study, he se- 
 cured a fair education and taught his first 
 school when but eighteen years of age. He 
 then worked on the farm during the spring 
 and summer months, attended the seminary 
 in the fall and engaged in teachmg during 
 the winter months. Believing he could bet- 
 ter himself he came west, landing in Chi- 
 cago, April 10, 1.S51, but did not remain in 
 the city, going from there to Sugar Grove 
 township, Kane county, Illinois, where he 
 worked on a farm the summer following. In 
 the fall of that year he came to De Kalb 
 county and secured the school at Pritchard's 
 Grove, which he taught during the winter 
 of 185 1-2. In the spring of 1852 he com- 
 menced teaching at Shabbona Grove, con- 
 tinuing until the spring of 1853, or for a 
 term of fourteen months; he then engaged 
 in carpentering work, and followed that 
 trade for several years during the summer 
 months, teaching in the winter. He taught 
 twenty-two terms of school, and was con- 
 sidered one of the best teachers in De Kalb 
 county. 
 
 In the fall of 1859 Mr. Post rented a 
 farm in Lee county, and engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits, and there spent some si.\ 
 years. In 1865 he purchased his first piece 
 of land, a place of ninety acres, on which 
 was a small house and barn, and a few acres 
 placed under the plow. I^ocating on that 
 farm he began its further impro\ement, and 
 from time to time purchased more land, and 
 now owns a good farm of two hundred and 
 fifty-four acres, lying about three miles from 
 the village of Shabbona. After living 
 thereon for twenty-two years he removed 
 to the village. The farm is under the very 
 best improvements, with two miles of neat 
 and well-trimmed hedge fence and eighteen 
 hundred rods of tiling. Commencing life 
 in limited circumstances, he has succeeded 
 reasonably well, and in addition to his farm 
 has a good dwelling house and a number of 
 lots in the village of Shabbona, together 
 with considerable personal property. 
 
 Mr. Post was united in marriage in Kane 
 county, Illinois, April' 26, 1854, to Miss 
 Marietta Hoselton, a native of New York, 
 born in Jefferson county, and daughter of 
 Hanford and Dorcas (Perry) Hoselton, also 
 natives of New York. She was reared and 
 educated in Cleveland, Ohio, and previous 
 to her marriage was engaged in teaching in 
 Kane county. There are five children by 
 this union. Ida is now the wife of A. J. 
 Chandler, of Plymouth county, Iowa. 
 Emery married and engaged in farming in 
 Plymouth county, Iowa. Elma D. is the 
 wife of B. L. Greenfield, a substantial farm- 
 er of Shabbona township, now operating 
 the Post homestead. Mabel is the wife of 
 William Kennedy, also a substantial farmer 
 of Shabbona township. Eddie died in early 
 childhood. 
 
 Mr. Post cast his first presidential vote, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 461 
 
 in 1848, for General Zachary Taylor, and 
 was identified with the Whig jmrty until its 
 dissolution, since which time he has been 
 an earnest and enthusiastic Republican. 
 An old teacher, it may naturally be sur- 
 mised that he is a friend of education. 
 While residing in Lee county he served as 
 township trustee and has been a member 
 of the school board for many years. On 
 his arrival in De Kalb county he found 
 much of the county in its native state and 
 has chased wolves over the prairies. He 
 has witnessed cities and villages spring up, 
 and in the development of the country 
 has done his full share. He and his wife 
 are members of the Shabbona Congrega- 
 tional church, in the work of which they 
 take special interest. 
 
 LORENZO ROBINSON, a farmer resid- 
 ing on section 4, Genoa township, was 
 born iftar Barrington, Cook county, Illinois, 
 March 9, 1853, and was reared in his native 
 township, attending the district schools 
 until si.Kteen years of age. He continued 
 working for his parents until twenty-two 
 years of age, when he came to Genoa town- 
 ship and worked for a time on the farm 
 where he now resides. He was married 
 July 8, 1878, to Mrs. Priscilla Corson, 
 widow of Daniel B. Corson. After his mar- 
 riage he continued to operate the farm until 
 1886, when he moved to Hand county. 
 South Dakota, where he resided until 1890 
 and then returned to the farm in Genoa 
 township, where he has since continued to 
 'reside. He is a son of Coleman Robinson, 
 born in New York in 1829, and who died in 
 1889 in the village of Hampshire, Kane 
 county, Illinois. His wife was Elizabeth 
 McGilvery, who died in 1875 at the age of 
 
 forty years. They were the parents of 
 eight children, si.x of whom are yet living. 
 In politics Mr. Robinson is a Republican 
 and has served as road commissioner and 
 school director. Religiously he is a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 Mrs. Priscilla Robinson was born in Frank- 
 lin township, Lycoming county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, March 5, 1836, and was one of a 
 family of thirteen children born to Samuel 
 and Margaret (Hartman) Craft, from Berks 
 county, Pennsylvania, the latter a daughter 
 of John and Margaret (Spring) Hartman. 
 Samuel Craft was born about 1808 and died 
 in Pennsylvania when about seventy-eight 
 years old. By trade he was a miller. The 
 family originally came from Connecticut, 
 but located in Pennsylvania at an early day. 
 The paternal grandfather, William Craft, 
 married Sarah Alward. By trade he was a 
 miller. During the Revolutionary war the 
 Indians planned a raid upon the settlement 
 at Wyoming, which was later carried out, 
 resulting in the Wyoming massacre. By a 
 friendly Indian, who came to him at his 
 mill, William Craft was warned of the in- 
 tended raid and so escaped with his family 
 to the fort. 
 
 Priscilla Craft was first married in Che- 
 nango township, Lycoming county, Pennsyl- 
 vania. April 20, 1854, to Daniel B. Corson, 
 born March 15, 1830, and who died January 
 22, 1876. He was the son of John and 
 Elizabeth (Buck) Corson, the latter being a 
 daughter of Peter Buck. John Corson was 
 a son of Peter Corson, Sr. By trade Dan- 
 iel B. Corson was a blacksmith, learning 
 the same from his brother-in-law, Joseph 
 Green. For a time he worked with his 
 cousin, John R. Corson, but on coming to 
 Illinois he engaged e.xclusively in agricult- 
 ural pursuits. 
 
462 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 By her first marriage Mrs. Robinson be- 
 came the mother of eight children, (i) 
 Arloa married Scott Waite, of Pingree 
 Grove, Kane county, Illinois, and they have 
 two children, Nellie and Frank. The for- 
 mer is now the wife of Harry Pierce, of 
 Des Moines, Iowa. (2) Norman Edgar and 
 (3) Estella were buried in one grave, the 
 former dying when three years of age and 
 the latter when four months old. (4) Liz- 
 zie died at the age of four years. (5) Cor- 
 win C. lives in Bedford, Iowa. He married 
 Coral Walker. (6) George married Myra 
 Shook, and with their two children, Mabel 
 E. and Beulah C, they reside in McHenry 
 county. (7) Joseph L. married Emma 
 Reid, and they have one son, Vernon J. 
 Their home is in McHenry county. (8) 
 Nellie I. died at the age of three years. By 
 her second union Mrs. Robinson had one 
 daughter, Mary J., who died at the age of 
 three years. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Rob- 
 inson are members of the Ney Methodist 
 Episcopal church. 
 
 J 
 
 OHN BETZ, an active business man of 
 Somonauk, engaged in the lumber trade, 
 and also in the sale of agricultural imple- 
 ments, wagons, carriages, etc., was born in 
 Erdbach, Nassau, Germany, February 23, 
 1831, and is the son of Jost Henry and .Anna 
 Margaritta (Winkel) Betz, both of whom 
 were natives of Germany, who there lived 
 and died, the former in 1845, at tiie age of 
 liftv-two years, and the latter in 1S54, also 
 aged fifty-two years. By trade the father 
 was a blacksmith and also followed farming. 
 He was a member of the EvangeHcal church, 
 of which body his wife was also a meniber. 
 They were very gooil people, and inherited 
 many excellent traits of character from their 
 
 ancestors. They were noted for their piety 
 and integrity, and had a host of friends. Of 
 their family of seven children, our subject 
 was third in order of birth. The others 
 were Carl Henr\', who never came to Amer- 
 ica, but who died in Bicken, Germany, his 
 death resulting from an accident by his fall- 
 ing from a fruit tree; Wilhelmina, who 
 married Henry Nas, but is now deceased; 
 Christina, who died at the age of eighteen 
 years; Margaret, who came with our subject 
 to America, married William Heun, and 
 now resides in Iowa; John Henry, living in 
 the old countr\', with a family of si.\ chil- 
 dren, of whom one, Adolph, came to the 
 United States in 1889, and now makes his 
 home with our subject, and assists in his 
 business; and August, who died with con- 
 sumption, when about twenty years old. 
 
 John Betz, our subject, was educated in 
 the common schools of his native land, and 
 is now a well informed man, having been a 
 student during his entire life. He«never 
 learned any trade, as- is common with his 
 fellow countrymen, but worked on the farm 
 in his youth. His father dying when he was 
 but sixteen years of age, he managed the 
 farm until his mother's death, when the 
 home place was sold. In the spring of 
 1854, he emigrated to America, embarking 
 in a sailing vessel at Antwerp, and being 
 forty-two da} s on the water. He had fairl}' 
 good sailing, and a pretty good time on the 
 way, arriving in New York City, August 16, 
 1854. For five weeks he remained in the 
 vicinity of New York, partly with relatives, 
 and then came west to Chicago, landing 
 there with ten shillings in his pockets, and • 
 all America before him. Securing employ- 
 ment in a blind, door and sash factory, he 
 worked there about si.x weeks, when he 
 slipped from a board, and lit with his right 
 
JOHN BETZ. 
 
MRS. JOHN BETZ. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 467 
 
 foot in boiling water, scalding the foot and 
 ankle in a painful way, and which laid him 
 up for ten weeks. When well enough he 
 came to Somonauk with a friend, who con- 
 tributed a part of his fare. Peter Schaff- 
 man was the friend, and a good friend he 
 was indeed. 
 
 Arriving in Somonauk he had not a cent 
 and for one year could do little or nothing, 
 being sick the greater portion of the time. 
 But he worked as best he could, a part of 
 the time for brick and stone masons and on 
 the farm of Joseph Dickson, of Sandwich, 
 and also for another farmer north of Somo- 
 nauk. At this time a farm in the neighbor- 
 hood was offered for sale, its owner living 
 in Chicago. John Lewis, the farmer for 
 whom our subject was then working, sent 
 him to Chicago to buy the farm, which was 
 to be divided between them. On going to 
 the city he received, an offer from Bowen 
 Brothers, wholesale dry-goods dealers, as a 
 clerk, which position he accepted and so let 
 the farm go. The farm is still there, but 
 the farmer has long since gone to his 
 reward. Before he died our subject 
 worked for him for a length of time, the 
 farmer having forgiven him for not making 
 the purchase, and they became the best of 
 friends. After remaining with Bowen Broth- 
 ers for one 3'ear Mr. Betz went to Burling- 
 ton, Iowa, where he secured work in Rand's 
 lumber yard. \\'hile there he was united 
 in marriage with Miss Barbara Koeth, of 
 Chicago, but a native of Germany, who 
 came with her parents to the United States 
 when but eight years of age, the family 
 locating in Rochester, New York. The 
 date of their marriage was July 23, 1857. 
 In the fall of 1857 Mr. Betz, being in ill 
 health, concluded to once more make Somo- 
 nauk his home. The hard times of 1857 
 
 was now on and no work was to be ob- 
 tained. In the old country he had learned 
 
 to make willow baskets and the idea came 
 to him that he might take up this occupa- 
 tion in Somonauk and thus keep the wolf 
 from the door. Beginning their manufact- 
 ure he continued in the same for thirteen 
 winters, disposing of his wares principally 
 in the neighborhood, but sending some to 
 Chicago. In the summers he worked by the 
 day for the farmers and was four summers 
 on the railroad track as a. common hand, 
 after which he took contracts for making 
 fences for farmers and also erected a fence 
 in Clinton township, on the Chicago & Iowa 
 Railroad. After this he worked three 
 months for carpenters, but, not getting his 
 pay, he began carpentering and contracting 
 on his own account. This he did for four 
 years, then commenced the lumber business 
 with a cash capital of one hundred dollars. 
 In one year he was four thousand four 
 hundred dollars in debt, and this caused him 
 man}' a sleepless night. However, by 
 energy, industry and economy, and the excel- 
 lent help of his good wife, he pulled through, 
 paid the debts and continued the business. 
 He has been very fortunate and is to-day 
 considered one of the most substantial busi- 
 ness men, not only of Somonauk, but of the 
 southern portion of De Kalb county. About 
 1885 he added an agricultural and machin- 
 ery department to his business, together 
 with wagons, carriages and buggies, and 
 later paints and oils have been added. He 
 keeps two salesmen regularly and also a 
 workmen, while his nephew does the out- 
 side work and he the office work of the 
 business. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bet/, have no children of 
 their own, but in 1870, they adopted Ida 
 Harmon, who later married John Rhem- 
 
468 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 gruber, and they reside in Chicago where 
 he is employed as a detective on the rail- 
 road. Mr. and Mrs. Betz, as well as their 
 adopted daughter and her husband, are 
 members of the Lutheran church. In poli- 
 tics Mr. Bet;? is a Republican. In 1854 he 
 read Uncle Tom's Cabin in the (iernian lan- 
 guage, and on coming to America that had 
 much to do in settling his political faith. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Betz are justly numbered 
 among the influential people of Somonauk. 
 They are worthy and kind hearted, and are 
 now enjoying a well earned prosperit}' in 
 the evening of their lives. Their home is a 
 beautiful one, and they dispense a delight- 
 ful hospitality to their large circle of friends. 
 Having proved himself an excellent man of 
 business, Mr. Betz can now well afford to 
 enjoy the fruits of his industry, surrounded 
 by the comforts and lu.xuries which his own 
 hands have earned. For some years he has 
 at certain seasons visited the Pacific coast, 
 including the Yellowstone Park, and other 
 places of interest. A few jears since, he 
 visited New Orleans and while there at- 
 tended tlie lumbermen's excursion along the 
 coast, and formed many pleasant and most 
 serviceable acquaintances. His good wife 
 was his traveling companion, and they had 
 a most excellent time. They have both 
 seen and had many of the ups and downs of 
 life, but by their good management have 
 secured a competency in their decline of 
 life. 
 
 FRANCIS M. COLES, who resides on 
 section 26, South Grove township, is a 
 native of Somersetshire, England, born De- 
 cember 15, 1845, and is a son of George M. 
 and Harriet H. (Prescott) Coles, both na- 
 tives of the same shire in England, and who 
 
 were the parents of seven children, Henry, 
 John, James, George, Francis M., Harriet 
 and Frederick. By occupation the father 
 was a farmer, and dealer in fine fiorses in 
 his native land. 
 
 In his native country our subject grew to 
 manhood, remaining under the parental 
 roof until he was twenty years of age, and 
 receiving a fairly good education in the 
 common schools. Like thousands of others 
 in the Old \\'orld who had heard of the 
 New, with its unlimited opportunities to 
 advance in life, he determined to come to 
 this favored land and when but twenty 
 years old crossed the ocean alone and com- 
 ing direct to De Kalb county secured em- 
 ployment of a farm at twenty-five dollars 
 per month. He continued in various em- 
 ployment until 1885, and up to that time 
 had traveled almost throughout the entire 
 United States. On the 4th of March, 1885, 
 he married Mrs. Mary A. Rich, widow of 
 Thomas Rich, who was a native of Somer- 
 setshire, England. -She is a daughter of 
 John and Martha Bnrstan, both of whom 
 were also natives of Somersetshire, Eng- 
 land, and who were the parents of nine 
 children, four of whom are living, William, 
 Charles, Mary A., and George. Mrs. Coles 
 was married to her first husband, Thomas 
 Rich, January 26, 1S70, and at once came 
 with him to South Ciro\e township, De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, where he purchased one 
 hundred and twenty acres of land, and en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. His death 
 occurred on the farm, lune 13, 1884, at the 
 age of fifty-six years. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Coles took up 
 his residence on the farm of his wife, where 
 they have since continued to reside. They 
 have added a forty-acre tract to the original 
 farm and it now comprises one liundred and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 469 
 
 sixty acres of fine productive land. In 
 politics Mr. Coles is a stanch Republican, 
 and is a member of the Church of England, 
 of which body his wife is also a member. 
 Fraternally he is a Mason, holding mem- 
 bership in the blue lodge, chapter and coni- 
 mandery, and also of the Eastern Star. In 
 the latter body his wife is also a member. 
 He is likewise a member of the Maccabees. 
 
 JABEZ CAMPBELL, who resides on 
 section 21, Sycamore township, where 
 he is engaged in general farming, was born 
 in Chenango county, New York, in the 
 town of Greene, May 5, 1844, and is the 
 son of John R. and Clarinda (Marvin) Camp- 
 bell, the former a native of Delaware coun- 
 ty, New York, born in November, 18 10, 
 and died in October, 1891, and the latter 
 born in Connecticut in 18 10, and died in 
 1892. They were the parents of ten chil- 
 dren, four of whom are living: James L., 
 of Sycamore; Abigail, widow of John Black, 
 residing in Sycamore; Jabez, and Almira, 
 wife of Clark A. Winans, of East State 
 street, Sycamore. In politics John R. 
 Campbell was originally a \\'hig, and later 
 a Republican. Tne paternal grandfather, 
 Jabez Campbell, born in one of the eastern 
 states, was of Scotch descent. He died in 
 Chenango county. New York, when prob- 
 ably eighty years of age. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came west in 
 1853, with his parents. While jet residing 
 in New York, he attended the district 
 schools, and again after his removal to De 
 Kalb county. For ten years after the ar- 
 rival of the family in De Kalb county, the 
 father rented land, and in 1863, he made 
 his first purchase of seventy acres, to which 
 he later added forty acres more. In addi- 
 
 tion he became the owner of several houses 
 and lots in De Kalb. Our subject remained 
 with his parents until he attained his ma- 
 jority. He was married in Crystal Lake, 
 Illinois, March 24, 1867, to Mary L. Hoff- 
 man, a native of Nunda, Illinois, born 
 April 18, 1848, and a daughter of David S. 
 Hoffman, a nati\'e of Cayuga county, New 
 York, born June 10, 1825. He was twice 
 married. His first union being with Valonia 
 G. Stanard, a native of Vermont, who died 
 in 1857, leaving one child, Mary L., now 
 Mrs. Campbell. The paternal grandfather 
 of Mrs. Campbell, Colonel William Hoff- 
 man, was born in Cayuga county, New York, 
 about 1773. He was the son of Mathias 
 Hoffman, a native of Germany. He was 
 married August 20, 1814, in Cayuga coun- 
 ty. New York, to Lovilla Sears, born June 
 'o, 1773. From Cayuga county he moved 
 to Livingston county. New York, in 1826, 
 and there reisded until 1837, when he 
 moved west to McHenry county, Illinois, 
 where his death occurred. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Campbell seven chil- 
 dren were born, five of whom are living. 
 Stewart married Emma Nichols, and they 
 have one child, Lewis. They make their 
 home in Mayfield township. Minnie mar- 
 ried Bert Gustavison, and they reside in 
 Sycamore township. Lettie married Will- 
 iam Graham, of Maj'field township, who is 
 now serving as school director and road 
 comniifsioner, and who is a Republican in 
 politics. They have two children, Violet 
 and Irene. Cora and John Ernest yet re- 
 side at home. 
 
 In October, 1864, Mr. Campbell en- 
 listed in Company B, Thirty-first Regiment 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He joined the 
 regiment in the south and his first battle 
 was near Atlanta. With his regiment he 
 
470 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was through the Atlanta campaign, and on 
 the march to the sea The regiment was 
 near Raleigh, North Carolina, when the 
 news of Lee's surrender was proclaimed. 
 They were then ordered through Richmond 
 to Washington, where they participated in 
 the grand review. From Washington the 
 regiment was sent to Louisville, Kentuck\-, 
 where it was mustered out, but received 
 its discharge at Springfield, in August, 
 1865. Returning to his home after receiv- 
 ing his discharge, Mr. Campbell worked for 
 his father one year, then married and began 
 life for himself. He purchased a farm near 
 his father's, and has since bought the old 
 homestead. He is engaged in general farm- 
 ing, and has no cause to regret having chosen 
 the vocation of a farmer for his life work. 
 
 JAMES NISBET, whose residence is on 
 section 27, Paw Paw township, but 
 whose farm of three hundred and twenty 
 acres, lies in sections 21, 22, 27 and 28, 
 is a native of Paw Paw township, born 
 on the old family homestead, October 28, 
 1853. He is the son of Matthew Nisbet, a 
 native of Scotland, liorn in Glasgow, in 
 I 81 8, and who there grew to manhood, and 
 emigrated to the New World about 1839, 
 locating first in Canada, and who later trav- 
 eled through Iowa and finally located in De 
 Kalb count}-, Illinois, in 1841. He entered 
 a tract of two hundred acres, to which he 
 added till his farm comprised seven hundred 
 and twenty-five acres in Paw Paw township, 
 on which he located and whicii he thor- 
 oughly improved. He was married in Paw 
 Paw township to Miss Nancy Harper, a na- 
 tive of New York, who came with her par- 
 ents to De Kalb county, after arriving at 
 mature years. On his farm Matthew Nis- 
 
 bet built a stone house and there reared his 
 family, djing March 23, 1873. His wife 
 survives him and yet resides in the old home. 
 They had a family of three sons and three 
 daughters. Elizabeth is the wife of James 
 Harper, a farmer of Paw Paw township. 
 Isabella is the wife of William Hyde, of 
 Bedford, Iowa. \N'illiam is a farmer resid- 
 ing in Paw Paw township. Mary is the 
 wife of C. V. Weddell, of Paw Paw town- 
 ship. Lawrence owns and operates the 
 home farm. James is the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 On the home farm James Nisbet grew 
 to manhood, and in the neighborhood 
 schools received his education. He re- 
 mained with his father, assisting in the farm 
 work, until the latter's death, and when in 
 his twentieth year, March 3, 1873, was 
 united in marriage with Miss Lemira J. 
 Bartlett, a daughter of E. O. Bartlett, of 
 Paw Paw township. She was reared in the 
 township and educated in the Paw Paw 
 Seminary. Two children came to bless their 
 union, Dora B. and Ethel. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Nisbet moved 
 to the place where he now resides. His 
 father had given him eighty acres of land 
 and he bought an adjoining eighty acres on 
 which was an old house, and which was 
 partially improved. He has since purchased 
 one hundred and sixty acres, giving him a 
 fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres, 
 the greater part of which is now under a 
 high state of cultivation. The farm is well 
 drained, having some four or five miles of 
 tiling, and is a most valuable place. He 
 annually feeds for the market from four to 
 six carloads of stock, and in all iiis farming 
 operations he is quite successful. He cast 
 his first presidential ballot for R. B. Hayes 
 in 1876, and has since been an earnest sup- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 471 
 
 porter of the Republican party. He is now 
 filling the position of commissioner of high- 
 ways, an office which he is well qualified to 
 fill. He has also served as township trus- 
 tee in a satisfactory manner. Taking an 
 active interest in local politics, he has often 
 represented his township in the various con- 
 ventions of his party. A progressive farmer, 
 he keeps up with the times, and his place is 
 well supplied with all the labor saving ap- 
 pliances known to the farming community. 
 
 HALVOR KITTELSON, who resides on 
 section 32, Milan township, but who 
 is living a retired life, came to De Kalb 
 county in i860. He is a native of Norway, 
 born April 6, 1S36, and grew to manhood 
 in his native country, being reared on a 
 farm. In the common schools of the old 
 country he received a litnited education, his 
 knowledge of English being acquired after 
 the removal to this country. He was mar- 
 in Norway in i860 to Miss Julia Hillison, 
 also a native of Norway, and born in the 
 same neighborhood as that of her husband. 
 Soon after their marriage they bid farewell 
 to their friends and set sail for the New 
 World. Arriving in New York they came 
 direct to Illinois and located in La Salle 
 county, where Mr. Kittelson rented land and 
 engaged in farming. After raising three 
 crops, in 1863 he came to De Kalb county 
 and bought eighty acres, which coinprises a 
 part of the farm on which he now resides. 
 His industrious habits and strict economy 
 enabled him a little later to purchase one 
 hundred and sixty acres, which is now occu- 
 pied by his son Henry. He also purchased 
 eighty acres on section 3 1 , but has sold forty 
 acres of the home farm. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kittelson are the parents 
 of four children. Cora resides at home. 
 Henry is married and is engaged in farming 
 in Milan township. Isbell is married and 
 engaged in farming in Lee county. Julia is 
 the wife of Martin Ruddell, of Milan town- 
 ship. The family are all industrious and, 
 like their parents, have been successful in 
 their chosen avocation. Politically, Mr. 
 Kittelson is a strong Republican and has 
 given his support to that party during his 
 entire residence in this country. The entire 
 family are members of the Lutheran church, 
 in which faith they were reared. All are 
 well known and highly respected in the 
 co.nmunity in which they have so long re- 
 sided. 
 
 M.AJOR JOHN W. BURST, a veteran 
 of the Civil war, and one who has a 
 national reputation among his comrades, 
 now residing in the city of Sycamore, was 
 born in Meredith, Delaware county, New 
 York, July 29, 1S43, ^"'l 's the son of Jacob 
 C. and Olive A. (Comstock) Burst, both of 
 whom were natives of Schoharie county. 
 New York. By occupation the father was 
 a farmer, which vocation he followed dur- 
 ing his entire life. His death occurred in 
 his native state about 1880. Politically he 
 was a Democrat until i860, after which time 
 he was an enthusiastic Republican. The 
 mother was a daughter of Ebenezer and 
 Hannah (Snook) Comstock. Her father 
 being a soldier in the Mexican war. The 
 paternal grandfather, John I. Burst, was 
 also a native of Schoharie county, and 
 there married Sarah Luckey. Her sisters, 
 while at Poughkeepsie, met and entertained 
 LaFayette on his visit to America. An uncle 
 of John I. Burst, Jacob Burst, was an offi- 
 
472 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 cer in the Revolutionary war. Ttie family 
 . are of Holland descent. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his 
 boyhood and youth in his native state, and 
 received his education in the Ferguson 
 Academy and in the Charlotte Academy, 
 which he attended until the age of fourteen 
 years. He then went to New York city, 
 making his home with an uncle, attending 
 to his collections, while at the same time 
 going to school. In the fall of i860 he 
 came to De Kalb county, and stopped at 
 Kirkland, where relatives were then living. 
 During the winter following he worked in 
 the store of Mr. Ryder, at Belvidere. 
 
 The election of Abraham Lincoln re- 
 sulted in the Civil war, and under the first 
 call for three hundred thousand men, Mr. 
 Burst enlisted May 15, 1861, in Company 
 D, Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 and was mustered into the service as a pri- 
 vate at Freeport, Illinois. The regiment 
 was first sent to Alton, where it was in 
 camp for a time, after which it was sent to 
 Me.xico, Missouri. Here Mr. Burst first 
 met General Grant. While there he was 
 poisoned by some insect, which crossed his 
 face while sleeping, resulting in the loss of 
 the use of his eyes for some time. He was 
 sent home and suffered greatly through the 
 winter, and was not able to use his eyes 
 until the summer of 1862, having been dis- 
 charged in December, 1861. 
 
 On the loth of August, 1862, Mr. Burst 
 re-enlisted in Company C.One Hundred and 
 Fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was 
 mustered into the service at Di.\on, Illinois, 
 September 2, 1862. The regiment was 
 then sent to Chicago for a few days, and 
 from there to Louisville, Kentucky, and 
 later to Frankfort, in the same state. By 
 a forced march, it went to Lexington, and 
 
 was in the chase after Morgan. Re- 
 turning to Lexington, it was later at Bow- 
 ling Green, Hartsville, Galatin, and then to 
 Tunnel Hill, where it guarded the tunnel 
 during the greater part of the winter. Re- 
 turning to Galatin, it was then sent to 
 Nashville, and on to La \'ergne and Mur- 
 physborough. It was then sent back to 
 La Vergne and Nashville, and from the lat- 
 ter place started to join Sherman at Chat- 
 tanooga. Crossing the Cumberland mount- 
 ains it went by the way of the Wauhatchie 
 valley, near the line of the Nashville 
 and Chattanooga Railroad, crossing the 
 riverat Stephenson, Alabama. It took posi- 
 tion in the Wauhatchie valley, under the 
 point of Lookout Mountain. The regiment 
 was next in Sherman's campaign to Atlanta, 
 crossing Chickamauga Valley, by Gordon's 
 Mills, near Rockey Face Gap, through 
 Snake Creek Gap, to Ressaca, facing John- 
 son's army. The regiment lay under fire 
 May 14, 1864. On the 15th the Twelfth 
 Corps was ordered around to the leftofRes- 
 aca, where they formed and made an ad- 
 vance, under heavy fire of the main body 
 of Johnson's army. They forced the ene- 
 my back behind the breastworks, and cap- 
 tured the redoubt in which there were four 
 fine brass cannon. The regiment was en- 
 gaged in fighting the entire day, the enemy 
 leaving during the night. 
 
 Moving on with the army, the next en- 
 gagement participated in by the regiment 
 was at Cassville, Georgia, where the enemy 
 was driven from its position. Johnson's 
 army here divided, a part going towards 
 Rome, and the remainder towards Dallas. 
 On the 25th of May the regiment was in 
 the engagement at New Hope Church, and 
 skirmishing for position, moving by right 
 and left Hank, the division in which the 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 473 
 
 One Hundred and Fifth was attached, en- 
 gaging the enemy about 6 p. m. Shortly 
 after the battle commenced, our subject 
 had his leg shot off by a shell, which struck 
 him before it exploded. His leg was ampu- 
 tated in the field hospital, and the next day 
 he was taken across the mountains forty- 
 five miles to Kingston, Georgia. The sec- 
 ond morning he was placed on a train in a 
 freight car, and taken to Chattanooga. On 
 arriving there, he was at once carried into 
 the receiving tent, and the wound was ex- 
 amined. Gangrene had set in, and he was 
 ordered to the gangrene ward. Another 
 amputation was promptly made, but the 
 wound never healed, and a third amputa- 
 tion was made after his arrival home. He 
 was sent home about the middle of July, 
 1864, again being sent in a cattle car, 
 in which he went from Chattanooga to 
 Nashville. Here he was placed in the 
 officers' hospital, and later sent home. 
 
 Major Burst went into service as a pri- 
 vate, and was then orderly-sergeant for six 
 months, and served as second lieutenant 
 one year and first lieutenant one year. He 
 was commissioned captain, but never must- 
 ered, the commission being received after 
 the loss of his leg. After recovering from 
 his wound, Major Burst was appointed 
 postal clerk in the railway mail service. 
 This was in the spring of 1865, and he 
 served in that position until the fall of 1866, 
 when he was appointed postmaster of Syca- 
 more. After serving four years as post- 
 master, he returned in 1871 to the railway 
 mail service, with which he was connected 
 until 1886, when he resigned during the ad- 
 ministration of President Cleveland. In 
 the spring of 1887, he was appointed by 
 Governor Oglesby, warehouse registrar at 
 Chicago, and served during his administra- 
 
 tion, and two years under Governor Fifer. 
 At the retjuest of Jeremiah Rusk, secretary 
 of agriculture, he was appointed by Secre- 
 tary Foster, of the treasury, inspector of 
 immigration in Chicago, and served until 
 1893, when he resigned at the request of 
 President Cleveland. In 1894, he was 
 quartermaster-general of the G. A. R., and 
 in 1895 Eind 1896, he was connected with 
 the passenger department of the Chicago & 
 Great Western Railroad. In the fall of 
 i8g6, he was one of the "wrecks of the 
 Rebellion," a party organized by General 
 Alger, and composed of Generals Howard, 
 Sickles, Stewart, Marden, Corporal Tanner 
 and Major Burst. They made a tour of 
 thirteen states in the interests of William 
 McKinley. After McKinley became presi- 
 dent Major Burst was again appointed in- 
 spector of immigration at Chicago, which 
 office he is still filling. 
 
 On the 28th of March, 1871, Major 
 Burst was united in marriage with Lettice 
 Ann Mayo, born in Sycamore, and a daugh- 
 ter of Judge Edward L. and Emily K. 
 (Holden) Mayo, both of whom were natives 
 of Vermont, and among the early settlers of 
 De Kalb. Judge Mayo was born in 1807, 
 and died in 1877, at the age of seventy 
 years. For some years he was judge of the 
 county court of De Kalb county, and was 
 one of the leading lawyers of the county. 
 The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Burst 
 were Larnard and Thirza (Marcey) Mayo, 
 and the matern^ grandparents were Josiah 
 and Betsy (Leland) Holden. To Major and 
 Mrs. Burst three children were born: Ed- 
 ward M., of whom mention is made else- 
 where in this work; Bessie M., wife of 
 Henry W. Prentice, an attorney of De Kalb; 
 and Bertha C, at home. 
 
 In politics Major Burst is a stanch Re- 
 
474 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 publican. He is a prominent member of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic, and has 
 held every office in the national organiza- 
 tion with the exception of commander. 
 Four times he was a prominent candidate 
 for the latter office, and could have been 
 elected if he would have bound himself by 
 promises to appoint certain members to 
 office. He assisted in organizing the Grand 
 Army, and was a member of Ransom Post, 
 of Chicago, the third post organized in the 
 United States. In 1868 the organization 
 went to pieces, and in 1869 it was re-organ- 
 ized as a non-political organization, and its 
 growth was so rapid that in 1870 it had si.\ 
 hundred thousand members. Potter Post 
 No. 12, of Sycamore, was organized by- 
 Major Burst. For six years he was a mem- 
 ber of the National G. A. R. pension com- 
 mittee, and assisted in drafting pension bills, 
 especially the bill passed in June, 1890, 
 which has resulted in greater benefit to sol- 
 diers than any bill passed since the war. 
 
 ALVIN P. BURNHAM, who resides on 
 section 21, Victor township, some four 
 and a half miles north of Leland, where he 
 owns a well improved farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres, has been a resident of De 
 Kalb county since 1855. He was born 
 near Portland, Maine, May 15, 1836, and 
 is the son of Bain Burnham, a native of the 
 same state and county, born in 1799, and 
 the grandson of Moses Bilrnham, also a 
 native of Maine. The family is of Eng- 
 lish descent, four brothers emigrating from 
 England in the 17th century, one locating 
 in Maine, another in Massachusetts, the 
 third in New Hampshire, and the fourth in 
 New York. Moses Burnham was a pioneer 
 of Androscoggin county, Maine, where he 
 
 made a home in the wilderness and reared 
 his family. Bain Burnham was there reared 
 and married Eliza Haskell, also a native of 
 the same county and state, and a daughter 
 of 'Squire Haskell. They reared their fam- 
 ily in their native county, but later came 
 west and joined one of their sons in De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, and here spent the re- 
 mainder of their lives, the father dying in 
 Dwight, at the residence of a daughter in 
 1870. His wife survived him a few years, 
 dying in 1875. Of their four sons and two 
 daughters, all grew to mature years. J. H. 
 grew to manhood, remained in Maine, 
 where his death occurred. Emma H. mar- 
 ried Frederick Lakin, of Maine, and later 
 they came to De Kalb county and now re- 
 side at Sandwich. Octa\ia married J. M. 
 Smith, settled in Dwight and there died. 
 Alvin P. is the subject of this review. Sum- 
 ner was a member of the One Hundred and 
 Fourth Volunteer Infantry, and was killed 
 in battle at Huntsville, Tennessee, in 1864. 
 John was also a soldier in the Civil war, 
 serving in a regiment- from Maine, and died 
 in a hospital of disease contracted while in 
 the service. 
 
 Alvin P. Burnham was nineteen years of 
 age when he left his native state and came 
 to Illinois. He attended the common 
 schools of his native state, and also the 
 North Bridgeton Academ}', receiving a fairly 
 good education. He came direct to Le- 
 land, Illinois, and there spent the season 
 and for four or five years worked by the 
 month for various farmers. In the fall of 
 i860, in La Salle county, he married Cyn- 
 thia P. Morton, a native of Maine, but 
 mostly reared and educated in Lynn, Mass- 
 achusetts, coming west with her father, 
 George Morton, in 1856, the family locat- 
 ing in La Salle county. She there engaged 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 475 
 
 in teaching, in which occupation she con- 
 tinued until her marriage. By this union 
 there was one daughter, Clara M., now the 
 wife of Charles G. Arnold, a native of De 
 Kalb county, and a man of good education, 
 and good business qualities. Mrs. Arnold 
 is also well educated, and in addition to the 
 common schools of the neighborhood, at- 
 tended the high school in Leland. They 
 now reside on the Burnharn farm. 
 
 After marriage Mr. Burnham rented 
 land in La Salle county some four or five 
 years then moved to Livingston county, and 
 purchased a farm of one hundred and si.x 
 acres which he cultivated until i86S, when 
 he sold out and came to De Kalb county 
 and purchased the farm where fie now re- 
 sides. It was a partially improved farm, 
 but has been greatly changed since coming 
 into possession of its present owner who 
 has built two good residences, good barns, 
 and various outbuildings, enclosing it with 
 a neat and well trimmed hedge fence, and 
 beautifying it by shade and ornamental 
 trees. In addition to general farming he 
 has made a specialty of breeding and deal- 
 ing in standard bred horse, mostly Eng- 
 lish draft horses, and has followed that 
 business for some years, and in it meet- 
 ing with good success. Politically Mr. 
 Burnham is a Republican, with which part}- 
 he has been identified since its organization, 
 and has voted for each of its presidential 
 nominees. In 1872 he was elected asses- 
 sor of Victor township, and by re-election 
 has now served continuously for twenty-six 
 years. He has also served for some years 
 as a member of the school board, giving 
 much of his time to advance the interests 
 of the public schools. He is well known 
 in both La Salle and De Kalb counties, and 
 where best known he is the most highly es- 
 
 23 
 
 teemed. His long continued service as 
 assessor shows the confidence in which he 
 is held by the citizens of Victor township. 
 
 FRANK E. HILLS, who resides in Syca- 
 more, but is secretary, manager and 
 principal owner of the Abram Ellwood 
 Manufacturing Company, De Kalb, Illinois, 
 was born in Middletown, October 24, 1843. 
 His father, Lorenzo R. Hills, was born at 
 Martinsburg, Lewis county. New York, Jan- 
 uary 28, 18 12, and died at Sandwich, Illi- 
 nois, December 22, 1889. He was a car- 
 penter and builder by trade, an occupation 
 which he followed during his entire life. 
 For a time he resided in Connecticut, but 
 in 1853, removed to Plainfield, Illinois, and 
 in 1863, to Sandwich. He was a leading 
 builder and contractor, and erected most of 
 the largest buildings that were constructed 
 in the places where he resided during his act- 
 ive career. He married ?vlary A. Frary, 
 born in Haverhill, New Hampshire, in the 
 beautiful Connecticut Valley, July 23, 18 14, 
 and the daughter of Elisha Frary, then re- 
 siding in Haverhill. She died in De Kalb 
 county, February 6, 1878. The paternal 
 grandfather of our subject was Russell Hills, 
 a carpenter and builder, who married Lu- 
 cretia Robins, and died at Martinsburg, 
 New York. 
 
 Frank E. Hills moved with his parents 
 from Middletown, Connecticut, to Plain- 
 field, Will county, Illinois, where he lived 
 ten years. He attended the common 
 schools in both Middletown, Connecticut, 
 and Plainfield, Illinois, and was a pjpil for 
 one year in Clark Seminary, at Aurora, 
 where his literary education was completed. 
 The war for the Union was then in progress, 
 and our subject enlisted in August, 1862, at 
 
4/6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Plainfield, in Company D, One Hundredth 
 Illinois \'olnnteer Infantry, and with his 
 regiment went south, the regiment becoming 
 a part of the Army of the Cumberland. He 
 was in the battles of Perryville, Stone 
 River, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Frank- 
 lin, and Nashville, Tennessee, and in the 
 entire .\tlanta campaign. After the expir- 
 ation of his term of service, he was mustered 
 out at Chicago. 
 
 After leaving the service, Mr. Hills 
 joined the family at Sandwich, where they 
 had moved in 1863. He then again took 
 up the carpenter's trade, at which he worked 
 for two years. He was then employed as 
 bookkeeper in a hardware store until 1875, 
 when he was elected corresponding secre- 
 tary of the Sandwich Enterprise Company, 
 remaining with that institution until 1878, 
 when he became associated with the Reuben 
 Ellwood Manufacturing Company at Syca- 
 more, with Vvhich he was connected until 
 1890. When General Dustin resigned the 
 office of circuit clerk at that time, Mr. Hills 
 was appointed to fill the vacancy. From 
 1892 10 1896, he was engrossing clerk of 
 the state senate. Since the latter date he 
 has been secretary and manager of the A. 
 Ellwood Manufacturing Company, at De 
 Kalb. 
 
 Mr. Hills was married in Sandwich, Illi- 
 nois, January 4, 1867, to Miss Mantie Sud- 
 doth, a native of Delaware county, Ohio, 
 and a daughter of Robert and Sarah (Baxter) 
 Suddoth, natives of Culpeper county, Vir- 
 ginia. Her father was a well-educated man 
 and during his young manhood had charge 
 of a large plantation and many slaves of his 
 father, Robert Henry Suddoth, near Cul- 
 peper Courthouse. Some years before the 
 war he moved to Delaware county, Ohio, 
 and later to Plaintield, Will county, Illinois, 
 
 and still later to Sandwich, Illinois, where 
 he died in 186 1. To Mr. and Mrs. Hills 
 four children have been born, Hattie Belle, 
 Alberta \'ermelle, Frank Robins and Harry 
 Preston. The first named died at the age 
 of twenty-two months, and the last named 
 in 1895 at the age of eighteen years. 
 
 In politics Mr. Hills is a thorough Re- 
 publican and has ever taken an active inter- 
 est in political affairs, or as much as his 
 business interests would permit. He is a 
 Mason and holds membership with the blue 
 lodge, chapter of Sandwich and command- 
 ery at Sj'camnre. He is also a member of 
 the Knights of Pythias and the Grand Arm\- 
 of the Republic. Thoroughly progressive, 
 a good business manager and with fine ex- 
 ecutive abilit\% he has been enabled to rise 
 to a position of authority and placed at the 
 head of one of the most "important manu- 
 facturing institutions in De Kalb county. 
 He is ever ready to champion anything that 
 will advance the best interests of his adopted 
 city and county, and this fact commends 
 him to all business and professional men, 
 those on whose efforts the country relies for 
 its growth and well being. 
 
 WH. WRIGHT, ma^-or of Somonauk, 
 and assistant cashier of the Somo- 
 nauk Bank, was born in the village October 
 28, 1862, and is the son of Thomas J. and 
 Lois M. (Gage) Wright, of whom mention 
 is made elsewhere in this work. He was 
 reared in the village, and after completing 
 a course in its public schools, was engaged 
 in farm work some five years. In 1890 he 
 returned to the village and took his present 
 position as assistant cashier of the Somo- 
 nauk Bank, which position he has filled ever 
 since. He was elected clerk of the \illage 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 47? 
 
 and held the office two terms, and was then 
 elected village trustee and served one term. 
 In April, 1898, he was elected mayor of the 
 village and is now serving as such official. 
 Mr. Wright was married March 10, 1888, 
 to Miss Nettie Moore, daughter of John W. 
 and Amaretta (Hupp) Moore, who came to 
 this section of the slate from the east, and 
 who are yet living, the father being an ex- 
 tensive farmer in La Salle county. By this 
 union was one child, La Verne, who died at 
 the age of six months. Before her marriage 
 Mrs. Wright was a successful teacher in the 
 schools of the county. She departed this 
 life at the age of twenty-three years, her 
 death being mourned, not alone by the sor- 
 rowing husband, but by many friends in De 
 Kalb and La Salle counties. 
 
 Mr. Wright is a member of Somonauk 
 Lodge, No. 646, A. F. & A. M. , and of Sand- 
 wich chapter, R. A. M. In politics he is a 
 Democrat. As a business man, he is re- 
 garded as one of the most prominent and 
 worthy in De Kalb county, and is entitled to 
 the honors bestowed upon him by the official 
 position which he has been called on to fill. 
 
 PETER POULSON is one of the large 
 number who have come to this free 
 land from Sweden and have assisted in the 
 development of much of the new country. 
 He now resides on a fine farm in Franklin 
 township, which is the result of his own in- 
 dustry and thrifty habits. He was born in 
 Sweden March 2$, 1843, and is the son of 
 Paul and Ellen (Larson) Poulson, both na- 
 tives of Sweden and who were the parents 
 of seven children — Joseph, Peter, Andrew, 
 John, Betsy, Hannah and Christian. Of 
 these Andrew and Christian are deceased. 
 Paul Anderson has followed the occupation 
 
 of a farmer during his entire life. He never 
 left his native land. In his native country 
 Peter Poulson grew to manhood and was 
 educated in the parochial schools. With 
 the aim of bettering his condition in life, he 
 came to the United States in 1868, coming 
 direct from New York to Rockford, Illinois, 
 where he arrived November 4, 1868. His 
 first employment in this country was at 
 street paving at Rockford, and then upon a 
 farm, where he worked by the day. In 
 1880 he bought eighty-five acres, a portion 
 of the land comprised in his present farm, 
 and has since been engaged in farming for 
 himself. On the 13th of April, 1880, he 
 married Mary Johnson, having returned to 
 his native land with that object in view. 
 With his young bride he again came to De 
 Kalb county and at once commenced the 
 improvement of his farm. On his first ar- 
 rival in this country he had but a five-dollar 
 gold piece and with this capital he went to 
 work and success has crowned his efforts. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Poulson have seven chil- 
 dren living, as follows: Sophia, Alo. Alfred, 
 Robert, Amiel, Rosa and Pearl. Six children 
 are deceased — Freda, Earnest, Estes, Ame- 
 lia and two unnamed. Mr. and Mrs. Poul- 
 son are members of the Swedish Lutheran 
 church, and in politics he is a Republican. 
 In the spring of 1 889 he was elected road 
 commissioner for a term of three years, and 
 has three times been re-elected and is serv- 
 ing his fourth term. The confidence re- 
 posed in him by his friends and neighbors 
 is shown by his continued re-election. 
 
 LP. HARVEY, residing at Clare Station, 
 Mayfield township, has been activelv 
 engaged in the manufacture of butter for the 
 past sixteen years. He is a native of 
 
47« 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Canada, born near Montreal, July 24, 1S44, 
 and is the son of Gardner Harvey, also a 
 native of Canada, and the grandson of L. 
 P. Harve}', a native of Massachusetts. The 
 Harvey family are of Scotch ancestry, 
 the original ancestor coming to this 
 country from the vicinity of Glasgow, 
 in the seventeenth century, and lo- 
 cating in Massachusetts. L. P. Harvey, 
 Sr., removed from Massachusetts to Cana- 
 da at quite an early day and there engaged 
 in the milling business, manufacturing both 
 flour and lumber. He built five flouring 
 mills and seven sawmills, and also owned 
 and operated a distillery and a large farm. 
 
 Gardner Harvey was reared in Canada, 
 and there morried Miss Lydia Boynton, her 
 father being also a miller and fanner. After 
 their marriage in 1858, they moved to 
 Portage county, Wisconsin, where he built 
 a sawmill and engaged in the manufacture 
 of lumber, remaining there some five or six 
 years, then moving to Amherst, Wisconsin, 
 where he spent some years, and later moved 
 to Florida, where he engaged in orange 
 growing some twelve years. Selling out, he 
 returned to Wisconsin and died in Amherst, 
 in January, i8y8. His wife yet survives 
 him. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained in 
 Canada until sixteen years of age, engaged 
 with his father in the mill and assisting in 
 cultivating the home farm. While residing 
 in his native countr}-, he had good school 
 privileges of which he made good use, and 
 after his removal to Wisconsin, he attended 
 the common schools of that state, and later 
 spent one year in a business college at Mil- 
 waukee. In his youth he had some experi- 
 ence as a clerk in a mercantile establishment 
 and after completing his studies he engaged 
 in the general mercantile business at Am- 
 
 herst, Wisconsin, and there continued three 
 years, meeting with fair success. Selling 
 out, he was in the employ of the Wisconsin 
 Central Railroad for four years as agent and 
 telegraph operator. From Amherst he 
 came to De Kalb county, Illinois, and lo- 
 cated at Kingston, where he engaged in the 
 milling, flour and feed business, in which he 
 continued four years. In 1SS2 he com- 
 menced work in a creamery for other parties 
 at Colvin Park, Illinois, and continued to 
 be thus employed until 1892, when he went 
 to Clare Station, and bought out an estab- 
 lished business which he still continues to 
 operate. In 1897 he purchased the cream- 
 ery at Esmond, Illinois, and is now operat- 
 ing both creameries, manufacturing on an 
 average five hundred and fifty pounds daily 
 during the entire year. He pays the farm- 
 ers for milk from two thousand five hun- 
 dred dollars to three thousand dollars per 
 month. 
 
 Mr. Harvey was united in marriage at 
 Amherst, Wisconsin, December 24, 1S69, ' 
 with Miss Eliza Loing," a native of Boone 
 county, Illinois, and a daughter of .Stanton 
 Loing, a pioneer of Boone county, from 
 New York. B}' this union there are three 
 children: Heber is a practical buttermaker 
 and is managing the creamery at Esmond. 
 Mary and Walter yet remain at home, the 
 latter assisting in the Clare creamery. They 
 lost one son, Herbert, who died at the age 
 of two years. 
 
 The first presidential vote cast by Mr. 
 Harvey v^fas in 1868, for General U. S. 
 Grant, since which time he has been an 
 earnest advocate of the principles of the 
 Republican party. While always refusing 
 official position, he has yet been prevailed 
 upon to serve as a member of the school 
 board. Religiously Mrs. Har\ey is identi- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 479 
 
 fied wfth the Baptists, being a member of 
 the Baptist church. While neither a pio- 
 neer nor an old settler of De I\alb county, 
 Mr. Harvey is yet well known and has many 
 friends in the county as well as in the ad- 
 joining county of Boone. 
 
 H' 
 
 ON. BYRON F. WYMAN is a retired 
 farmer residing on section 36, Syca- 
 more township. He was born on the farm 
 where he now resides, March ig, 1839. His 
 v father, Ralph Wyman, was born in 181 3 at 
 Wethersfield, Windsor county, Vermont, 
 and was the son of Asa and Sallie (Searles) 
 Wj'man, the former a native of Townsend, 
 Massachusetts, who came west in 1856, and 
 died at the age of seventy-five years. His 
 wife, who was a daughter of Joseph and 
 Abigail (Patton) Searles, both of whom were 
 natives of Townsend, Massachusetts, at- 
 tained the age of ninety-one years. The 
 Wjmans are of German origin and are de- 
 scendants of two brothers, Weymann, who 
 left Germany and sojourned for a time in 
 Wales, but finally came to America. John 
 Weymann, a tanner by trade, married Sarah 
 Nutt. Francis Weymann, also a tanner, 
 first married Judith Pierce, and later Abi- 
 gail Reid, and lived in Massachusetts the 
 latter half of the seventeenth century. Asa 
 W\man was born in Townsend, Middlesex 
 county, Massachusetts, and was the son of 
 Elijah Wyman, who died January 21, 1789, 
 at the age of forty-two years. He married 
 Abigail Wetherby, who died September u, 
 1825, at the age of seventy-two years. 
 Elijah Wyman was a soldier in the Revolu- 
 tionary war, and the gun which he carried 
 was long in possession of his son, Asa. 
 
 Ralph Wyman, the father of our subject, 
 vvhen two years of age, accompanied his 
 
 parents from Wethersfield, Vermont, to 
 Worcester, Massachusetts, and in a few 
 years to Middletown, Vermont. In 1836 
 he came west and settled on the farm where 
 our subject now resides, but, in 1837, re- 
 turned to Massachusetts, and there married 
 Susan Dayton, born in Vermont, in Novem- 
 ber, 1818, and a daughter of William Day- 
 ton, also a native of Vermont. Immediately 
 after his marriage he brought his bride to 
 his new home, and they resided upon the 
 farm until i S60, when they moved to the 
 city of Sycamore. After his removal he 
 followed various occupations, being inter- 
 ested in a store for a time, then in a lumber 
 yard, took contracts for erecting several 
 buildings, and traded and speculated in 
 store. His death occurred in 1864. His 
 wife survived him and died at the age of 
 seventy-four years. The subject of this 
 sketch was reared on the home farm and 
 received his primary education in the dis- 
 trict schools. He later attended the schools 
 at Sycamore and De Kalb, and Rock River 
 Seminary at Mount Morris, Illinois. At the 
 outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted. May 
 24, 1861, in Company F, Thirteenth Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, with which he ser\ed 
 until June 18, 1S64. He was mustered into 
 ihe service at Dixon, Illinois, and was in 
 camp at Caseyville, Illinois, for a time, the 
 regiment going from thence to Rollo, Mis- 
 souri, and later, while on the way to Spring- 
 field, Missouri, was in several engagements 
 at Lynn Creek and at Wet Glaze. After- 
 ward the regiment was sent to the aid of 
 General Seigel at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, 
 after which it made a long march through 
 Arkansas (engaging the enemy several 
 times), to Hulma, on the Mississippi river, 
 and was then in the siege of Vicksburg. 
 After the capture of Vicksburg, it was in the 
 
48o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 operations around Jackson, Mississippi, 
 Brandon, and assisted in the capture of 
 Arkansas Post, Arkansas. It was in action 
 at Cherokee, Cane Creek and Tuscumbia, 
 Alabama; Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, 
 Ringgold Pass, Georgia, and at Madison 
 Station, Alabama, which was the last en- 
 gagement in which he participated. His 
 term of service having expired, he was dis- 
 charged at Springfield, Illinois, June i8, 
 T864. He held the office of sergeant, and 
 was wounded twice while in the service. 
 
 On receiving his discharge, Mr. Wjman 
 returned home, and for a short time clerked 
 in a grocery store in Sycamore. He then re- 
 turned to the old home farm, which with the 
 exception of four or five years, has since been 
 his home. He was married October 19, 
 1865, at Bear Creek, Wisconsin, to Miss 
 Nettie S. Lowell, born in Moretown, Ver- 
 mont, and daughter of Martin L. Lowell, a 
 native of Lemster, New Hampshire. By 
 this union there are seven children. Ralph 
 L. graduated from the Northwestern Uni- 
 versity, Evanston, Illinois, married Kate A. 
 Russell, and is now practicing law in Chi- 
 cago. Luther Everett is a graduate of 
 Lombard University, Galesburg, Illinois, 
 and is now chief clerk in a stock broker's 
 office, Chicago. Frank E. and Bernard A. 
 have been running the home farm since 
 1893, and dealing in farm produce in Syca- 
 more. \'incent U. is a graduate of the 
 Sycamore high school, and is now engaged 
 in the practice of law in Chicago. Edmond 
 S. and Cecil L. are still under the parental 
 roof. 
 
 Mr. Wyman has been a freijuent contrib- 
 utor to the agricultural journals of the 
 country, and for many years was secretary 
 of the De Kalb County Agricultural Fair 
 association, and has for a ninnber of years 
 
 been statistical correspondent for the agri- 
 cultural department at Washingtun. He is 
 vice-president of the Kingston Mutual Insur- 
 ance Company, a county corporation carry- 
 ing one million five hundred thousand dollars 
 of risk. He is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and fraternally is a mem- 
 ber of the Modern Woodmen of America 
 and Grand Army of the Republic. In poli- 
 tics he is a Republican, and for fourteen 
 years was one of the supervisor of Syca- 
 more township. From 1891 to 1894, he 
 was a member of the Illinois Board of 
 World's Fair Commissioners, and for four 
 years was a member of the Illinois State 
 Board of Agriculture. He is a thoroughly 
 posted man in agricultural matters, was one 
 of the organizers of the Ue Kalb County 
 Farmers' Institute, was many years its sec- 
 retary, and was the first director of institu- 
 tes for the congressional district in which he 
 resides. He has frequent invitations to go 
 to different parts of the state to assist in 
 institute and con\ention work, and is well 
 and favorably known throughout the state. 
 He is also well known as a breeder of regis- 
 tered Jersey cattle. He has given consider- 
 able attention to horticultural matters, and 
 his farm is well stocked with many varieties 
 of fruit. 
 
 WW. WOODBURY, superintendent 
 of schools. Sandwich, Illinois, is an 
 educator of superior ability. He was born 
 in La Salle count}-, Illinois, September 19, 
 1858, and is the son of John H. and Laura 
 A. (Smith) Woodbury, the former a native 
 of New York, and the latter of Pennsyl- 
 vania. In 1844, when a boy of ten years 
 of age, the father came west locating first 
 in 'Wisconsin, where he remained until 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 481 
 
 eighteen years of age, when he came to 
 Illinois and located in La Salle county. 
 His parents both died before his leaving 
 Wisconsin. After remaining in La Salle 
 county for a time, he later moved to Shab- 
 bona tovi'nship, De Kalb county. He is a 
 man of fine ability, well known throughout 
 La Salle and De I\alb counties. Since the 
 organization of the Republican party, he 
 has been identified with it, although natur- 
 ally independent in political affairs. His 
 first presidential vote was cast for General 
 John C. Fremont. His wife died in 1890, 
 at the age of about fifty-seven years. She 
 was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church for many years, and quite a devout 
 woman. Thej- were the parents of four 
 children, of whom our subject is the oldest. 
 The others are E. O., residing in north- 
 western Iowa; A. J., who is operating the 
 old home farm, and Minnie, wife of M. J. 
 Ladd, superintendent of schools at Warren, 
 Illinois. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood on his father's farm and attended the 
 public schools of the immediate vicinity. 
 Later he took a course at the Teachers' In- 
 stitute and Classical Seminary, at Paw 
 l^aw, Illinois. He also received special 
 training in various lines of study at the Chi- 
 cago University and Wisconsin State Uni- 
 versity. In 1879 he began teaching in the 
 common schools of the state, and in 188S 
 was made principal of the grammar schools 
 of Sandwich, and in 1894 was elected to 
 his present position as superintendent of its 
 city schools, which position he has since con- 
 tinued to hold. At the present time he has 
 twelve teachers under him, and the schools 
 are well graded, having a four years course 
 of study, fitting the students for entry into 
 the freshman class of the State University. 
 
 In 1897 a class of eight pupils was grad- 
 uated, and in 1898 a class of eleven pupils. 
 
 In 1895 Mr. Woodbury was united in 
 marriage with Miss Nellie G. Forsythe, 
 daughter of William and Frances (Cole- 
 man) Forsythe. For about seven years, 
 Mrs. Woodbury was a teacher in the Sand- 
 wich schools, and whs recognized as one of 
 the best, l^oth Mr. and Mrs. Woodbury are 
 members of the Presbyterian church, in 
 which he is filling the position of elder. 
 Both are active in Sunday-school work, 
 and are teachers in the Presbyterian Sun- 
 day school of Sandwich. Fraternally he 
 is a member of the Modern Woodmen of 
 America. 
 
 The lives and efforts of both Mr. and 
 Mrs. ^^'oodbury have been exceedingly use- 
 ful to the city of Sandwich, where they 
 have been educators of pronounced ability, 
 where the)' are deservedly held in high es- 
 teem, their services giving a very high 
 degree of satisfaction. They both possess 
 that refinement and culture which is ac- 
 quired only by close kinship with books 
 and the best thev contain. 
 
 JOHN GRAY, a retired farmer residing 
 on section 5, Genoa township, was born 
 in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, June 2, 
 1816. He is the son of jacolj Gray, who 
 was left an orphan boy and reared by Ger- 
 man people. He was himself of German 
 origin, the name being originally spelled 
 Krah. He married Christina Bartoe, a 
 daughter of John Bartoe, who married a 
 Miss Beaver. Jacob Gray died at the age 
 of fifty-six years, while his wife lived to be 
 seventy-five years old. 
 
 John Gray was reared in his native 
 county and continued under his father's con- 
 
48: 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 trol until twenty-one years of age. When 
 eleven years of age he commenced working 
 out for others, receiving only his board and 
 very scanty clothing. He then received 
 four dollars a month for a year, and the fol- 
 lowing year five dollars a month, and si.\ 
 dollars a month for the succeeding year. 
 From 1832 to 1834 he worked at home, but 
 in the summer of 1834 again went out to 
 service, at nine dollars per month. In 1835 
 he built furnaces at eighteen dollars per 
 month, and in 1836 worked at Mauch Chunk 
 on the railroad. In 1837 he was engaged 
 in work in a brickyard, and in 1838 worked 
 in a stillhouse. 
 
 On the 28th of December, 1838, Mr. 
 Gray was united in marriage with Susanna 
 Fague, a daughter of George and Elizabeth 
 (Corson) Fague, by whom he had eight 
 children, three of his daughters being mar- 
 ried and living near the old home in Penn- 
 sylvania. After his marriage Mr. Gray con- 
 tinued to work in a distillery in Union coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, until 1S42, when he re- 
 turned to Lycoming county and purchased 
 one hundred and twenty-seven acres of par- 
 tially wild timber land in Wolf township, 
 which he cleared, selling the wood and lum- 
 ber and making a good farm. On that 
 place he resided until the spring of 1874, 
 his wife having died in October, 1871. His 
 second union was celebrated December 10, 
 1874, when he married Mrs. Jerusha Buck, 
 widow of Daniel Buck, who was born in 
 Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, June 2, 
 1816, and who was by occupation a farmer 
 and dealer in lumber and timber land. 
 
 Daniel Buck was the son of Peter and 
 Susannah (Holmes) Buck, the latter a 
 daughter of John and Mary (Knott) Holmes. 
 Peter Buck was the son of Henry and Cath- 
 erine (Rotharmal) l>nrk. Daniel Buck 
 
 married Jerusha Craft, born in Kenawah 
 county, \'irginia, October 14, 1823, and a 
 daughter of Samuel Craft, born June 3, 
 1800, in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, 
 and who died March 8, 1872. By trade he 
 was a miller, but followed the occupation 
 of a farmer for many years. He was quite 
 prominent in his county and served some 
 years as constable and sheriff. He was the 
 son of William Craft, who married Sarah 
 Alward, whose mother was Priscilla Taylor, 
 a native of England. Samuel Craft spent 
 his entire life in Pennsylvania, with the e.\- 
 ception of four years in Virginia, at the 
 time Mrs. Gray was born. 
 
 To Daniel and Jerusha Buck were born 
 five children : (i) Alfred married Mary 
 Josephine Simmons, by whom he had eight 
 children, six of whom are living, Sarah E., 
 Glenn, Cora, Flora B., Walter W. and 
 Roy. He is engaged in farming on a por- 
 tion of the old home farm on section 4. (2) 
 Ellis was a member of Company B, Eighth 
 Illinois Cavalry, and died at Harwood Hos- 
 pital, Washington, D. "C, April 28, 1864, 
 from typhoid fever. (3) Nesbitt died in 
 i860, at the age of thirteen years. (4) 
 George married Mary Flick and resides on 
 section 5, a portion of his mother's farm. 
 He is the present township assessor. (5) 
 Charles died in infancy. 
 
 In 1849 Daniel Buck came with his fam- 
 ily to Dc Kail) county and located on sec- 
 tion 4, Genoa township. Two years before 
 he brought his family here he purchased 
 four hundred acres of land, a part of which 
 he afterwards sold, but from time to time 
 purchased other tracts until his farm com- 
 prised five hundred and twenty acres, to- 
 gether with ten acres of timber. After a 
 useful life he died March 3, 1873. 
 
 After his second marriage Mr. Gray 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 483 
 
 purchased a mountain tract and followed 
 lumbering for some years. In 1882 he sold 
 his Pennsylvania liorne and came to De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, and has since been 
 living upon the farm of his wife on section 
 4. Although he has lived in the county 
 comparatively a short time he is well known 
 and highly respected. 
 
 ALPHA J. COSTER, of Hinckley, Illi- 
 nois, is a representative of the younger 
 business men and farmers of De Kalb coun- 
 ty. He owns and operates a farm of two 
 hundred acres, a part of which lies within 
 the village limits of Hinckley, Squaw Grove 
 township. He is a native of De Kalb coun- 
 ty, born on the old homestead, and in the 
 house where he now resides, March 30, 
 1865, and is the son of J. C. Coster, one of 
 the honored old settlers and substantial 
 men of the county, whose sketch appears 
 elsewhere in this work. On the old farm 
 he grew to manhood, and as his age per- 
 mitted, assisted in the cultivation of the 
 farm, and in farm work generally. His 
 primary education was obtained in the pub- 
 lic schools of Hinckley, and later he at- 
 tended a seminary at Sugar Grove, Kane 
 county. 
 
 After completing his studies Mr. Coster 
 resumed work upon the home farm, and as- 
 sisted his father imtil he arrived at mature 
 years. He was united in marriage at Hinck- 
 ley, February 23, 1892, to Miss Effie May 
 Sebree, a daughter of W. M. Sebree, one 
 of the honored pioneers and now the oldest 
 living resident of De Kalb county (see sketch 
 of Mr. Sebree elsewhere in this work). Mrs. 
 Coster was reared in Squaw Grove town- 
 ship, and received her education in the 
 schools of Hinckley and Aurora, Illinois. 
 
 She took a thorough commercial course and 
 training in Aurora, and was bookkeeper for 
 the Hinckley Creamery Company for three 
 years previous to her marriage 
 
 After marriage Mr. Coster rented a por- 
 tion of the old home farm, located there, 
 and at once commenced life for himself. 
 Three years later he purchased two hundred 
 acres of the place, including the old home 
 residence. In addition to general farm- 
 ing he was engaged in the dairy business 
 for eleven years, and, since 1895, has 
 been engaged in running a milk wagon, sup- 
 plying the people of Hinckley with milk, 
 and has worked up a nice trade in this line. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Coster have one son, Don- 
 ald Redtield. In politics Mr. Coster has 
 been a Republican since attaining his ma- 
 jority. Office holding has no charm for 
 him, but he has served one term as trustee 
 of the village of Hinckley. Fraternally he 
 is a Mason, holding membership with the 
 blue lodge at Hinckley, the chapter at Sand- 
 wich, and the commandery at Aurora, Illi- 
 nois. He and his wife are charter mem- 
 bers of the Eastern Star. Mr. Coster is 
 past master of Hinckley lodge, while he is 
 a member of the Modern Woodmen of 
 America. He is one of the most successful 
 farmers in Squaw Grove township, and is a 
 man of good business ability, sterling char- 
 acter and worth, and he and his wife stand 
 high socially in the community which has 
 been tf-'cir home during their entire lives. 
 
 DR. JOHN C. DAVID, physician and 
 surgeon, Sandwich, Illinois, is well 
 known throughout De Kalb and adjoining 
 counties as a physician of acknowledged 
 skill and ability. The world has little use 
 for the misanthrope. The universal truth 
 
484 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of brotherhood is widely recof^nized, also 
 that he serves God best who serves his fel- 
 lowmen. There is no profession or line of 
 bnsiness that calls for greater self-sacrifice 
 or more devoted attention than the medical 
 profession, and the successful physician is 
 he who, throuf^h love of his fellovvnien, 
 gives his time and attention to the relief of 
 suffering humanity. 
 
 Dr. David was born in Carbondale, 
 Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, December 
 5, 1848, and is the son of James B. and 
 Caroline (Snider) David, the former a na- 
 tive of Pennsylvania and the latter of New 
 York. The father was a mechanic and for 
 some years was engaged in the tannery bus- 
 iness and in the manufacture of carriages. 
 He was a cjuiet, unassuming man, pleasant 
 and affable, and had many warm friends by 
 whom he was honored with various local 
 offices, including sheriff of his county. Re- 
 ligiously he was a Presbyterian. In i^S5 
 he came to Newark, Kendall county, Illinois, 
 with his family, and there resided a short 
 time, then moved to a farm and later to 
 Sandwich, Illinois, where his death occurred 
 about 1 868, at the age of sixty-three years. 
 His wife survived him for many years, dying 
 when eighty-six years old. She was a great 
 lover of home, reared a large family and 
 was an excellent woman in every respect, 
 her only desire being that she might be a 
 mother in a (|uiet, happy home. She was 
 a sweet-spirited woman, with an irresistible 
 influence for all that was noble and good. 
 
 To James B. and Caroline David ten 
 children were born, one of whom, Emily, 
 died at the age of four months. The others 
 are all yet living : Dr. D. R. is engaged in 
 the practice of dentistry at Sandwich, Illi- 
 nois. Eudora is the widow of Norman 
 Griswold, of Sandwich. Oliver is a me- 
 
 chanic residing in Oliphant, PennsyK ania. 
 .Almira is the widow of George Robinson 
 and resides m California. Harriet is the 
 widow of John Rice and resides in 
 Buchanan, Michigan. Caroline is the wife 
 of James Flood and resides in Michigan 
 City, Indiana. liradford resides in Fulton, 
 Whiteside count}', Illinois. Emma is the 
 wife of Mr. Elson, and resides in Berrien 
 Springs, Michigan. John C, our subject, 
 completes the family. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained on 
 the home farm until sixteen years of age, 
 when he came to Sandwich, Illinois, which 
 has since continued to be his home. He 
 began to read medicine under Dr. Clark, of 
 Sandwich, and later attended Hahnemann 
 Medical College, at Chi':ago, an i was grad- 
 uated in the t lass of 1876. For two years 
 prior to his graduation, he engaged in jirac- 
 tice, being called to the assistance of his 
 preceptor, who was in ill health, and he 
 was detained longer than he supposed was 
 necessary, and therefore could not get away 
 in order that he might complete his course. 
 For some years he was engaged alone in 
 practice, and then for four year-, was in 
 partnership with Dr. Culver, and they en- 
 gaged n practice under the firm name of 
 David & Culver, but in 1898 the partner- 
 ship was di solved, since which time he has 
 been alone. 
 
 Dr. Da\id was united in marr age i 1 
 1892 with Miss Mae Stone, of Chicago, but 
 from Syracuse, New \'ork. Her parents 
 were English people. Both the Doctor and 
 his wfe are members of the Congregational 
 church. Fraternally he is a Mason, a mem- 
 ber of the blue lodge, chapter and com- 
 mandery, also of the Mystic Shrine, Chi- 
 cago. In politics he is a Republican. As 
 a physician he is well read and stands high 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 485 
 
 in his profession. In his various relations 
 of domestic, civil and professional life, his 
 actions have been characterized by the same 
 intelligence and cordiality, which have de- 
 servedly gained for him a good name and a 
 high position in the regard of his fe low cit- 
 izens. 
 
 JOHN W. BLEE, attorney and banker, 
 and also president of the Western Snp- 
 pl\" Company, ot Ottumwa, Iowa, resides in 
 the city of Sandwich. Illinois. He was born 
 in Montour county, Pennsylvania, Septem- 
 ber 29, 1849, and is the son of Joseph M. 
 and Euphemia H. (Sproule) Blee, both na- 
 tives of Pennsylvania. By occupation he 
 was a farmer in Pennsylvania, which occu- 
 pation he continued after his settlement in 
 Illinois, in 1854. On coming to the state he 
 located in Wyoming township, Lee county, 
 where he made his home during the remain- 
 der of his life. His death was caused by an 
 accident received in a runaway. Few men 
 were better known throughout Lee and ad- 
 joining counties. For many years he was 
 an elder in the Presbyterian church. A 
 friend of education, he was on the school 
 board nearly all his life and had much to do 
 with educational affairs in the neighborhood 
 where he resided. A strong Democrat in 
 his political views, he had great influence in 
 the counsels of his party. He was in the 
 convention that nominated Stephen A. 
 Douglas for president in i860. He was 
 very active in his way, was a fine conversa- 
 tionalist and a great favorite with children. 
 He was born March 12, 1818, and died Jan- 
 uary 16, 1873. His widow is still living in 
 Santa Anna, California, and was seventy- 
 nine years old May 30, 1898. Her powers 
 of body and mind are well preserved. She is 
 
 a lifelong member of the Presbyterian church 
 and has always been active in church and 
 benevolent work. Her grandfather Sproule 
 came to this country in 1770, as a young 
 man, located in Pennsylvania, where he en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business. He mar- 
 ried Euphemia Marshall, a relative of Chief 
 Justice Marshall. The maternal grandfather 
 of our subject served in the war of the Rev- 
 olution and from silver earned as a soldier 
 he had a spoon manufactured, which is now 
 in the possession of our subject and was 
 made about 1787. Of the four children 
 born to Joseph M. and Euphemia H. Blee, 
 Teressa A. is the wife of W. C. Bryant and 
 resides in Santa Anna, California. Charles 
 M. resides in Los Angeles, California. 
 James H. resides on the old home farm in 
 Lee county, Illinois. John W. is the sub- 
 ject of our sketch. 
 
 On the home farm in Lee county, our 
 subject spent his boyhood and youth. Dur- 
 ing the war he offered his services to his 
 country, but on account of his youth was 
 rejected. In 1865 he entered the academy 
 at Mendota, Illinois, where he spent three 
 years in preparation for college. He then 
 entered the University of Chicago, which he 
 attended two years, after which he began 
 teaching and doing newspaper work, at the 
 same time pursuing his studies in civil 
 engineering, which was the first professional 
 studying he did. He followed engineering 
 for one year under the city engineer of 
 Chicago, and was later on the construction 
 work of a railroad. On account of physical 
 disability, he was compelled to abandon 
 that profession, and in the spring of 1872 
 began the study of law, entering the law de- 
 partment of the University of Michigan, 
 from which he was graduated in the class of 
 1S74. He then applied and was admitted 
 
486 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to practice before the supreme court of 
 Illinois, in June, 1874. The same year he 
 engaged in practice in Chicago where he 
 continued four years, then returned to his 
 old home in Lee county, where he remained 
 until 1880 engaged in active practice, and 
 then opened an office in Earlville, Illinois, 
 and the same year entered the service of 
 the Chicago, Burlington & Ouincy Railroad 
 as real estate and right-of-way attornej', con- 
 tinuing with that road and others until 1892, 
 when he was appointed special examiner 
 and attorney for the department of the 
 currency by Hon. James H. Eckels, 
 who was comptroller of the currency 
 under President Cleveland. His chief 
 took the position a comparatively un- 
 known man, but left it after the expiration 
 of his four years term one of the best known 
 financiers in the United States. He is now 
 president of the Conmiercial National Bank, 
 of Chicago. With Mr. Eckels, our subject 
 served during his entire term, and traveled 
 nearly one hundred and ninety thousand 
 tniles by rail, visiting and looking after in- 
 solvent banks, his work being largely in 
 that line. 
 
 Mr. Blee has never held an elective 
 office, but made a very good canvass in 
 1886, as the Democratic candidate for the 
 state senate in the Nineteenth senatorial 
 district against Hon. John D. Crabtree, and 
 in 1890 was a candidate for congress in the 
 Seventh Illinois district, against Hon. T. |. 
 Henderson, of Princeton. He was defeated 
 in both instances, as the districts were over- 
 whelmingly Republican, but he made a good 
 race, however. He has ever been acti\e as 
 a campaigner, and in the councils of his 
 party his views always command respect. 
 He served as a delegate in every Democratic 
 state convention from 1874 to 1S94, inclu- 
 
 sive, and was a delegate to the Democratic 
 national convention of 1884, and an alter- 
 nate in the same-in 1888 and 1892. After 
 entering the United States service he was 
 not so active in political affairs, owing to 
 his duties as a national administrative 
 ofificer. His life work has been of a very 
 diverse character, and he is now engaged in 
 promoting some extensive railroad improve- 
 ments and assisting in investments for New 
 York and Chicago capitalists in the vicinity 
 of Peoria, Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Blee was united in marriage No- 
 vember 17, 1887, with Miss Helen M. In- 
 gersoU, daughter of Cornelius J. and Esther 
 L. (Waterman) IngersoU, both of whom 
 were natives of Oneida county. New York, 
 but who were married at I^isbcn, Illinois, 
 where they resided on a farm, until the 
 father's death in 1867. Soon after the 
 dealh of the father, the mother moved with 
 her fainily to Sandwich, where she is jet 
 li\ing, a devout and conscientious member 
 of the Congregational church. Mrs. Blee's 
 only sister is Harriet,, wife of I. M. Cooper, 
 of Sandwich, while her eldest brother, E. 
 I^. IngersoU. resides in Sandwich, and 
 Charles at Fairbury, Nebraska, where he is 
 engaged in the Rock Island Railway service. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Blee two children were 
 born, twins, (ierald J. and Gladys li. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Blee is a Mason, hold- 
 ing membership in the blue lodge, chapter 
 and commandery, and also of the Mystic 
 Shrine. He is likewise a member of the 
 Knights of Pythias. While not members, 
 he and his wife are attendants and active 
 supporters of the Presbyterian church. .As 
 a business man he possesse ■ superior quali- 
 fications, and in the many positions in which 
 he has been called to fill, he has exhibited 
 an executi\e ability that justifies the confi- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 487 
 
 dence reposed in him. He is active and 
 enthusiastic, a hard and zealous worker in 
 what he undertakes, and is one of Sand- 
 wich's most highly esteemed and valued 
 citizens. He has one of the finest residences 
 in Sandwich, and w.th a wife, who is a lady 
 of culture and pleasing presence, and chil- 
 dren who are the parents' joy and pride, it 
 may be said that he has a model, happy 
 home. 
 
 JOHN D. ROBERTS, one of De Kalb 
 county's highly prosperous and success- 
 ful farmers, is the owner of over twelve 
 hundred acres of valuable farm land in the 
 township of Clinton, resides in the township 
 of Afton, where he gives his personal atten- 
 tion to the cultivation of eight hundred and 
 thirty-two acres of choice farm property 
 which is located on sections 30, 31 and 32, 
 the property of his wife and her two sons. 
 Mr. Roberts was born July 7, 1850, in 
 the township of Sugar Grove, Kane county, 
 Illinois, on what is now known as the Jones 
 farm. The paternal grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, Humphrey Roberts, Sr. , was a native 
 Wales, and there married Mary Owens, and 
 in 1832 came to the United States, settling 
 in Oneida county. New York, where his 
 death occurred in June, 1854. His wife 
 survived some years, and died in Wyoming 
 county. New York, December 28, 1867. 
 They had a family of eight children, of 
 whom Humphrey, the father of our subject, 
 was the youngest. The latter was but nine 
 years of age when he accompanied his par- 
 ents across the water, and grew to man- 
 hood in Oneida county. New York, remain- 
 ing with his parents until after he reached 
 his majority. He was married in Oneida 
 county, January 7, 1846, and about one year 
 
 later came west, locating in Sugar Grove 
 township, Kane county, Illinois, where he 
 followed farming for ten years. In 1857 he 
 came to De Kalb county, and settled upon 
 a quarter section of land in Clinton town- 
 ship, which he had purchased some six years 
 previously. For twenty-five years he re- 
 mained upon that farm, then built a fine 
 residence in Waterman, Illinois, and remov- 
 ing to that village he lived a retired life. 
 He was one of Illinois' highly esteemed citi- 
 zens, a man who led an active life, and 
 whose well known integrity and established 
 reputation won for him the regard and con- 
 fidence of all who knew him. During the 
 Civil war he assisted the war department 
 materially in securing recruits and organiz- 
 ing companies, and his services in this re- 
 spect won for him the recognition and praise 
 of those in authority. He became a very 
 prosperous man, and a large land owner, 
 the village of Waterman being platted on 
 land which he formerly owned. His death 
 occurred in the village of Waterman in 
 I 887. His wife was a Miss Catherine Jones, 
 an estimable lady, a native of Oneida coun- 
 ty. New York, and a daughter of William 
 Jones, a leading business man of that coun- 
 ty. She lived to a ripe old age, and died 
 in 1S97, at her home in Waterman. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to De 
 Kalb county with his parent.-^ and their 
 family of six children. He was then a lad 
 of nine years, and at the neighboring schools 
 in the country he received his elementary 
 education, which, judging from his success- 
 ful life, he has made the best use. Farm- 
 ing has been his life work, although about 
 i87( he abandoned farm life and its duties 
 for a time and engaged in the lumber busi- 
 ness at Waterman, which he successfully 
 conducted for two years. At the end of 
 
488 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 that time he sold out the lumber yard, and 
 purchased a farm of three hundred and 
 twenty acres in Clinton township, to which 
 he removed and be^'an its cultivation. From 
 time to time he added to his possessions, 
 until he has now over twelve hundred acres 
 in Clinton township, comprising five highly 
 improved farms. He deals extensively in 
 horses and cattle, and his excellent and dis- 
 cerning judgment in this line has enabled him 
 to build up a business of more than ordinary 
 pretentions. 
 
 On the 5th of January, 1895, ^'r- Rob- 
 erts married Mrs. Belle Broughton, ncc 
 Beers, the widow of Chauncey W. Brough- 
 ton, and the daughter of Charles and Mary 
 A. Beers. I^)y her first marriage she has 
 two children, Charles !>., who is employed 
 in one of the offices of Swift & Company of 
 Chicago, and Chauncey W. , Jr., at home. 
 On his marriage with Mrs. Broughton, he 
 removed from Clinton to Afton township, to 
 look after the farm property of his wife, 
 amounting to eight hundred and thirty-two 
 acres of excellent and well improved land. 
 By a former marriage Mr. Roberts has two 
 children. Wilder Humphery and Grace M. 
 The former is engaged in farming and stock 
 raising in Clinton township, while the latter 
 is engaged in the millinery business in \V'a- 
 terman. 
 
 Mr. Roberts has all through life been an 
 unflinching and stanch Republican, voting 
 at all times for the nominee of the part}', 
 national, state and county. He has never 
 indicated his desire to hold ofiice, his many 
 interests occupying his time and attention. 
 However, by reason of his knowledge of \al- 
 ues of both real and personal property, he 
 was prevailed upon to serve as assessor (4 
 his township a term of )ears and filled that 
 position satisfactorily to all concerned, and 
 
 has been school director for twenty-six years, 
 and is still serving in that capacity. 
 
 Mr. Roberts is in every respect a self- 
 made man, and what he possesses is the di- 
 rect result of hard work, persevering efforts, 
 an indomitable will, a natural and inborn 
 estimate of values, coupled with excellent 
 judgment in mercantile and business affairs. 
 Born in the neighboring county of Ivane, 
 reared and living all his life in the county of 
 De Kalb, Mr. Roberts has witnessed the 
 various phases of transformation, which 
 have converted the wild fields of prairie into 
 that fertility and productiveness to be seen 
 (jn every hand and has contributed his efforts 
 tn brin" about that wonderful change. 
 
 JOHN WATSON, who came to De Kalb 
 county in February, 1857, and who for 
 years was actively engaged in farming, is 
 now living retired in the village of Shab- 
 bona. He was born near Boyleston, Wor- 
 cester county, Massachusetts, August 9, 
 1833, and is the son of John Watson, Sr., 
 also a native of Massachusetts, born in 
 Princeton, and the grandson of Colonel 
 Jacob Watson, a native of Scotland, who 
 came to the United States a young man 
 and who served as a colonel in the war of 
 181 2. John Watson, Sr. , grew to manhood 
 in Princeton, Massachusetts, and there 
 learned the tanner and currier trade, but 
 later engaged in the manufacture of lumber, 
 a business which he carried on extensi\ely 
 for some years. He was married in Prince- 
 ton to Miss Harriet Esterbrook, also a na- 
 tive of the Ba}' state. .\fter li\ing an active 
 business life he was called to his reward in 
 1842. He was a prominent man in \Vor- 
 cester county, which he represented in the 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 489 
 
 legislature of his state for one term. His 
 wife survived him some years. They had a 
 family of four sons and three daughters, of 
 whom our subject and one of his sisters, 
 Mary A., wife of C. J. Parker, of Worces- 
 ter, Massachusetts, are the only survivors. 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in Worcester, Massachusetts, where 
 he received a limited education. In his 
 youth he learned the cutter's trade in a boot 
 and shoe manufactory and followed that 
 trade a number of years. He was foreman 
 of the shop at Millbury, Massachusetts, for 
 four years and had the entire charge of the 
 cutting department. At Bolton, Massachu- 
 setts, he engaged in the same trade for one 
 year. In 1857 he came west and joined a 
 brother, William Watson, who located in 
 Shabbona township, De Kalb coimty, some 
 two or three years previously. On his ar- 
 rival he rented a farm in Shabbona town- 
 ship and for five years was a renter, during 
 which time he succeeded in accumulating a 
 little money, and in i860 purchased one 
 hundred and sixty acres of unimproved land 
 on section 28, Milan township. He at 
 once began its improvement and, as his 
 means increased, added to the area of the 
 farm until it comprised three hundred and 
 twenty acres. He also accpiired another 
 half section, which later he sold. For some 
 years he engaged in buying and selling farm 
 land, as the opportunity presented itself, in 
 which he felt sure of a reasonable profit in 
 the investment. He also engaged in buying 
 and shipping stock, in which line of business 
 he continued a few years. In 1881 he 
 moved to the village of Shabbona, where he 
 continued for a time to deal in stock and 
 also to some extent in real estate. Since 
 his removal to the village, in addition to his 
 dwelling house, he has erected a large busi- 
 
 ness house and hotel, which he still owns. 
 In all probability he has done as much as 
 any other man in improving and develop- 
 ing the village, and has stimulated its 
 industries by loaning money to various 
 parties for building and other purposes. 
 
 In October, 1856, Mr. Watson was 
 united in marriage in Worcester, Massa- 
 chusetts, to Miss Emily E. Joslyn, a native 
 of Connecticut, but reared m Worcester, 
 Massachusetts, and a daughter of y\lbro 
 Joslyn, who died when she was a child. 
 By this union there are nine children: El- 
 len E. is the wife of Wells F. Spencer, a 
 farmer of Clinton township, De Kalb coun- 
 ty. Charles 1^. is married, and is engaged 
 in business in Rockford, Illinois. Martha 
 J. is the wife of Walter Wilson, and they 
 reside on the Watson farm in Milan town- 
 ship. Mary is a well-educated lady, and is 
 engaged in teaching in De Kalb count}'. 
 Frank S. died at the age of twenty-one 
 years; William at seventeen; Lillie A. at 
 twenty; John A. at nineteen, and Flossie 
 when two years old. 
 
 Politically Mr. Watson was formerly 
 identified with the Republican party, but 
 for the past five years has been a sup- 
 porter of the Prohibition party. In i8g6 
 he was a delegate to the state convention 
 at Springfield and was also a delegate to 
 the convention at Peoria in 1898. By his 
 fellow citizens he has been honored with 
 various positions of honor and trust, serv- 
 ing as school director for years and as 
 township trustee six years while residing in 
 the country. Since his removal to the vil- 
 lage he has served on the village board for 
 six years as trustee. He is well known 
 throughout the county as a man of sterl- 
 ing character, one in whom the people 
 can trust. 
 
490 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 EDWARD F. LEDOYT, who is efficiently 
 serving as postmaster of Sandwich. Illi- 
 nois, traces his ancestry back several gen- 
 erations, being a descendant of one of five 
 brothers who came from France with La 
 Fayette and served with him in the Revolu- 
 tionary war, locating at its close in Holland. 
 Massachusetts. His father is a descendant 
 of the Webbers, one of whom was the first 
 governor of \'irginia. On his mother's side 
 he is from the Hamilton family, the re- 
 nowned Alexander Hamilton being a rela- 
 tive. 
 
 Edward F. Ledoyt was born in De Kalb 
 county, Illinois, June 30, 1864, and is the 
 son of John and Louisa (Howe) Ledoyt, the 
 former a native of Connecticut, and the lat- 
 ter of Massachusetts. In 1858, the father 
 with his family located on a farm north of 
 Sandwich, and for some years was engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits. He is now and has 
 been for some years, foreman of the mold- 
 ing department of the Sandwich Manufact- 
 uring Company. Fraternally he is a mem- 
 ber of the Illinois Mutual Aid Society, and 
 religiously he is a Congregationalist, his 
 wife being a member of the same church. 
 Of their four children, our subject is the 
 oldest. Emma Louisa is now the wife of 
 C. M. Yeariey, a merchant residing in East 
 Galesburg, Illinois. Everett J. is the man- 
 ager of a store in Sandwich. Eva Ma}' is 
 deputy postmistress at Sandwich. When 
 our subject was but three years of age, he 
 accompanied his parents to Milford, Massa- 
 chusetts, and returned with them to Sand- 
 wich three years later. In the public schools 
 of Sandwich he received his education, and 
 in his youth learned the trade of molder, 
 which he followed four \ears. He then 
 went into business, running a newsstand in 
 the postoffice building, and under G. H. 
 
 Robertson was made assistant postmaster, 
 serving with him two years. On the retire- 
 ment of Mr. Robertson, and the appoint- 
 ment of Mr. Ja}Cox he was continued as as- 
 sistant postmaster and served with him four 
 years, during which time he continued his 
 mercantile business. For six j'ears he was 
 city clerk of Sandwich, and was thus engaged 
 during the building of the electric light plant 
 and the improvements made in paving the 
 streets. On the 7th of February, 1898, he 
 was appointed postmaster of Sandwich and 
 took posession of the office, April i, 1S9S. 
 For the transaction of the business of the 
 office he has two assistants, Miss Evr, May 
 Ledoyt and Winifred Haymond, two of the 
 most accommodating and efficient assistants 
 found in the state. 
 
 In addition to the duties devolving upon 
 him as postmaster, Mr. Ledoyt carries on a 
 general bakerj- and restaurant, keeping a 
 neat and attractive stock in a building of 
 which he is the owner. Fraternally he is 
 a member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, but takes np specially active part 
 in the work of his lodge. He has been act- 
 ive in politics since attaining his majority, 
 and was secretary of the Republican county 
 central committee for six years, when he 
 resigned. As a delegate he attends the 
 various county and state conventions, and 
 was among the number that attended the 
 state convention in June. 1S98, with nomi- 
 nated candidates for the various state offices. 
 He was a delegate and voted for Joseph Fi- 
 ler, when he was nominated for governor 
 of Illinois. He is one of the busy, ener- 
 getic men of the county, and is a man of 
 rare ability, being public-spirited and lib- 
 eral in his views and actions. He has done 
 much toward the advancement of the com- 
 munity in which he resides, and is justly rec- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 491 
 
 ognized as a representative citizen. As 
 postmaster he is accommodating and effi- 
 cient, never giving the patrons of the office 
 just cause for complaint. He impresses a 
 stranger as a man of good business quahfi- 
 cations, and in short the right man in the 
 right place. 
 
 THOMAS J. WRIGHT, banker and 
 hardware merchant of Somonauk, Illi- 
 nois, was born in Genesee county, New 
 York, August 24, 1830, and is the son of 
 Levi and Arathusa (Brigham) Wright, both 
 of whom were natives of Vermont. By oc- 
 cupation Levi Wright was a farmer, and 
 gave almost his entire time and attention to 
 farming interests, although he at times held 
 office. In 1843, he came with his family to 
 Illinois, and located in La Salle county, his 
 farm, however, extending into De Kalb coun- 
 ty. 'He bought a tract of government land, 
 and also eighty acres which had been en- 
 tered by another person. This land is now 
 owned by the subject of this sketch. The 
 Wright family lived in ihe Genesee river 
 valley for a time, and later moved to Mon- 
 roe county. New York, before coming west. 
 He was a pioneer in this part of the state, 
 and was a man of excellent business qualifi- 
 cations, well known and highly respected 
 among a large circle of friends. He served 
 in the war of 18 12, and was taken prisoner, 
 but never e.xchanged. For services ren- 
 dered in that war he received a pension. 
 After his removal to La Salle county, Illi- 
 nois, he served as a member of the board 
 of supervisors for more than fifteen years. 
 His death occurred November 2, 1865, at 
 the age of seventy-three years. He was 
 twice married, and by his union with Ara- 
 thusa Brigham, there were six children, as 
 
 24 
 
 follows: Charles S., a resident of Monroe 
 county. New York; Stephen D., a retired 
 farmer residing in Somonauk; Andrew J., 
 who resides at Fort Dodge, Iowa; Clarissa, 
 wife of George Bark, a farmer of De Kalb 
 county; Louisa, wife of William Bark, of 
 De Kalb county; and Thomas J., our sub- 
 ject. His second marriage was with Esther 
 Whitmore. By this marriage there were 
 six children. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the farm, and attended the district schools 
 both in New York and Illinois. He was but 
 thirteen years old when he accompanied his 
 parents to this state, and since that time 
 his entire life has been spent here. He 
 knows much of the hardships and depriva- 
 tions incident to pioneer life. From 1843 
 to 1880, he continued on the farm, and was 
 a very successful farmer. In the latter year 
 he removed to Somonauk, and commenced 
 the banking business, which he has followed 
 until the present time. While a private 
 bank, it is organized with C. V. Stevens, as 
 president; Thomas J. Wright, cashier; and 
 W. H. Wright, assistant cashier. The first 
 president was John Clark, and during his 
 administration our subject was vice-presi- 
 dent. On the death of Mr. Clark in 1891, 
 the bank was re-organized, since which time 
 Mr. Wright has been cashier. 
 
 Mr. Wright was married in March, 1856, 
 to Miss Lois M. Gage, a daughter of Alvarus 
 and Eucla (Brigham) Gage. The former 
 died in Somonauk, in 1887, at the age of 
 eighty-four years. His wife died January 
 26, 1898, at the age of ninety-two years. 
 They were members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church for many years. Mrs. 
 Wright is the only survivor of their four 
 children. To Mr. and Mrs. Wright four 
 children have been born, as follows: (i) 
 
492 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Ellen D. is the wife of C. E. Hess, who 
 resides in Somonauk. They have two chil- 
 dren, Lucille and lone. (2) William H. is 
 the assistant cashier of the bank at Somon- 
 auk. He married Nettie Moore, who departed 
 this life in 1889. He is also mayor of 
 Somonauk, and was city clerk several years. 
 (3) Edward resides on the home farm, which 
 consists of three hundred and fifty acres. 
 He married Anna M. Hunt, and has two 
 children, Raymond and Ethel Orlean. (4) 
 Clara is the wife of Frank Edgett, and they 
 reside at Earlville, Illinois. They have one 
 child, Paul Wright. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Wright is a member of 
 the Masonic order, holding membership in 
 blue lodge and chapter. In politics he is 
 independent, voting for the men he con- 
 siders best qualified to fill the various offices. 
 For many years he was connected with the 
 school board, and also town treasurer for 
 four years continuously. He is quite active 
 in public affairs, and takes a commendable 
 interest in all matters affecting the welfare 
 of his town and county. For several years 
 he served as a member of the board of 
 supervisors, and in every position held it is 
 needless to say that he discharged the duties 
 incumbent on him with his customary 
 efficiency, thereby strengthening the already 
 high regard universally entertained for him, 
 by those.who knew him as an honest, upright 
 and thorough-going business man, deservedly 
 held high in esteem by all. 
 
 HUGH McQUEEN, deceased, was for 
 about thirty years a well known citi- 
 zen of South Grove township. He was 
 born in the lowlands of Scotland, about 
 twelves miles from Ayr, the home of Robert 
 Burns, July 29, i{<29, and was the son of 
 
 Francis and Mary (McMillenl McQueen, 
 both also natives of Scotland and who were 
 the parents of two children, Hugh and 
 Peter. When but three years old the fa- 
 ther of our subject died, and when ten years 
 old he commenced life for himself, working 
 as a day laborer on farms, at which occupa- 
 tion he continued for some years. Through 
 the aid of friends he received a fair educa- 
 tion and later became a well informed man. 
 At the early age of eighteen years he was 
 united in marriage June 7, 1847, '" Ayr- 
 shire, to Jane McKenzie, a native of the 
 same shire, born June 25, 1827, and the 
 daughter of John and Ellen (Key) McKenzie, 
 who were also natives of the same country, 
 and the parents of si.\ children: John, Will- 
 iam, Mary, Jane, Ellen and Isabella. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. McQueen ten children were 
 born, three of whom are deceased. The 
 living are: John, Hugh, Jr., Mary, Ellen, 
 |2nd) Frank, [ane and William A. The 
 deceased are: Jane, Elizabeth and Ellen. 
 For about twenty years after his mar- 
 riage Mr. McQueen engaged in the brick 
 and tile trade in his native countrs'. He 
 then determined to come to America and 
 in August. 1867, sailed with his family from 
 Glasgow, and landed at New York. They 
 at once came direct to De Kalb county, 
 Illinois, where the parents of Mrs. McQueen 
 had settled some years previously. After 
 living upon rented land for about four years, 
 Mr. McQueen purchased one hundred and 
 sixty acres, and at once commenced life in 
 earnest, improving the estate, and from 
 time to time making additions to it, until 
 he was the owner of four hundred and eighty 
 acres of as tine land as any in De Kalb 
 county. He was very successful in his 
 farming operations, and for a time made a 
 specialty of the raising of Shorthorn and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 493 
 
 Durham cattle, and was ranked among the 
 leading breeders in the county. He also 
 engaged in breeding Berkshire hogs, and 
 later the Poland-China variety. 
 
 In politics he was a stanch Republican, 
 with which party he acted from the time 
 he became a naturalized citizen. In his 
 native land he was a member of the Scotch 
 Presbyterian church, but on coming to De 
 Kalb county, united with the Congrega- 
 tionalists. He was a deeply religious man, 
 one of good qualities of both head and 
 heart. His death occurred January 12, 
 1S97, at the age of si.xty-eight years, and 
 his remains were laid to rest in the cemetery 
 in Malta township. His widow is yet liv- 
 ing, and is also a member of the Congrega- 
 tionalist church. Like her, husband she is 
 held in the highest esteem. 
 
 EDWIN L. FLEWELLIN, who came 
 to De Kalb county in 1861, and who 
 owns a valuable farm of two hundred and 
 forty-three acres in Paw Paw township, is 
 now living a retired life at Shabbona Grove. 
 He is a native of Westchester county. Nevi' 
 York, born March 11, 1835, and there grew 
 to manhood, attending the common schools 
 during the winter and assisting in cultivating 
 the home farm during the summer months. 
 He remained with his father on the home 
 farm until he attained his majority. He 
 was married in Westchester county, June 
 4, 1856, to Miss Jane Creswell, a native of 
 Glasgow, Scotland, who came to America 
 when a young lady. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fle- 
 wellin commenced their domestic life on a 
 farm in Westchester county, and there re- 
 mained a few years. In 1861 they came 
 to De Kalb county, Illinois, where Mr. Fle- 
 
 wellin purchased a partially improved farm 
 of one hundred and sixty acres, and, mov- 
 ing to the place, commenced its cultivation, 
 and there resided a few years. Later he 
 purchased eighty-three acres just across the 
 road, and, moving to that farm, there re- 
 sided until the death of his wife, who passed 
 to her reward, February 15, i S96. He 
 then turned the farm over to his son, and, 
 moving to the village of Shabbona Grove, 
 has since lived a retired life, enjoying the 
 fruits of his former toil. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Flewellin seven chil- 
 dren were born; Anna is the wife of Henry 
 Mosely, a farmer of Thompson, Ohio. Rob- 
 ert is a grain dealer and merchant residing 
 in the village of Shabbona Grove. Isen re- 
 sides in East Paw Paw, where he is engaged 
 in farming. Jennie is the wife of Edwin 
 George, of Leland, Illinois. Horace C. is 
 in partnership with his brother in the mer- 
 cantile business at Shabbona Grove. Es- 
 tella is the wife of Charles Holmes, a 
 farmer of Paw Paw township. Edwin L. 
 is operating the old homestead. 
 
 Politically Mr. Flewellin is a Republic- 
 an, with which party he has been identified 
 since attaining his majority. He was twen- 
 ty-one years old the year in which the Re- , 
 publican party made its first nomination for 
 president, and cast his ballot for the nomi- 
 nee. Office holding was never to his liking 
 and he therefore never held any. The fam- 
 ily are members of the Congregational 
 church of Shabbona Grove, and all are 
 highly esteemed for their worth's sake. 
 
 WILLIAM T.MILLER, M.D., physician 
 and surgeon, residing in Sandwich, Illi- 
 nois, was born in Tioga county. New York, 
 October 12, 1858, and is the son of Dr. J. 
 
494 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 J. and Catherine (DeCudres) Miller, both 
 of whom are natives of New York. The 
 father is still engaged in the practice of his 
 profession at Amsterdam, New York. He 
 takes little interest in politics, but acts with 
 the Republican party. His birth occurred 
 October 3, 1834, and he was united in mar 
 riage with Catherine De Cudres, October 
 26, 1854. She was born October 4, 1835, 
 and died in 1882. Religiously she was a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and was very active in church and Sunday- 
 school work. She was also an active mem- 
 ber of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
 Union, and for some years was president of 
 the local union. She was a woman of 
 much literary ability and during the war was 
 a contributor to the Atlantic Monthly. Her 
 father, Marcus A. De Cudres, resides on 
 Sherman avenue, Evanston, Illinois, at the 
 advanced age of ninety-eight years. He is 
 a prominent member of the First Methodist 
 Episcopal church of that city, and is well 
 preserved in body and mind. His wife died 
 many years ago. Of their children, Lewis 
 now resides in Pawnee City, Nebraska. 
 During the Civil war he was a member of 
 the Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, 
 the regiment that carried with them the 
 eagle, "Old Abe". In the battle of Gettys- 
 burg, he suffered the loss of an arm. Like 
 other members of the family, he was a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 For the past fifteen years he has been 
 county clerk of Pawnee county, Nebraska, 
 a position which he fills in a most satisfac- 
 tory manner. Adolphus is a resident of 
 Ellsworth, Kansas. Elizabeth is the wife of 
 Rev. A. C. Smith, of the Wyoming, New 
 York, conference, of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church. Rosa died young. Powers 
 and James died while serving their country 
 
 in the Civil war. The latter died of dysen- 
 tery in Tennessee, while Powers died from 
 exposure while fighting the Indians on the 
 plains. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, Andrew Miller, was born in Hamilton 
 county, Pennsylvania, August 5, 1794. He 
 was the son of Christian Miller, who emi- 
 grated from Germany to Pennsylvania. The 
 maternal great-great-grandfather came from 
 France during the French revolution. He 
 was a member of the aristocracy, and had 
 to leave on account of the uprising of the 
 common people. He was stowed away 
 between bales of cotton, and thus saved 
 himself from being a victim of the guillo- 
 tine. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was the only 
 child of his parents and was reared in town 
 and received his primary education in the 
 public schools. He later attended Union 
 College at Schenectady, New York, from 
 which he was graduated in the class of '78. 
 After graduating in the literary department 
 he entered the medical department of the 
 same college, from which he was graduated 
 in 1 88 1. He then began practice at East 
 .Albany, New York, where he remained some 
 years, and in 1894 went to Berlin, Ger- 
 mary, and took a special course of one 
 year. From Germany he came to Sand- 
 wich, where he has since continued, having 
 built up an extensive practice. For ten 
 years he was an officer on the board of 
 health, while yet living in New York, and 
 was local surgeon for the Susquehanna Rail- 
 road for the same period of time. He was 
 also demonstrator of physiology in the hos- 
 pital school of nurses. New York. 
 
 Dr. Miller was married June 28, 1895, 
 in Berlin, Germany, to Miss Estrid Clem- 
 ment, a daughter of Jordan P. and Anna 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 49S 
 
 (Harnsleth) Clemment. Her father died 
 December 3, 1895, in New York, at the 
 age of fift\'-five years. Her mother is yet 
 living in Aarhus, Denmark. They were the 
 parents of three children — Ulrikka Dag- 
 mar, Estrid and Carlos. Jordan P. Clem- 
 ment was a glove manufacturer in Aarhus, 
 Denmark, and the glove which takes his 
 name has yet a wide sale and is one of the 
 best known gloves in the market. 
 
 Dr. Miller is a Mason, a member of 
 Cobleskill Lodge, No. 394, A. F. & A. M., 
 of New York, and of the chapter. No. 229. 
 He was for some years worshipful master of 
 the former and high priest of the latter. He 
 is also a member of Temple Commandery, 
 No. 14, in Albanj\ New York. For a time 
 he was a member of the Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows, and is now a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America and Knights 
 of the Globe, being examining physician in 
 each order. In politics he is a Republican, 
 and takes an active interest in political af- 
 fairs. As a physician he ranks high in the 
 profession, being a well read and successful 
 practitioner. 
 
 JAMES T. POWELL, who, after a long 
 and busy life, is now living retired in 
 the village of Somonauk, was born in 
 Watertown, a suburb of Boston, Massachu- 
 setts, October 17, 1823, and is the son of 
 Howell and Mary Ann Powell, natives of 
 Wales and England, respective!}', but who 
 came to the United States early in the pres- 
 ent century. While residing in the east the 
 father engaged in gardening, but on coming 
 west, in the fa 1 of 1837, he engaged in gen- 
 eral farming, which occupation he continued 
 during the remainder of his life, dying in 
 his seventy-fifth year. On coming to Illi- 
 
 no s he located in La Salle county, where 
 he purchased government land, and in due 
 time developed a fine farm. Both he and 
 his wife were members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and their house was a 
 stopping place and home of the itinerant 
 ministry. The family were known in a ra- 
 dius of many miles and were of good report, 
 such people as gave character to the pio- 
 neer community of which they were an 
 active and prominent part. For many 
 years the good wife was an invalid. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was the 
 youngest of five children born to Howell 
 and Mary Ann Powell, the others being 
 Jane, who married Joshua Rhodes, both 
 now being deceased; Mary Ann, who mar- 
 ried Samuel Warner, and both are now de- 
 ceased; William, who is engaged in garden- 
 ing near Mendota, Illinois; and Eliza, who 
 married Thomas Gransden, both now being 
 deceased. 
 
 On the home farm our subject grew to 
 manhood, and from the fact that it was pio- 
 neer times, and that schools were not plen- 
 tiful, he received but little education within 
 the walls of the school room. His sister 
 Eliza taught the school in a log school- 
 house for many years. In 1849, in a com- 
 priny of twelve person.^, he crossed the 
 plains to California, traveling with ox teams 
 to Salt Lake, and then used pack mules the 
 rest of the way. The)' liked the mules be- 
 cause they went faster than the oxen, and 
 it was therefore more satisfactory. They 
 were four months on the way, and it can be 
 well inferred that they experienced consid- 
 erable hardships, although they met with 
 no serious trouble. Two of their horses, 
 however, were drowned in crossing Bear 
 river; this was caused by trying to lead them 
 across at the end of a lariat. When they 
 
496 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 reached the swift current their heads were 
 pulled under, and before they could be re- 
 leased they were drowned. Mr. Powell re- 
 mained in California for nearly two years, 
 and there engaged in mining, and did fairly 
 well. Of the twelve men in the company 
 crossing the plains, only three are now 
 living, John Culmer, Edwin Breadsley and 
 our subject. Mr. Powell was married in 
 1852, to Miss Ann Stafford, a native of 
 New York, and by this union are two chil- 
 dren living, Ida and Ella, both remaining at 
 home. The wife and children are members 
 of the Congregational church at Somonauk, 
 in which the\- take a li\el\' interest. Fra- 
 ternally Mr. Powell is a Mason, holding 
 membership with the blue lodge, chapter and 
 commander}'. In politics he is a thorough 
 going Republican, and has been identified 
 with the party since its organization. On 
 returning from California, Mr. Powell again 
 engaged in farming, which occupation he 
 followed until 1862, when he moved to 
 Somonauk, and has there since continued 
 to reside. He is a well known citizen of 
 the place and has the respect and confidence 
 of the entire communitv. 
 
 THOMAS PARKER, who resides on sec- 
 tions 5 and 8, De Kalb township, De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, is a farmer who thor- 
 oughly understands his business. He was 
 born in Wethersfield, Vermont, December 
 10, 1844, and is the son of James and Char- 
 lotte (Carnes) Parker. The former was a 
 native of New York, born June 10, 1819, 
 and who died May 25, 1875. His wife was 
 born in Vermont March 21, 1822, and died 
 November 8, 1889. James Parker was the 
 son of Thomas and Thankful Parker, the 
 latter being born November 15, 1790, and 
 
 who died January 18, 1865. The maternal 
 grandmother, Persis Carnes, was born April 
 20, 1787, and died December 16, 1830. The 
 great-grandfather, Jehuel Whittemore, was 
 born in 1763 and died December 31, 1847. 
 His wife was Poll}' Higgins. 
 
 James Parker was deprived of paternal 
 aid when quite young and was compelled to 
 work out by the month. In early life he 
 moved to Vermont, where by his strict at- 
 tention to the duties imposed upon him he 
 soon won the confidence of his employers 
 and in time became the head of a woolen 
 factory. In commencing business he was 
 first associated with his uncle, Enos Whitte- 
 more, but soon purchased the latter's inter- 
 est and carried it on alone. In those early 
 days, before the establishment of almshouses, 
 the poor were taken care of by the township, 
 one man being appointed to take charge of 
 them. This office was filled by him for 
 three years, beginning with 1849. 
 
 Later Mr. Parker removed to Illinois, 
 locating in Mayfield township. He came 
 by way of the lakes to Chicago, where he 
 engaged a team to take him to his destina- 
 tion in De Kalb county, where his uncle 
 then resided. Soon afterwards he purchased 
 eighty acres of partially improved land, 
 which under his excellent management soon 
 developed into a first-class farm. He was 
 a very prominent man in his day and held 
 the office of supervisor for a number of years 
 and was school trustee of his township for 
 several terms. A consistent member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, he served as 
 class leader for some years. His marriage 
 with Charlotte Carnes was celebrated March 
 4, 1841. Of their family of seven children 
 six grew to maturity. 
 
 Thomas Parker, our subject, was second 
 of the seven children of James and Char- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 497 
 
 lotte Parker. He was reared and edacated 
 in Mayfield and Sycamore, and for a time 
 engaged in teaching, but on account of his 
 father's declining health, he was compelled 
 to abandoned that profession, and give his 
 attention to agricultural pursuits. In his 
 twentieth year he purchased one hundred 
 and sixty acres of land in its primitive state, 
 and four years later purchased an additional 
 eighty acres adjoining, which he worked to 
 such an advantage as enabled him to meet 
 his payments when due, and it was but a 
 short time before his entire place was unin- 
 cumbered. In 1898 he purchased a farm 
 of twenty-one acres adjoining the city of De 
 Kalb. 
 
 On the 4th of February, 1871, Mr. 
 Parker was united in marriage with Miss 
 Clara A. Helmer, who was born in Herki- 
 mer county. New York, February 20, 1851, 
 and the daughter of Peter and Rosanna 
 Helmer. Her father was the fourth son of 
 Adam F. and Anna M. Helmer. Her great 
 grandparents on her mother's side. Captain 
 Henry and Catherme Harter, were taken 
 prisoners in the French war of 1757. As 
 the captives were crossing the St. Lawrence 
 river in a birch bark canoe on their way to 
 Canada, Mrs. Harter gave birth to a daugh- 
 ter. In process of time this daughter was 
 adopted by the Indians, and was afterwards 
 the wife of General Michael Myers. Adam 
 Helmer, the grandfather, served his country 
 under Washington, in the dark days of the 
 Revolutionary war. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Parker commenced their 
 domestic life upon the farm which he had 
 purchased, and where they have since con- 
 tinued to reside, each year adding to the 
 improvements of the preceding year, mak- 
 ing their farm one of the most desirable in 
 the township. Mr. Parker is a practical 
 
 farmer, believing in the utility of modern 
 improvements, his farm being well supplied 
 with all the latest improved machinery. 
 He and his wife are members of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, in which he has 
 been class leader for a number of years. 
 For many years he was a member of the 
 official board of the church, and has always 
 taken great interest in its work. 
 
 JAMES BANKS is a practical farmer re- 
 siding on section 18, De Kalb township. 
 He is a native of county Longford, Ireland, 
 born in 1834, and is the son of Thomas and 
 Bridget Banks, both of whom were natives 
 of the Green Isle. Thomas Banks was a 
 prosperous farmer in his native land, and 
 with his wife there lived and died. His 
 family consisted of eight children, of whom 
 our subject was fourth in order of birth. 
 
 James Banks was reared and educated 
 in his native land, in the town of Ballenrue, 
 county Longford, parish Cullmkill, where 
 he remained until the age of nineteen, when, 
 with a view of bettering his condition in life, 
 he emigrated to this country, locating first 
 in Orange county. New York, where he re- 
 mained some three years. Hearing of the 
 great west and its boundless opportunities 
 for the honest tiller of the soil, he deter- 
 mined on making a further journey, and in 
 1856 we find him in South Grove township, 
 De Kalb county, Illinois, where he worked 
 for W. M. Byers for ten years, after which 
 he purchased eighty acres of land, upon 
 which he lived and worked for three years. 
 That farm he sold and purchased another 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres in De 
 Kalb township, upon which some improve- 
 ments had been made, which were very 
 crude compared with those made by its 
 
498 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 present owner. He has built, tiled, fenced 
 and planted until his place presents a very 
 beautiful appearance. Good fortune has 
 not always attended him, but in a main he 
 has been prosperous. In 1880 he Iiad the 
 misfortune to lose his barn by fire, sustain- 
 ing thereby a great loss. 
 
 In 1863 Mr. Banks was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Kate McNamara, a native 
 of county Clare, Ireland, and a daughter of 
 Dennis and Catherine McNamara, both of 
 whom were natives of Ireland. By this 
 union two children were born: Mary, in 
 1865, and Thomas, in 1867. The family 
 are strict Roman Catholics and are highly 
 respected for their honesty and truthfulness, 
 and whose characters are unimpeachable. 
 Politically, Mr. Banks is a Democrat. 
 
 TAMES HENRY HARMON, a retired 
 *J farmer residing in Somonauk, is a native 
 of De Kalb county, born in Somonauk town- 
 ship, December 15, 1844, and is the son of 
 Anthony and Elizabeth (Wilco.x) Harmon, 
 the former a native of North Carolina and 
 the latter of New York. The father came 
 to De Kalb county in 1833, in his nineteenth 
 year, and after coming here learned the 
 trade of blacksmith, which occupation he 
 followed in connection with farming and 
 plowmaking during the remainder of his 
 life. He was a man of much mechanical 
 genius and a very useful man in the neigh- 
 borhood. He was capable of making 
 almost everything in demand on the farm 
 or in the town. On coming to De Kalb 
 county he drove an ox team for his father, 
 killing game in abundance while on the way. 
 His father took up a quarter-section of gov- 
 ernment land and at once began to make a 
 home for the family. He lived in the tim- 
 
 ber, cutting and splitting rails with which to 
 fence his farm. Few men were better 
 known in the southern part of De Kalb 
 count}- than Anthony Harmon, especially 
 during pioneer times. Learning to manu- 
 facture plows, he supplied the neighborhood 
 and farmers would often come to his shop 
 from a distance of ten miles or more, start- 
 ing at three o'clock in the morning in order 
 to be the first in town to get their work 
 done. His death occurred December 18, 
 1892, when seventy-seven years of age. 
 For some years prior to his death he did no 
 work, only that he might accommodate 
 some good neighbor. He was once elected 
 supervisor, when not aware that his name 
 was even proposed for the office, but refused 
 to serve, as office holding was not to his 
 taste. While not a member of any church, 
 he helped with his means to build all the 
 churches in his town. His widow is still 
 living in her seventy-seventh year. She is 
 in good health and in the enjoyment of life, 
 as much so as could be expected in one of 
 her years. Formerly a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal chijrch, she later united 
 with the Baptist church, with which body 
 she is now connected. Of the six children 
 born to Anthony and Elizabeth Harmon, 
 three died in early life: Hattie, Eleanor 
 and one unnamed. The living are Amos 
 W. , James H. and George C. Amos \\'. 
 first married Miss Rose, by whom he had 
 three children: William Ellsworth, Luella 
 and John. She died at the age of thirty- 
 eight years; and by his second marriage he 
 has two children, Nora and Herbert. George 
 C. resides in the township of Victor on a 
 farm. He married Margaret George, by 
 whom he has six children: Anthony, Elea- 
 nor, Charles, Edith, Rachel and Minnie. 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 499 
 
 the farm, and received his education in the 
 common schools. At the age of twenty- 
 one years, he commenced farming for him- 
 self, and that was his occupation until 
 within the past five years, since which time 
 he has been engaged exclusively in buying 
 stock, a business that he has followed more 
 or less for twenty-five years, purchasing 
 both cattle and hogs for the eastern mar- 
 kets. He still owns the farm, one and a 
 half miles north of Somonauk, consisting of 
 two hundred and forty acres, which is well 
 improved in every respect. On the farm he 
 runs a dairy, keeping about seventeen head 
 head of milch cows. 
 
 Mr. Harmon was married January 17, 
 1865, to Miss Margaret Cain, a daughter of 
 John and Mary Cain, both of whom were 
 natives of Ireland, and who came to the 
 United States in 1842, locating first in New 
 York, from which state they removed to De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, in 1856. Here the 
 father died in 1864, at the age of about 
 seventy years. His wife is still living at the 
 advanced age of ninety-four years. They 
 were the parents of six children as follows: 
 Samuel, who resides in the town of York, 
 Nebraska; John, residing in Sandwich, Illi- 
 nois; Eliza, who died in November, 1897, 
 at the age of fifty-eight years; Margaret, 
 wife of our subject; James, who resides on 
 a farm near the United Presbyterian church 
 in Somonauk township; and Joseph, who 
 also resides on a farm in Somonauk town- 
 ship. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Harmon three children 
 have been born. Emma Augusta died in 
 1880, at the age of twelve years. Elmer 
 J., who married Miss Louisa Shaffman, re- 
 sides on the old homestead. Edgar B. is 
 in the employ of Carson, Pirie, Scott & 
 Company, Chicago, with whom he has been 
 
 engaged for the past four years. Mr. Har- 
 mon is recognized as one of the most 
 prominent farmers in De Kalb county, and 
 as a citizen he is progressive and honorable 
 arid enjoys the high regard of his fellow 
 men. 
 
 MAJOR F. BLISS, one of the enterpris- 
 ing farmers of Somonauk township, 
 was born in Bristol, Massachusetts, Novem- 
 ber 6, 1837, and is the son of Otis and 
 Charlotte (Dennis) Bliss, the former a na- 
 tive of Massachusetts, born January 20, 
 1802, and who died September 30, 1840. 
 The latter was a native of Massachusetts, 
 born June 22, 181 i, and died June 10, i8g8. 
 Her parents were Major and Eunice Dennis, 
 who came to this state in 1842, from Mas- 
 sachusetts, and here spent the remainder of 
 their lives, both dying at an advanced age. 
 Otis Bliss and Charlotte Dennis were mar- 
 ried March 30, 1828, and after residing in 
 the east some twelve years, came to De 
 Kalb county, in 1840, where he entered 
 government land, the patent to which is yet 
 in possession of our subject. It is signed 
 by President James K. Polk, and was given 
 in 1845. The tract comprised one hundred 
 and sixty acres, in addition to which he pur- 
 chased a few acres of timber, which all felt 
 that they must have. After residing here a 
 few months he was taken with typhoid fever, 
 from which he never recovered, his death 
 taking place September 30, 1840. On lo- 
 cating here neighbors were few and far be- 
 tween. Otis and Charlotte Bliss were the 
 parents of five children. Charlotte married 
 Clement Brook, and died in Jasper county, 
 Iowa, May 24, 1863, leaving a large family. 
 She was born February 10, 1849. Fidelia 
 K. , born November 21, 1830, married Myr- 
 
500 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 lin Carpenter, of Sandwich, Illinois, and 
 died April 21, 1892, leaving four children. 
 Lorena D. , born October 14, 1832, mar- 
 ried Samuel Orr, October 8, 1856. She re- 
 sides in Sandwich, Illinois. William O., 
 born February 13, 1835, is a retired farmer 
 residing in Sandwich. Major F., our sub- 
 ject, is fifth in order of birth. 
 
 After the death of her husband, the 
 mother of our subject married Thomas 
 Brook, who was born November 21, 1791, 
 and who served his country in the second 
 war with Great Britain. By this second 
 union she was the mother of four children 
 as follows: Hannah W., born February 2 1 , 
 1842, is a widow, and now resides in Santa 
 Cruz, California. Jacob D., born June 3, 
 1844, is a resident of Pelton, California. 
 Lucio, born July 16, 1848, died September 
 8, 1852. Lucius E., born May 22, 1851, 
 died August 17, 1875. 
 
 Major F. Bliss, our subject, was reared 
 on a farm, and has devoted almost his en- 
 tire life to agricultural pursuits. He came 
 west with the family in 1840, and is there- 
 fore one of the pioneers of the county. He 
 has a very distinct recollection of the early 
 days, and remembers when they attended 
 church with o.\-teams, religious services be- 
 ing held in the school-house. His father's 
 house was the usual stopping place of all 
 traveling ministers of the gospel. Our sub- 
 ject began life for himself in 1856, but made 
 his first purchase of land in i860. He is 
 now one of the oldest farmers in the south- 
 ern portion of the county. 
 
 Mr. Bliss was united in marriage August 
 21, 1862, with Miss Lydia Potter, a native 
 of Illinois, and a daughter of Darius and 
 Susan Potter, from New York state. By 
 this union were six children. Hattie F. 
 married F. H. Merwin, by whom she has 
 
 five children — Dwight, Paul, Ellen, Francis 
 and Dorothy. They reside on the east side 
 of Somonauk. Elmer F. is a resident of 
 Lincoln, Nebraska. Alma F. is the wife of 
 A. G. Merwin, and they reside in the village 
 of Somonauk. Herbert died in 1878 at the 
 age of four years, four months and fourteen 
 days. Guy L. is taking a course at Kno.\- 
 College, Galesburg, Illinois. Lucia L., of 
 the home circle, completes the family. 
 
 Mrs. Bliss is a member of the Baptist 
 church. Politically Mr. Bliss is independ- 
 ent, voting for the man rather than the par- 
 ty. In 1881 Mr. Bliss was president of the 
 Somonauk Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 
 a private institution, which confines its bus- 
 iness to Somonauk township. It has been 
 in existence for twent3'-two years, and has 
 been very successfully and economically 
 managed, affording a very low rate of insur- 
 ance to the citizens of the township. He 
 has been elected constable for the third time 
 and is now filling that office. His farm of 
 eighty acres of well improved land adjoins 
 the corporate limits of Somonauk on the 
 north. He devotes himself to both grain 
 and stock farming, and has upon his place 
 a good orchard, and small fruits of all kinds. 
 For nearly sixty years he has resided in the 
 vicinity of Somonauk, and it was thirteen 
 years after he located here that the railroad 
 was built. 
 
 JOHN M. BLAIR has a fine farm of 
 <J three hundred and forty-five acres on 
 section 7, Milan township, where his birth 
 occurred July 7, 1859. He is a son of Will- 
 iam Blair, a native of Scotland, born in 
 1824, and who there grew to manhood, 
 coming from thence to the United States in 
 1851, locating first in Kane county and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 501 
 
 about eight years later moving to Ue Kaib 
 county, where he purchased the land on 
 which our subject now resides. On that 
 place he lived until 1887, giving his atten- 
 tion to its proper cultivation and then mov- 
 ing to the village of Malta, where he is now 
 living a retired life. He was married in 
 St. Charles, Illinois, to Mary McNeal, also 
 a native of Scotland, and they became the 
 parents of three sons and three daughters, 
 as follows : Robert is a contractor and 
 builder residing in De Kalb, Illinois. John 
 M. is the subject of this review. Mary J. 
 is the wife of James Morehead, of Malta 
 township. Alice D. is the wife of W. H. 
 Morehead, of Chicago. W. D. is engaged 
 in the commission business at Chicago. 
 Edith is the wife of Frank McQueen, of 
 South Grove, Illinois. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the farm where he now resides, received 
 his primary education in the common 
 schools and later attended the Malta High 
 School. He remained with his father until 
 after, he attained his majority and in Malta 
 township, December 18, 1884, he was 
 united in marriage to Miss Cora J. Kemp- 
 son, a native of De Kalb county, and a 
 daughter of Thomas Kempson, one of its 
 pioneers. After their marriage they com- 
 menced their domestic life on the Blair 
 farm, of which he took complete charge. 
 In 1892 he purchased the Milan creamery, 
 which he operated until April, 1898, and 
 then rented the plant to the Spring Brook 
 Creamery Company. In connection with 
 general farming he has been engaged in 
 breeding and raising fine stock. He has 
 also fed and fattened for market a large 
 immber of hogs and sheep, each year. 
 
 Politically Mr. Blair is a Republican, with 
 which party he has acted since attaining 
 
 his majorit)'. He was elected and served 
 as assessor one term, and was then elected 
 township trustee and re-elected, serving si.x 
 consecutive years. In the spring of 1898 
 he was re-elected assessor for a term of two 
 years. For twelve years he has been a 
 member of the school board, of which he 
 has served as district clerk for the entire 
 time. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Blair have four children — 
 Bessie Edith, Robert Ennis, Glenn Doug- 
 las and Cora May. Mr. and Mrs. Blair are 
 members of the Congregational church at 
 Malta, in which he is serving as trustee. 
 They take an active interest in the church 
 work and assist in maintaining a Sunday- 
 school in their neighborhood. Fraternally 
 Mr. Blair is a member of Malta lodge. No. 
 606, I. O. O. F., and has passed all the 
 chairs, being now past grand of his lodge; 
 is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, 
 Wayside lodge, at Malta. He has resided 
 in De Kalb county all his life, and has en- 
 deavored to do faithfulh' every duty im- 
 posed upon him, and by his friends and 
 neighbors he is held in the highest esteem. 
 
 JOHN W. ARNOLD has a well improved 
 farm of one hundred and twenty acres 
 on section 14, Paw Paw township. He is a 
 native of De Kalb county, born in Victor 
 township, September 4, 1857, and is the 
 son of Edward Arnold, a native of Eng- 
 land, born in 1722, and who there grew to 
 manhood, and in Lincolnshire, England, 
 married Mary Tinsley, a native of that 
 shire. With his bride he emigrated to the 
 New World, about 1841, and came direct 
 to Illinois, and settled first at Batavia, Kane 
 county, and there resided several years, and 
 later came to De Kalb county, locating in 
 
502 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Victor township, where he opened up a farm. 
 When gold was discovered in California, he 
 went overland to the New Eldorado, and 
 there spent about eleven years in the mines. 
 During that time, however, he came home 
 and spent about six months. He was fairly 
 successful in his mining operations, but re- 
 turning to the old place in Victor township, 
 he engaged in farming for several years. 
 He subsequently removed to Iowa, and set- 
 tled in Woodbury county, and there en- 
 gaged in the milling business and there he 
 now resides. 
 
 John W. Arnold grew to manhood in 
 Victor township, and was educated in the 
 common schools, together with two winters 
 at the Somonauk High School. He re- 
 mained on the home farm and assisted in its 
 cultivation until he was twenty-five }ears of 
 age. On the 22nd of April, 1882, he mar- 
 ried Anna M. Harper, a native of Paw Paw 
 township, born on the farm where she now 
 resides. She is a daughter of Robert Har- 
 per, one of the early settlers of De Kalb 
 county. Four children were born of their 
 union — Ross H., Ralph D., Robert Y., and 
 Alice. After his marriage, Mr. Arnold 
 rented a farm in Victor township, on which 
 he resided two years, and then purchased a 
 farm of eighty acres, which he cultivated 
 for four years, then rented his present farm 
 for two years. Selling his farm in Victor 
 township he purchased the Robert Harper 
 farm, and has here since continued to re- 
 side, actively engaged in general farming in 
 connection with stock-raising, feeding and 
 fattening for the market from one to two 
 carloads of hogs annually. He is recog- 
 nized as one of the successful farmers and 
 stock feeders of the township. 
 
 Politically Mr. Arnold is a Republican, 
 but as a temperance man he is a firm be- 
 
 liever in the principles of prohibition. In- 
 terested in the cause of education, he is 
 now serving his third term as a member of 
 the school board, and is its [present presi- 
 dent. A well-known citizen of De Kalb 
 county, he is held in the highest esteem by 
 those who know him. 
 
 PROF. WARREN HUBBARD, principal 
 of the Somonauk schools, Somonauk, 
 Illinois, was born in De Kalb county, 
 October 20, i860, and is the son of Lorenzo 
 and Mary (Wright) Hubbard, natives of 
 Maine and New York, respectively. Lo- 
 renzo Hubbard came west about 1855, lo- 
 cated on a farm in Victor township, De 
 Kalb county, but removed to Northville 
 township, La Salle count\- in 1881, and has 
 made farming his life work. He came west 
 a young man, married here, and reared his 
 family. In his township he has been quite 
 prominent and has held a number of minor 
 offices. He is still living at the age of si.xty- 
 two years. Both he and his wife are mem- 
 bers of the Congregational church, in which 
 body he is an officer. The subject of this 
 sketch is the oldest of their four children. 
 Walter L. is a farmer residing in De Kalb 
 county. He married Miss Kate Keyes, and 
 they have one child, Jennie. Mary A. died 
 in infancy. Lorenzo M. resides at home 
 and assists in the management of the home 
 farm. Prof. Hubbard was reared on the 
 farm, and for some years assisted in its cul- 
 tivation. His primary education was ob- 
 tained in the public schools, but he later 
 attended Jennings Seminary, at Aurora, 
 Illinois, and had the benefit of the instruc- 
 tion of Dr. Martin E. Cady and other 
 well known teachers. He began teaching 
 when quite young, in the district schools 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 503 
 
 during the winter months, and assisted 
 in the farm work in summer. As a 
 professional teacher, he began first at 
 Sandwich, where he was principal of the 
 high school, 1890-91, being engaged to fill 
 a vacancy. That position he resigned in 
 order to accept the principalship of the 
 Somonauk schools. He has now filled the 
 position for seven years, and has given a 
 most excellent degree of satisfaction. The 
 schools have a prescribed course, and four 
 teachers are employed in addition to Prof. 
 Hubbard, who teaches in the high school. 
 The present school board are S. E. Beel- 
 man, president; H. F. Hess, secretary; and 
 H. E. White. 
 
 Prof. Hubbard was married January i, 
 1884, to Miss Rosa Rehm, a native of De 
 Kalb county. Mrs. Hubbard is the old- 
 est of three children. John, her oldest 
 brother, married Miss Harriet Gletty, and 
 they reside in Iowa, where he is engaged in 
 farming. George, her youngest brother, re- 
 sides in Somonauk. To Prof, and Mrs. 
 Hubbard have been born two daughters, 
 Mary Grace and Helen B. They have also 
 an adopted son, Bert. 
 
 Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard are 
 Congregationalists, having membership in 
 the Congregational church at Somonauk, in 
 which he is serving as one of the deacons. 
 He is also superintendent of the Sunday 
 school, which has a membership of about 
 one hundred and twenty. Fraternally he 
 is a member of Somonauk Lodge, No. 646, 
 A. F. & A. M., of Sandwich Chapter, No. 
 107, R. A. M., and also of the Modern 
 Woodmen of America, being escort in the 
 latter body. Both he and his wife are 
 members of the Eastern Star, in which Mrs. 
 Hubbard holds the position of warder. In 
 politics the Professor is thoroughly independ- 
 
 ent. As an educator he has done and is still 
 doing excellent work. He is a good organiz- 
 er, has much aptness as a teacher, and his 
 services are appreciated by parents, pupils 
 and patrons of the school. The public 
 school principal is one of the important 
 factors in civic life. The position needs 
 brains, courage and an all around develop- 
 ment. The authorities of the Somonauk 
 school are to be congratulated for keeping 
 the right man in the right place. 
 
 JAMES M. SKINNER, a retired farmer 
 living in Somonauk, was born in Craw- 
 ford county, Pennsylvania, December 6, 
 1843, and is the son of I. H. and Pollie Ann 
 (Dickson) Skinner, the former a native of 
 New Jersey and the latter of Pennsylvania. 
 In his boyhood the father accompanied his 
 parents from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, 
 where he engaged in farming, and a little 
 later moved to Ohio, but returned to Penn- 
 sylvania, and from there, in June, 1844, 
 came to Illinois and located in La Salle 
 county. On his arrival in La Salle county 
 he purchased a tract of government land, 
 opened up a farm, which he retained until 
 shortly before his death, when he sold to his 
 youngest son, Joseph, who, in 1897, sold to 
 his older brother, George A., who still re- 
 tains the home place. In 1881 the father 
 retired from active work and removed to 
 Somonauk, where his death occurred in 
 1887, when about eighty years old. His 
 wife survived him some five years, dying in 
 1892 at the age of eighty-one years. They 
 were originally members of the Protestant 
 Methodist church, but later in life united 
 with the Congregational church. The 
 brothers and sisters of I. H. Skinner were 
 Reuben, John, Cornehus, Jesse, Mary, Eliza, 
 
504 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and a sister who was drowned in the Sus- 
 quehanna river. Of these, Jesse died 
 when quite joung, while the other brothers 
 hved to be about eighty years old. Of the 
 sisters, Eliza married Aaron Fox. The par- 
 ents of Pollie Ann Skinner were George and 
 Fannie Dickson, who came from Pennsyl- 
 vania to Illinois, in 1844, about the same 
 time the Skinners came. They were the 
 parents of James, Robert, Joseph, Jane, 
 Kezian, Pollie Ann and Sallie, all of whom 
 are deceased e.xcept Joseph, who resides in 
 Sandwich, Illinois. 
 
 I. H. and Pollie Ann Skinner were the 
 parents of eleven children, of whom si.x are 
 yet living, while two died in early childhood. 
 The living are George Anson, who resides 
 in La Salle county, where he is engaged in 
 farming; Thomas, a farmer residing in Ida 
 county, Iowa; Eldridge, who served in the 
 war for the Union, and is now a retired 
 farmer residing in Sandwich; James M.. the 
 subject of this sketch; Mary Ann, wife of 
 William Corke, living on a farm in La Salle 
 county; and Joseph, a farmer residing in 
 Taylor county, Iowa. Of the deceased, 
 Robert enlisted in May, 1861, in the Thir- 
 teenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, served 
 under Grant at Vicksburg, and was mortally 
 wounded by a minie ball in battle at Ring- 
 gold Gap, Georgia, and, after living nine 
 days, passed away. His father was with 
 him when he died, had the body embalmed 
 at Nashville, and brought it to Northville 
 township, La Salle county, and had it in- 
 terred in the cemetery where other mem- 
 bers of the family lie buried. He was 
 wounded and taken prisoner on the first 
 charge at Vicksburg, was paroled, and re- 
 turned home. After being exchanged he 
 rejoined his regiment, and was with it but a 
 short time when stricken down. His age 
 
 at the time of death was twenty-six years. 
 Howell, another son, died at the same age. 
 John W. died at the age of eighteen years. 
 Two children. Perry and Cynthia A., died 
 in infancv. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the farm, and remained with his parents 
 until February, 1865, when he enlisted in 
 Company H, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and did guard 
 duty in east Tennessee, also at Memphis, 
 Tennessee, and later in Georgia. He was 
 discharged at Memphis, September 25. 
 1865. He stood the service very well, was 
 never wounded or taken prisoner. The war 
 closing, he returned to his farm, and en- 
 gaged in farming on the shares, but later 
 purchased and still owns a farm of two hun- 
 dred and forty acres, in Northville town- 
 ship, La Salle county, a farm which is 
 under a high state of cultivation, well im- 
 proved in every way, and which is devoted 
 to stock and grain purposes. At present it 
 is rented, his tenant keeping a number of 
 cows and sending the milk to the dairy. 
 
 Mr. Skinner has been twice married, 
 first January 25, 1872, to Miss Mary Fox, a 
 daughter of J. M. Fox. She was a devoted 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and died September 19, 1880, at the age of 
 twenty-eight years. On the 2d of March, 
 1893, Mr. Skinner married Mrs. Altha 
 Wright, widow of Carter E. Wright, who 
 served his country in the war for the union, 
 enlisting in 1862, in Company H, One 
 Hundred and Fifth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry. He died January 20, 1890, at the 
 age of forty-nine years. 
 
 Mrs. Skinner was the daughter of Levi 
 Wright, and was sixth in a family of seven 
 children. Martha died at the age of four- 
 teen years. Mary is the widow of Lorenzo 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 505 
 
 Hubbard. William F. served in Company 
 K, Forty-second Regiment, Illinois Volun- 
 teer Infantry, enlisting in May, 1861. He 
 now resides n Somonauk. fohn H. en- 
 listed in May, 1861, in the Thirteenth Regi- 
 ment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, served 
 with honor for three years, then re-enlisted 
 in the One Hundredth and Fifty-Sixth Regi- 
 ment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He died 
 unmarried, January 18, 1893, at the age of 
 forty-nine years. George M. D. resides in 
 Somonauk, Illinois. James E. is a drug- 
 gist residing in Genesee, Illinois. Mrs. 
 Skinner's father, Levi Wright, served in the 
 war of 1812, and her paternal grandfather, 
 Steven Wright, in the Revolutionary war. 
 Her first marriage was in 1867, to Carter 
 E. Wright, who was also a soldier in the 
 war for the union, and who died in 1890. 
 
 Mrs. Skinner is a Daughter of the Revo- 
 lution, and was a daughter of a soldier of 
 the war of 18 12, was the wife of a soldier 
 of the late war, and is now the wife of one 
 who participated in the war for the union. 
 She also had two brothers in that war, and 
 is to-day president of the Woman's Relief 
 Corps, and also a member of the Eastern 
 Star. Fraternally Mr. Skinner is a mem- 
 ber of Carter E. Wright Post, No. 772, G. 
 A. R. , of Somonauk, of which he is now 
 serving as adjutant. He is a good business 
 man, takes an interest in all the enterprises 
 of the community, and is one of De Kalb 
 county's worthy and valued citizens. 
 Politically he is a Republican. 
 
 ENOCH P. ROWLEY, of Waterman, 
 has been a resident of De Kalb county 
 since 1869 ^.nd of the slate since 1857. 
 He is a native of New York, born in Ren- 
 sselaer county, April 18, 1827. The Row- 
 
 leys are of English descent, the first of the 
 name originally settling in New York. 
 Da\id Rowley, the grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, was born in Dutchess county. New 
 York, and moved to Rensselaer county, 
 when the county was little better than a 
 wilderness. There he made his home in 
 the forest from which he cut the timber, 
 cultivated the ground and reared his family. 
 Ashbel Rowley was the son of David Row- 
 ley, and the father of our subject. He was 
 reared in Rensselaer county, and in the 
 second war with Great Britain served his 
 country as a member of one of the New 
 York regiments. He married in Renssel- 
 aer county, Miss Betsy Tryon, a native of 
 New York, born near the Hudson river. 
 In 1856, he came west with his family, and 
 settled near Kaneville, Kane county, where 
 he spent the last years of his life, dying at 
 the residence of one of his children, Novem- 
 ber 16, 1864. His wife died February 20, 
 1863. 
 
 In his native county, Enoch P. Rowley 
 grew to manhood, spending his boyhood 
 and youth on the farm. In early life he 
 learned the carpenter's and joiner's trade, 
 and followed the business for a few years. 
 He was married December 8, 1855, to Miss 
 Joanna Marvin, who was born and reared 
 in Rensselaer county, and a daughter of 
 Peter D. Marvin, a member of one of the 
 old-time families of that county. By this 
 union there were nine children, seven of 
 whom are yet living. Willis A., a con- 
 iractorand builder, resides in Waterman. 
 George W. resides in De Kalb, where he 
 is engaged in contracting and building. 
 James L. , also a contractor and builder, re- 
 sides in Waterman. Sidney is an engineer, 
 but in his youth learned the carpenter's 
 trade. Charlotte E. is the wife of Ira Kirk- 
 
5o6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 patrick, of Chicago. Frances Isabella is 
 the wife of Harry Bradbury, a merchant 
 and postmaster at Waterman. Julia A. is 
 the wife of John Arnold, a farmer of Cal- 
 houn county, Iowa. Marvin E. died in in- 
 fancy, and Grant M. died at the age of 
 eight years, by a stroke of lightning. 
 
 In 1857, Mr. Rowley came to Illinois, 
 and located near Kaneville, Kane county, 
 joining his father, who had previously re- 
 moved to that place. He there followed 
 contracting and building for si.\ years, then 
 engaged in farming in Sugar Grove town- 
 ship for about live years, then went to the 
 village of Sugar Grove, built a shop and 
 residence, and there resided for nearly a 
 year, then sold out and went to Kaneville, 
 where he engaged in farming for six months. 
 In 1869 he came to De Kalb county, and 
 for two years leased his brother's farm near 
 Waterman, after which he purchased a 
 place of sixty-five acres in Clinton township, 
 to which he later added seventy-five acres 
 more, and then an additional forty, making 
 a fine farm of one hundred and eighty 
 acres. That land he cultivated for some 
 years, then sold off one hundred acres, and 
 purchased a farm of one hundred and 
 twenty acres adjoining. Later he sold off 
 eighty acres, and after remaining on that 
 farm four years longer, he sold and moved 
 to Waterman, where he purchased four 
 residence lots, and built on three of the lots 
 neat and substantial residences. Two of 
 these he afterwards sold, but purchased 
 other residence lots and built more houses, 
 adding greatly to the appearance of Water- 
 man. 
 
 In March, 1898, Mr. Rowley purchased 
 a stock of groceries and has since been en- 
 gaged in the grocery business at Waterman. 
 Since the organization of the Republican 
 
 parly, he has advocated its principles and 
 voted that party ticket. He was elected 
 one of the highway commissioners of 
 Clinton township and served six years, and 
 during that entire time, served as treasurer 
 of the board. He also served on the board 
 of trustees in his township, and has been 
 street commissioner in Waterman. Frater- 
 nally he is a Mason, holding membership in 
 the blue lodge at Waterman, and the chap- 
 ter at De Kalb. For eight years he served 
 as worshipful master of the Waterman lodge. 
 He and his wife are members of the Eastern 
 Star lodge. Well known in De Kalb and 
 Kane counties, Mr. Rowley has a host of 
 friends in each. 
 
 FRANK R. SCOTT, who is engaged in 
 farming on section 22, Genoa town- 
 ship, was born on the farm north of the one 
 where he now resides, in November, 1863. 
 His father, \\'illiam Scott, was a native of 
 New York, born October 15, 1826, and 
 who came west in 1850, locating in De Kalb 
 county. He married Harriet Beebe, in 
 Genoa, also a native of New York, born 
 January 9, 1827, and a daughter of William 
 Beebe. They became the parents of five 
 children, of whom three are yet living. 
 Sarah married Isaiah Siglin. Emma Jane 
 married Charles Tauglen, who died, and 
 afterwards she married Charles Deardruff. 
 Frank R. is the subject of this sketch. By 
 trade William Scott was a mason, but made 
 farming his principal business during the 
 greater part of his life. He died on his farm 
 in Genoa township, June 30, 1869. His 
 parents lived to an advanced age, his mother 
 dying when seventy-five years old, and 
 his father at the age of ninety-seven 
 j'ears. 
 
THK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORi: 
 
 ^o; 
 
 Frank R. Scott was reared on the farm, 
 and attended the district school until the 
 age of sixteen years, attending principally in 
 the winter months. He began life for himself, 
 however, when fifteen years old, and worked 
 out for neighboring farmers for three years. 
 When eighteen years he began farming for 
 himself, and continued to be thus engaged 
 until the fall of 1891, when he went to 
 Chicago, and was employed as a teamster 
 one year. He was then a street car con- 
 ductor two years, at which time he came 
 back to Genoa, and was janitor of the school 
 house for two years. In 1896, he returned 
 to the farm, where he has since continued to 
 reside. 
 
 Mr. Scott was married in Sycamore, 
 January 6, 1887, to Miss Catherine Bald- 
 win, born in Hopewell township, Mercer 
 county. New Jersey, and first in a family of 
 five children born to Moses and Henrietta 
 (Lowe) Baldwin, the latter being a daughter 
 of Abraham and Catherine (Craft) Lowe. 
 Moses Baldwin was born in Hopewell town- 
 ship, Mercer county. New Jersey, September 
 19, 1840, and is the son of John Baldwin, a 
 farmer of Mercer county. New Jersey, who 
 married Esther Abbott, a daughter of 
 Joseph and Mary (Danbury) Abbott. John 
 Baldwin was the son of Moses and Mary 
 (Beaks) Baldwin. In his native township, 
 Moses Baldwin grew to manhood, and on 
 the 22nd of December, 1862, enlisted in 
 Company A, Third New Jersey Cavalry, and 
 served about three years. He was in the 
 seven days battle in the Wilderness, was 
 at Spottsylvania Courthouse, Chickahominy 
 river, siege of Petersburg, twenty-one 
 days in the Shenandoah Valley, and in the 
 battle at Winchester had three ribs broken 
 and his skull bone broken at the same time. 
 He was sent to the field hospital at Harper's 
 
 25 
 
 Ferry, and from, there to hospitals in 
 Washington, Port Tobacco and Poolville, 
 Maryland. He was mustered out at 
 Washington, and discharged at Trenton, 
 New Jersey, August 2, 1865. He then 
 resided in Trenton until 1884, engaged in 
 his trade of shoemaker, and then came to 
 Genoa, De Kalb county, Illinois, where he 
 has since continued to reside. 
 
 •To our subject and wife five children 
 have been born- — Minard R., Phila A., 
 Lewis F., Henrietta, and Beth B. In 
 politics Mr. Scott is a Republican, having 
 voted that party ticket since attaining his 
 majority. He is now serving as school 
 director in his district. 
 
 CHARLES H. WHITE, postmaster of 
 Somonauk and a retired farmer, was 
 born in De Kalb county, July 2, 1859, and 
 is the son of Thomas and Ann Eliza (Tucker") 
 White, the father a native of Washington 
 county. New York, born February 15, 181 5. 
 By trade he was a shoemaker and followed 
 that occupation while residing in the east. 
 In the spring of 1856 he came west and 
 rented one hundred and sixty acres on sec- 
 tion 9, Somonauk township, and in 1859 
 purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres on section 29. He there continued 
 to reside during the remainder of his life, 
 dying on the homestead, February 18, 1882. 
 He was a hard worker, well and favorably 
 known, had hosts of friends, was successful 
 in business, and was of a disposition to make 
 and keep friends. His wife was born in 
 Washington county. New York, June 28, 
 181 5. She was the only daughter in a 
 family of ten children, one brother, Will- 
 iam, now residing in Jo Daviess county, 
 being the only survivor of that large family. 
 
5o8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 She was a tnember of the United Presbyte- 
 rian church of Somonauk and was of a 
 quiet, retiring disposition, making much of 
 home and home surroundings. She was 
 the mother of ten children, our subject 
 being the youngest of the family. Will- 
 iam, Julia and James died while the family 
 yet resided in Washington county. New 
 York. Puella married John A. Armstrong, 
 but is now deceased. Her only child, Car- 
 rie A. Armstrong, was assistant postmaster 
 of Somonauk for three years. She is now 
 at Colorado Springs, Colorado. Robert 
 died March 7, i8<So, when about thirty 3'ears 
 of age. He married Emily Manly, of Jo 
 Daviess county, Illinois, who only lived si.x 
 months after their marriage. Emily A. 
 married W. J. Randies, of Clinton town- 
 ship, De I'Calb county, Illinois. She died 
 February 17, 1888, at the age of thirty- 
 seven years, leaving four children, Mattie 
 J., Leroy, Andrew and Anna. Martha and 
 Mary were twins, the latter died when two 
 years of age. Martha resides with her broth- 
 ers, Charles H. and Hampton E. Hamp- 
 ton E. is a farmer and auctioneer, residing 
 one mile north of Somonauk. He married 
 Margaret E. Henrj', and their children are 
 Mary, Henry, William, Robert, Nettie and 
 Eugene. 
 
 Our subject was born and reared on the 
 farm on section 29, and his education was 
 obtained in the common schools of the dis- 
 trict and in the village of Somonauk. 
 After leaving school he continued to assist 
 his father on the farm, and after the latter's 
 death he remained on the farm until he 
 commenced business for himself, in 1885. 
 In June of that year he had the finest lot 
 of shorthorn Durham of any one in this 
 section of the state. His health failing 
 him, he was required to leave the farm. 
 
 and this to him was a sore trial, for the 
 reason that he had been successful in the 
 breeding of cattle and had become well 
 known throughout the entire state. On leav- 
 ing the farm he made the following announce- 
 ment: "Owing to poor health I have 
 rented my farm, and, therefore, will be 
 obliged to sell at public auction my entire 
 herd of forty-five thoroughbred shorthorn 
 cattle. It is with deep regret that I offer 
 this herd for sale that I have worked so 
 faithfully to establish. It has been my aim 
 to breed good, useful cattle, which would be 
 profitable to the general farmer and breeder. 
 This herd was exhibited in La Salle, Ken- 
 dall, Kane and De Kalb counties, and never 
 failed to carry off first honors, in compe- 
 tition with other shorthorns, Herefords and 
 polled Angus cattle." 
 
 On the 29th of February, 1892, Mr. 
 White moved to Somonauk, where for two 
 seasons he was engaged with John Betz in 
 canvassing and selling agricultural imple- 
 ments. On the 17th of October, 1893, he 
 was commissioned postmaster of Somonauk 
 and took charge of the office in December 
 of the same year after having erected a new 
 building and fitting it up for the purpose. 
 The office is said to be one of the best fourth 
 class postoffices on the line of the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Ouincy Railroad. His first 
 assistant was Miss Carrie Armstrong, who 
 remained with him three years. Frank 
 Girodat, who remained in the ofSce one 
 year and was succeeded b}' Miss Bulah 
 Jones, who is now serving. At the close of 
 his term a circular was distributed for his 
 retention in office, and it was signed by 
 nearly every patron of the office without 
 reference to politics. 
 
 Mr. White was married January 3, 1883, 
 to Miss Cornelia M. Marshall, a daughter 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 509 
 
 of James and Jeannette (Richey) Marshall, 
 the latter being a daughter of Judge R. W. 
 Richey, of Henderson comity, Illinois. 
 James Marshall was a native of South Caro- 
 lina, born near Charleston and came with 
 his parents, Alexander and Mary (McMillen) 
 Marshall, to Henderson county, Illinois, 
 where they located on a farm. He was 
 born June 8, 1824, and died October 2, 
 1896. By occupation he was a farmer, and 
 religiously he and his wife were members of 
 the United Presbyterian church. She was 
 born July 24, 1829, and yet resides on the 
 home farm. Her brothers were Thomas 
 G. and James H., while her sisters were 
 Ann M. and Mary E. The former married 
 John A. Marshall. The latter is a teacher 
 in the public schools and has an excellent 
 reputation as such. 
 
 Judge Richey held the office of count}- 
 judge of Henderson county for seventeen 
 years. The county was strongly Repub- 
 lican, and he a pronounced Democrat, but 
 not an offensive one. He retained the office 
 until failing health admonished him that he 
 must give way and do less work. James A. 
 Marshall, the father of Mrs. White, was one 
 of seven children — Robert, Daniel, John, 
 James A., Jane, Hugh and William. All 
 are living with the exception of William and 
 James A. 
 
 Mrs. White is one of eleven children, as 
 follows: Viola M., wife of J. W. McClin- 
 ton, residing in South Henderson, Illinois; 
 James W. , who died at the age of nineteen 
 years; Mary H., wife of W. A. Speers, re- 
 siding in Stronghurst. Illinois; Elizabeth, 
 wife of Cecil McArthur, residing in South 
 Henderson, Illinois; Cornelia M., wife of 
 our subject; Louisa J., who died at the age 
 of three years; Charles R. , who resides 
 near the old home and owning part of the 
 
 Marshall estate; John D., a farmer and stock 
 raiser residing near Walton, Kansas; Flor- 
 ence V. , who died at the age of twenty-seven 
 years; Thomas, residing at home; and Hugh, 
 residing at Stronghurst, where he is reading 
 medicine. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. White two children 
 have been born, Emma J. and Thomas M. 
 The parents are members of the United 
 Presbyterian church. Mr. White is a mem- 
 ber of the Modern Woodmen of America, 
 and is president of the Home Forum, at 
 Somonauk. 
 
 Mr. White still owns the old homestead 
 on section 29, Somonauk township, together 
 with a neat and homelike residence in the 
 village and also the brick building in which 
 the postoffice is kept. In connection with 
 his postal work, he runs a stationery store 
 and news depot. On the 17th of October, 
 1895, he met with quite a loss by fire, hav- 
 ing three barns, valued at two thousand five 
 hundred dollars, together with a lot of grain, 
 destroyed. The buildings have all been re- 
 placed and the farm is in excellent condi- 
 tion. The cause of the fire is unknown, 
 but presumed to have been spontaneous 
 combustion. It was a close call for the 
 house, which would have been consumed 
 had it not been for friends and good neigh- 
 bors, to whose kindness he has always felt 
 grateful. 
 
 CW. FALT2, editor and proprietor of 
 the Reveille, Somonauk, is a native 
 of the village, born January 14, 1870, and 
 is the son of Adolph and Bertha (Buser) 
 Faltz, the former a native of Nassau, Ger- 
 many, and the latter born near Barsal, 
 Switzerland. The father who was born 
 December 14, 1831, came a single man to 
 
5io 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 America in 1852, and settled in New York 
 city where he remained sixteen years, be- 
 fore taking up his residence in Somonaiik, 
 Illinois. He left his native land on a sail- 
 ing vessel, and was thirty-four days on the 
 water. His mother and two of his broth- 
 ers, Fred and Henry, came with him. 
 Henry died in New York city when about 
 fifty -seven years old, but Fred yet resides 
 in Somonauk at the age of about seventy- 
 four years. He was the first of the family 
 to move to Somonauk, having spent but 
 two years in New York. By trade Adolph 
 Faltz was a carpenter and also a painter. 
 He married Bertha Buser, December 24, 
 1 86 1. She came across the water with her 
 parents, John and Fannie Buser. Her 
 father was a mechanic and inventor. One 
 of his inventions was a numbering machine 
 which was very valuable. More than forty 
 models of his inventions are now on file at 
 the patent office in Washington. He had a 
 wonderful mechanical genius and worked in 
 wood and all metals. His death occurred 
 in New York when nearly seventy-four 
 years old. In religion he and his wife were 
 Lutherans. Her death occurred many 
 years prior to that of her husband, when 
 she was about forty-eight years of age. 
 She was one of eight children, as follows: 
 Nataline, who is unmarried and residing in 
 New York city; Bertha, the mother of our 
 our subject; Fannie, the wife of Isaac Stil- 
 well, residing. in New York city; Fred, re- 
 siding in New York city; Albert, also resid- 
 ing in the same city; Emma, who died when 
 about twenty-five years old; Julia, wife of 
 Martin Beam; and Mary, who is now de- 
 ceased. 
 
 The paternal grandfather, Conrad Faltz, 
 lived and died in the old country, his death 
 occurring when the father of our subject 
 
 was but one year old. He was forty-eight 
 years old at the time of his death. Mrs. 
 Bertha A. Faltz was born May 25, 1838. 
 She is a member of the Baptist church, 
 while tier husband is a member of the 
 Lutheran church. They are the parents 
 of five children. Fannie is a trained 
 nurse, a graduate of the W. C. T. U. hos- 
 pital of Chicago. She resides in Evans- 
 ton, and is employed by the Women 
 Club of that city. Hattie yet resides at 
 home. Charles W. is the subject of this 
 sketch. Albert Henry and Ada May yet 
 reside at home. The latter is a graduate 
 of the Somonauk High School and is pre- 
 paring for a teacher. 
 
 Our subject was reared in Somonauk 
 and graduated from the high school at the 
 age of sixteen j'ears. He learned the print- 
 ing trade in Somonauk and later went to 
 Rockford, Illinois, and subsequently to El- 
 gin, Illinois, to get a more extensive knowl- 
 edge of the business. At Rockford he was 
 employed in the ofiice of the Daily Gazelle, 
 and at Elgin was first with the Cook Pub- 
 lishing Company and later in the Dailj' 
 News office, after which he was foreman of 
 the Democrat. In January, 1892, he re- 
 turned to Somonauk and purchased the 
 office of the Reveille, being at that time 
 the youngest publisher and proprietor of a 
 newspaper within a radius of many miles. 
 He was then just past twenty-one years of 
 age. In the publication of the paper he 
 has met with good success, while in the 
 job line he is well prepared to do all kinds 
 of printing in a most satisfactory manner. 
 
 Mr. Faltz was married August 20, 1S90, 
 to Miss Maria Py, a daughter of Sylvan and 
 Mary (Henry) Py, the former a native of 
 France and a farmer by occupation, who 
 came to America with his father, Ferdinand 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 511 
 
 Py, who located near Portsmouth, Ohio. 
 He had one sister, Adella, who married 
 August Barlow, who died many years since. 
 The family came across the water in a sail- 
 ing vessel, having a very stormy passage 
 and being sixty-three days on the water. 
 Ferdinand Py died from injuries received in 
 a runaway. Sylvan Py lived with his par- 
 ents after his marriage and they all came to 
 Lee county, Illinois, in 1S62, soon after the 
 marriage was celebrated. In Lee county 
 Sylvan Py engaged in farming, which occu- 
 pation he continued until his death in 1872, 
 at the age of thirty-one years. He left five 
 children. The eldest son was born in Lee 
 county March 19, 1S63. He married Miss 
 Josie Ryan, of Amboy, Illinois, July 23, 
 1888, and died November 12, 1894, leaving 
 two children. May Catherine and Francis 
 Albert. By occupation he was a farmer. 
 Eugene A. is a traveling salesman and re- 
 sides in West Brooklyn, Lee county, Illi- 
 nois. Eliza married Henry F. Gehant, a 
 banker of West Brooklyn, Illinois, and they 
 have four children, Oliver, Julian, Henry 
 and an infant. Clementine died at the age 
 of four years. Mrs. Faltz was next in order 
 of birth. Mary Adella married Charles R. 
 Frank and they have four children, Flor- 
 ence I., Irwin J., Claudius W. and Percy 
 E. The mother of these children died Jan- 
 uary 31, 1890. She was born in France 
 January i, 1844, and accompanied her par- 
 ents to America in 1850, and with them 
 settled near Portsmouth, Ohio. After the 
 death of her husband she remained on the 
 farm in Lee county, but in 1875 married 
 Claude Gehant, of Bradford, Lee county, 
 Illinois. They became the parents of six 
 children — Clementine, Edward, Louise, 
 Josie, Victoria and Margaret. Of these 
 Josie died at the age of nine years and 
 
 Clementine is now the wife of Alfred 
 McRae and they have one child, Gladys. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Faltz two children 
 have been born, Harold A. and Gladys L. 
 The latter, who was born April 22, 1892, 
 died January, 1893. Religiously Mrs. 
 Faltz is a Catholic. Fraternally Mr. Faltz 
 is a member of the Knights of the Globe 
 and Home Forum Benefit order at Somo- 
 nauk. In politics he is a Democrat and 
 takes an active interest in political affairs, 
 being a frequent delegate to county con- 
 ventions. Personally he is a man of genial 
 nature and generous impulses and has a 
 large circle of friends and acquaintances, 
 who hold him in the highest regard. 
 
 WILLIAM HOYT, deceased, was one 
 of the highly esteemed citizens of De 
 Kalb township, a man true to the principles 
 which he professed, not only in letter but 
 in spirit. He believed in and carried out 
 the golden rule all through his life. While 
 he was a strong adherent of the Democratic 
 party, he was never a partisan, but carefully 
 read both sides of every question, giving 
 credit where credit was due. Not only was 
 he a close observer, but a deep thinker, and 
 had a remarkable memory. He was born 
 at Schenectady, Herkimer county, New 
 York, July 4, 1826, and was the son of 
 Louis S. and Almira Hoyt, both natives of 
 New York state, the former born August 21, 
 1798, and the latter July 18, 1801. 
 
 Louis S. Hoyt came to De Kalb county 
 in November, 1850, locating on section 5, 
 De Kalb township, where he purchased a 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres with 
 some improvements. He further improved 
 the place and on that farm passed the re- 
 mainder of his life in peace and happiness. 
 
512 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 He and his wife were members of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, in which he was a 
 steward. He was quite philanthopically dis- 
 posed, and in the earh' settlement of the 
 county, when educational facilities were 
 limited, he, tof;ether with a Mr. Moore, 
 erected a school house with their own means 
 and presented it to the district. Louis S. 
 and Almira Hoyt were the parents of the 
 following named children: Esther?., born 
 October 13, 1824; William, July 4, 1826; 
 Maltbie, May 6, 1830; Julia, July 29, 1831: 
 Louis, April 7, 1834; Erskine, August 28, 
 1838; Susan G., April 12, 1840; and Hiram, 
 November 22. 1843. 
 
 William Hoyt grew to manhood in his 
 native county, and on the 6th of January, 
 1 85 I, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Lydia Wolfe, a daughter of Benjamin and 
 Susan ^^'olfe, and in July of the same year 
 they removed to Sycamore, De Kalb coun- 
 ty, Illinois, where they remained one year. 
 In 1 85 3 they removed to Michigan, where 
 Mr. Hoyt engaged in the lumber business 
 for eight years, and where, by his industry 
 and enterprise, he accumulated considerable 
 property. In 1861 they returned to De 
 Kalb county and located on their farm in 
 De Kalb township, where they remained 
 until September, 1887, when they went to 
 Chicago, that their children might have 
 better school advantages, and especially to 
 allow their younger son, Frank, an oppor- 
 tunity to tit himself for the bar. From 
 Chicago they returned to their farm in 1891. 
 
 Mr. Hoyt was a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church and was conscientious in 
 all his dealings with his fellowmen. He 
 died September 3, 1894, aged sixty- eight 
 years, and his death was mourned not alone 
 by his family, but by a large circle of friends 
 and acquaintances. His widow, who was 
 
 born at Union, Luzerne county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, yet survives him at the age of sixty- 
 five years. Their family consisted of the 
 following named children: Sarah A., born 
 December 14, 1851, died November 20, 
 1854; Laura A., born September 18, 1853. 
 died January 25, 1861; Esther M., born 
 August 27, 1857, died December 23, 1863; 
 Benjamin L. , born July 6, 1859; Frank W., 
 December 24, 1864; and Susan E., August 
 19, 1 87 I. 
 
 Benjamin L. Hoyt has devoted his en- 
 tire life to agricultural pursuits and is a man 
 who thoroughly understands his business. 
 He was united in marriage December 19, 
 i88r2, with Miss Sarah Jane Scott, a daugh- 
 ter of Mary and William Scott. They have 
 now three children — Frankie L. , Sadie M., 
 and Esther P. 
 
 Susan E., the youngest daughter, is a 
 graduate of one of Chicago's best schools, 
 and for a time engaged in teaching. She is 
 a first-class musician and has given lessons 
 in music with credit to herself and former 
 teachers. On the 15th of May, 1S94, she 
 married James H. Scott, a worthy farmer, 
 by whom she has one daughter, Lydia M. 
 
 Frank is a prominent attorney in Chicago 
 who has met with good success in his chosen 
 profession. After receiving his elementary 
 education in the common schools he entered 
 Wells College to fit himself for the position 
 of teacher, and after the completion of his 
 course taught school for two years. He 
 then entered Union College of Law, in Chi- 
 cago, from which he was graduated in 1889 
 with high honors. In the same year he was 
 admitted to the bar. On March 17, 1891, 
 he married Miss Elizabeth P. Pritchard, 
 daughter of William and Prudence Pritchard, 
 and to them two children have been born, 
 William P. and Benjamin. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 513 
 
 JOHN MORRISON, now living a retired 
 life in the village of Waterman, was for 
 years one of the snbstantial farmers of De 
 Kalb county, of which he has been a resi- 
 dent since 1856. He is a native of Scot- 
 land, born in Perthshire, March 11, 18 19, 
 and is the son of William and Margaret 
 (Coventry) Morrison, both of whom were 
 natives of the same shire. In his native 
 land our subject grew to manhood, and 
 was educated in the private schools. The 
 possibilities of the United States had been 
 presented to him in his youth, and he de- 
 termined on emigrating to the New World, 
 with a view of bettering his condition in 
 life. In 1 84 1, accompanied by his brother 
 Robert, he set sail and landing in New 
 York, there resided for about ten years. 
 
 1852, Mr. Morrison came to the conclu- 
 sion that he could do still better by moving 
 west and that year he came to Illinois and lo- 
 cated near Batavia, Kane county, where he 
 had charge of the farm of Mr. Hoyt, a 
 banker of Batavia. While residing there 
 his parents, who had been furnished the 
 means by their sons, John and Robert, also 
 came from Scotland, and joined their chil- 
 dren, residing with them and being cared 
 for by them during the remainder of their 
 lives. The father died at the age of eighty- 
 eight years, and the mother when ninety- 
 two years old. 
 
 In 1856, our subject came to De Kalb 
 county and purchased a tract of land in Vic- 
 tor township, of which about twenty-five 
 acres had been broken, and partially im- 
 proved. With the aid of two carpenters, 
 he erected a small frame house in one day 
 and a half, into which he moved with his 
 family, and there resided while further de- 
 veloping the farm. Later he built a more 
 substantial residence and barn, together 
 
 with outbuildings, tiled the place, set out 
 an orchard, and also forest and ornamental 
 trees, and in due time had one of the most 
 valuable farms in Victor township. 
 
 In February, 1852, just previous to his 
 leaving New York, in Schenectady county, 
 that state, Mr. Morrison was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Jane McGue, a native of 
 New York, and a daughter of James McGue, 
 a substantial farmer of that county, of 
 Scotch parentage. There were two chil- 
 dren by this marriage, Agnes- and William. 
 The former is now the wife of William Nel- 
 son, a worthy farmer of Victor township. 
 
 William Morrison, the son, was born in 
 Kane county and reared in De Kalb, receiv- 
 ing his education in the public schools of 
 the latter county. He married Miss Emma 
 Higby, who was born and reared in Ottawa, 
 Illinois, and a daughter of Mr. Higby, of 
 Ottawa. They became the parents of three 
 children, Ella, John and Willa. After his 
 marriage he located on and took charge of 
 the home farm, and was a successful farmer 
 uutil his death, the result of an accident in 
 November, 1888, by falling some twenty- 
 eight feet from a haymow. He was a man 
 of most exemplary habits, of upright char- 
 acter and worth, and in his death the aged 
 father and loving wife met with a great loss, 
 but had the heartfelt sympathy of a host of 
 friends. 
 
 After the death of his son, John Morrison 
 with his daughter-in-law remained on the 
 farm and continued its cultivation until 1894, 
 when he rented the place and they moved 
 to Waterman, where they now reside. Pol- 
 itically Mr. Morrison has been a Republican 
 since the organization of the party, but 
 never desired, nor would he accept office. 
 He is a member of the Somonauk United 
 Presbyterian church, of which his wife, who 
 
514 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 died January i, 1888, was also a member. 
 His faith in the doctrines and teachings of 
 that church is steadfast and strong. Mrs. 
 William Morrison is a member of the Wa- 
 terman Presbyteriau church. In the forty- 
 si,\ years in which he has been a resident of 
 De Kalb county Mr. iilorrison has witnessed 
 some wonderful changes, and in its growth 
 and development he has materially assisted. 
 Success has in a measure crowned his 
 efforts, and he is now enabled to live re- 
 tired, enjoying the well earned rest secured 
 by a long life of earnest toil. 
 
 JOHN B. L.^ BOLLE is a retired farmer 
 residing in Somonauk. He was born in 
 Serena township, La Salle county, Illinois, 
 September 14, 1857, and is the son of Aug- 
 ustine and Julia (Ferry) La Bolle, both 
 natives of Alsace, Germany. By occupa- 
 tion Augustine La Bolle was a farmer, both 
 in the old country and after his removal to 
 America. He came to the United States 
 in 1855, and was on the water sixty-eight 
 days, meeting with some severe storms and 
 the vessel having a collision with another 
 one. After the collision they went to Cork, 
 Ireland, the nearest repair station, and were 
 there six weeks. They started from Havre, 
 France, and landed in New York. After 
 remaining a few days in the latter city, they 
 came west to Ottawa, Illinois, which was 
 their destination on starting. On arriving 
 at Ottawa the father engaged work in a 
 factory, where he remained a few months, 
 then rented a farm and engaged in agricult- 
 ural pursuits. Later he purchased a quarter- 
 section which he afterwards sold. He died 
 at the age of fifty years. He and his wife 
 were members of the Catholic church. The 
 latter is yet living at the age of seventy-six 
 
 years and makes her home with our subject. 
 They were the parents of five children, as 
 follows; Mary, wife of Michael Carpenter, 
 residing in Maple Park, Illinois; John B., 
 our subject; Charles A., residing on a farm 
 south of Somonauk; Joseph L. . living on a 
 farm near De Kalb; and Ellen, wife of George 
 Decker, residing at West Pullman, Illinois. 
 On the home farm or subject grew to 
 manhood and in the common schools of the 
 neighborhood received his education. As 
 soon as able he was set to work, and from 
 that time on assisted in the cultivation of 
 the farm. He was married December 7, 
 1880, to Miss Mary G. Mailander, a daughter 
 of Conrad and Margueritta Mailander, na- 
 tives of Germany, but who were married in 
 this country. Conrad Mailander came to 
 the United States in 1849, and his wife in 
 1850. She came with her parents, Mathias 
 and Catherine Kuhlen, who settled in Long 
 Grove, Kendall county. Mathias Kuhlen 
 followed farming all his life. He was born 
 in 1789, and died many years ago when 
 about seventy years old. His wife Cather- 
 ine was born June 9, 1791, and died at the 
 advanced age of ninety-eight years, nine 
 months and eight days. Both died in the 
 faith of the Catholic church. They had six 
 children, the oldest, Elizabeth, dying at an 
 early age, before the family left Prussia. 
 John was born in 1824, and served in the 
 Ci\il war. He came home on a furlough, 
 and eight days after his return to the army 
 was instantly killed in one of the battles of 
 the Atlanta campaign. Christian, born in 
 1827, died in Prussia in 1849. Margueritta, 
 born March 1, 1831, was married to Conrad 
 Mailander, in 185 1, at Napervilie, Illinois. 
 Charles Joseph, born in 1841, enlisted in 
 Company K, One Hundred and Twenty- 
 seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 515 
 
 mustered into the United States service 
 September 6, 1862, the regiment being 
 commanded by Colonel Van Arman. He 
 was taken sick, died, and was buried in 
 Georgia about a week before his brother 
 John returned to the regiment. Henry, 
 born January i, 1834, died January 5, 1896. 
 
 Mrs. Mailander is the only survivor of 
 that family. Conrad Mailander's parents 
 were Henry and Mary Mailander, the latter 
 dying when he was but two years of age. 
 He was born August 26, 1822. Henry Mail- 
 ander came to the United States in 1849, 
 lived here a few years and returned to his 
 native land, where his death occurred about 
 1858, when he was nearly eighty years of 
 age. He had five children on coming to 
 America, as follows: Peter, who died in 
 Prussia; Peter William, who came to Peru, 
 Illinois, in 1847, and there died; Mary, who 
 married Henry Scmidt, died in Prussia; 
 William, who lives in La Salle county, Illi- 
 nois; and Conrad, the father-in-law of our 
 subject. 
 
 To Conrad and Margueritta Mailander 
 eight children were born, as follows: Henry, 
 born March 10, 1852; Charles, born July 18, 
 1854; Caroline, now Mrs. Eugene Mathis, 
 born March i, 1856; Mary, born March 29, 
 1858; Louisa, now Mrs. Alfred Sower, born 
 January 2, 1861; William, born February 
 22, 1864; Maggie, now Mrs. Christian Stein- 
 worth, born March 18, 1868; and Anna C, 
 now Mrs. William Buckler, born February 
 22, 1870. The parents are yet living and 
 make their home in Somonauk. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. La Bolle are the parents 
 of three children — William C, Ruby L. and 
 Luella C. They are members of the Cath- 
 olic church. Mr. La Bolle takes little inter- 
 est in politics. He was formerly a Repub- 
 lican, but is now a Prohibitionist. The fam- 
 
 ily reside in a most handsome home on the 
 south side of De Kalb street. Mr. La Bolle 
 also owns another residence adjoining and 
 both are in good repair and nicely shaded. 
 As a farmer he has been a splendid success. 
 For several years, in addition to his farm 
 labor, he ran a threshing machine and did 
 very much in that line. As a carpenter, a 
 trade which he picked up from time to time, 
 he has furnished plans and specifications for 
 many of the buildings of Somonauk and sur- 
 rounding country. He is pleasant and genial 
 in manner, prominent in business circles and 
 the success which has attended his efforts 
 has been most justly and deservedly attained 
 by his years of persevering labor. 
 
 GEORGE E. HUEBER, who resides on 
 section i, Malta township, is engaged 
 in general farming, and is one of the most 
 enterprising of the young farmers of Malta 
 township. He was born in the township, 
 January 24, 1864, and is the son of Gottlieb 
 and Elizabeth (Heiderscheid) Hueber, both 
 of whom were natives of Germany, who 
 emigrated to this country in 1853, and of 
 who mention is made elsewhere in this 
 volume. 
 
 George E. Hueber is fourth in order of 
 birth in his father's family. He was reared 
 and educated in Malta township, where he 
 attended the common schools. He has 
 always confined himself to agricultural pur- 
 suits, and has been content to be an earnest 
 and honest tiller of the soil. He remained 
 under the parental roof until twenty-seven 
 years of age, at which time, on the 25th of 
 June, 1893, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss .Agnes Hoernecke, a native of Bruns- 
 wick, Germany, born February 14, i87r, 
 and a daughter of August and Minnie Hoer- 
 
5i6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 necke, both of whom are also natives of 
 Germany. By this union two children have 
 been born, Elizabeth in 1894, and Wil- 
 helmina in 1898. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hueber is independent, 
 caring nothing for the honors and emolu- 
 ments of public office. He believes in vot- 
 ing for the best man, regardless of party 
 affiliations. Religioush' he is liberal. 
 
 LINCOLN WATSON, a prosperous and 
 well-to-do farmer of Afton township, 
 resides on section 17, on the farm where 
 his birth occurred February 15, 1865. He 
 is the son of William and Johanna M. (Cur- 
 tis) Watson, both of whom were born near 
 \Vorcester, Massachusetts, where they were 
 married ]ire\ioiis to their removal to De 
 Kalb county, Illinois. They were the par- 
 ents of five children, one, Flora, dying at 
 the age of fifteen months. The li\'ing are 
 Ella, .Abbie, Lincoh: and William. 
 
 William Watson, the father of our sub- 
 ject, followed the vocation of a farmer dur- 
 ing almost his entire life. Previous to re- 
 moving to Illinois he worked on a farm 
 as foreman, receiving for his services twen- 
 ty-five dollars per month. At the age of 
 twenty- five years he came with his wife to 
 De Kalb county, and soon afterwards pur- 
 chased the farm where our subject now 
 lives. He became quite prosperous and 
 well-to-do, being industrious and methodical, 
 and at the time of his death in 1885, he 
 was the owner of about six hundred and 
 forty acres of good land. His death oc- 
 curred when he was fifty-seven years of age, 
 and his loss was deeply lamented by his 
 family and a large circle of friends through- 
 out the county. In politirs he was a Re- 
 publican and religiously was a Second Ad- 
 
 ventist, believing firmly in the teachings of 
 that church. 
 
 Lincoln Watson, our subject, grew to 
 manhood upon the home farm, and later 
 attended the district schools of his native 
 township, entered the high school at Au- 
 rora, where he spent three years. Leav- 
 ing the school-room he settled down to 
 work upon the farm, and has since given 
 his undivided attention to agricultural pur- 
 suits. On the 23d of December, 1886, 
 he married Miss Lizzie E. Brown, a native 
 of Milan township, De Kalb county, Illi- 
 nois, and a daughter of Rev. William 
 Brown, of De Kalb, Illinois. By this union 
 there are three children — Reider W. , Chaun- 
 cey B. and John W. 
 
 Our subject owns about two hundred 
 acres of the old Watson homestead which 
 he cultivates in a very successful manner, de- 
 voting his time to general farming. In poli- 
 tics he is a Prohibitionist, believing firmly 
 that in prohibition lies the safety of the re- 
 public. Religiously, like his father, he is a 
 member of the Second Adventist church. 
 As a citizen he is highly respected, enjoying 
 the confidence and esteem of all who know 
 him. 
 
 ALEXANDER HOWISON, who resides 
 on section 31, Squaw Grove township, 
 came to De Kalb county, in 1847, ^"d has 
 here .-^ince continued to reside, being num- 
 bered among the old settlers of the county. 
 He is a native of Ro.xburyshire, Scotland, 
 born November 22, 1827, and is the son of 
 George and Margaret (Brown) Howison, 
 both natives of the same shire. By trade 
 George How son was a weaver, which occu- 
 pation he followed in his native land. In 
 1833, he emigrated to the United States, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 517 
 
 locating first in Washington county, New 
 York, where he remained fourteen years, 
 and then came to Illinois, locating in Squaw 
 Grove township, De Kalb county. Two of 
 his sons, James and William, came to this 
 county in 1845, and entered a tract of land 
 on a portion of which the father located, 
 but only lived about one year after his ar- 
 rival, dying at the age of sixty-one years. 
 His wife survived him many years, dying at 
 the age of eighty- four years. They were 
 the parents of four sons and one daughter, 
 all of whom are yet living, and well settled 
 in lite. James, whose sketch appears else- 
 where in this work, resides in Sandwich. 
 Will am is a substantial citizen of Clinton 
 township. Eliza is the wife of Alexander 
 G. White, a farmer of De Kalb county. 
 Alexander is the subject of this review. 
 Robert is a farmer of Clinton township. 
 
 On a farm in Washington county. New 
 York, our subject grew to manhood, and as 
 the opportunity was afforded him, ai tended 
 the public schools. He came west with the 
 family in 1847, ^"^ remained with hi-, father 
 until after his death. The first year he 
 worked with his brother, and the following 
 year purchased a claim of one hundred and 
 sixty acres, of his brother William, and 
 commenced to improve the farm. He con- 
 tinued in that employment until 1852, when 
 he went to California, taking passage on a 
 vessel at New York, and going by way of 
 Cape Horn, to San Francisco. On his ar- 
 rival he went into the mines where he spent 
 one year, and then engaj^ed in gardening. 
 After residing in that country for three and 
 a half years, he returned by way of the 
 Isthmus of Panama to New York, being 
 fairly successful in h s venture. Afte" rest- 
 ing a brief time, he returned 10 his (aim, 
 which he continued to cultivate for some 
 
 years. In addition to his original purchase 
 he also bought from his I rother an adjoin- 
 ing place of one hundred and seventy-four 
 acres, and a well improved farm in Victor 
 township of two hundred acres. 
 
 In the fall of 1862 Mr. Howison was 
 united in marriage with Miss Margaret Mc- 
 Cleary, a native of Ohio, who came to De 
 I\alb county when about eight years old, 
 with her father, James McCleary, an early 
 settler of the county. By this union there 
 are three sons and 1 wo daughters — George, 
 Jennie, Mary Jeannette, Archie and Ralph, 
 all yet residing at home. Two are deceased 
 Ann Elizabeth and Isabella C. 
 
 Politically Mr. Howison is identified with 
 the Prohibition party, though formerly a Re- 
 publican. He never desired nor would he 
 accept office preferring to give his time and 
 attention to his farming interests. He is a 
 member of the United Presbyterian church, 
 of which his wife and children are also mem- 
 bers. Success has crowned him in his ef- 
 forts, and by his industry and economy, he 
 has accumulated a competency, and is the 
 owner of three valuable and well improved 
 farms, and to-day is recognized as one of 
 the most substantial farmers in De Ivalb 
 county and one in whom the people can 
 trust for his strict integrity of character. 
 
 LEWIS BEND came to De Kalb county 
 in the spring of 1858, and now resides 
 on a fine farm of two hundred and fifty- 
 seven acres, on section 29, Victor township. 
 He was born in Lincolnshire, England, 
 June 5, 1831, and is the son of William and 
 Sarah (Watson) Bend, both of whom were 
 natives of England, where their entire lives 
 were spent, the father engaging in common 
 labor. In his native shire our subject grew 
 
5i8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to manhood on a farm, and received verj' 
 limited educational advantages, and al- 
 though he is now a very well informed man, 
 the knowledge has since been acquired by 
 reading and observation. From boyhood 
 he had to make his own way in the world, 
 and therefore he determined to come where 
 the opportunities were greater than in his 
 native land. On the 22nd of March, 1852, 
 he took passage on a sailing vessel at Liv- 
 erpool, bound for New York, in company 
 with his brother Samuel. 
 
 Arriving at New York, the brothers went 
 direct to Monroe county, in that state, and 
 there secured work on a farm. Lewis re- 
 mained there about one year and a half, and 
 then came west to Batavia, Kane county, Illi- 
 nois, where he spent the first winter in cut- 
 ting timber, and the following spring went 
 to work on a farm, and continued to work by 
 the month for some three or four years. In 
 1858 he came to De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 and rented a farm in Victor township, on 
 which he resided for nine years. In 1866 
 he made his first purchase of land, a tract 
 of one hundred and sixty acres, comprising 
 a part of the farm on which he now resides. 
 Some improvements had been made, but 
 with characteristic energy he went to work 
 and as the time passed by, further improve- 
 ments were made and in 1870 he purchased 
 ninety-seven acres additional, and has since 
 built a large and substantial residence and 
 large barns, together with sheds for the 
 shelter of his stock. Everything about the 
 place shows the taste of its owner, and that 
 he has been industrious, making his farm 
 one of the best in Victor township. 
 
 Mr. Bend was married in Ohio in 1854, 
 to Miss Jane Sturgis, also a native of Lin- 
 colnshire, England. By this union there 
 are twelve children, seven of whom are liv- 
 
 ing. Mary Ann is the wife of Thomas Wil- 
 son, a farmer of Victor township. Hester 
 is the wife of Frank ^^'ells, and they reside 
 in Clay county, Iowa. Ella is the wife of 
 Arthur Parkes. a farmer of Victor township. 
 Lille and Amy are young ladies at home. 
 Lewis grew to manhood, married, and set- 
 tled in Nebraska, where his death occurred. 
 John is married and now resides in Nebraska. 
 Joseph remains at home and assists in car- 
 rying on the home farm. Mattie died after 
 reaching womanhood. Lucy died at about 
 the age of four years, while Ellen died in 
 early childhood. The mother of these chil- 
 dren has also passed to her reward, her 
 death taking place in December, 1892. 
 
 Politically Mr. Bend is classed with that 
 fast increasing number of men who vote as 
 their conscience dictates, without regard to 
 party. He has never desired nor would he 
 ever hold office. Coming to this country 
 without a dollar, he has by his industry and 
 economy acquired a competency, and should 
 he desire, he can rest easy during the re- 
 mainder of his life. 
 
 EDWARD C. DAVIS is numbered among 
 the young and enterprising farmers of 
 Paw Paw township, owning and operating a 
 well improved farm of two hundred and 
 seventy-six acres on section 12, Paw Paw 
 township. He was born on the old home- 
 stead where he now resides, June 23, 1870, 
 and is the son of George Nelson Davis, also 
 a native of De Kalb county, Illinois, born 
 in 1840. The paternal grandfather, Albert 
 Davis, was one of the pioneers of De Kalb 
 county, coming here from Canada and lo- 
 cating in Victor township, where he entered 
 land, opened up a farm and reared his 
 laniily. George N. Davis grew to manhood 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 519 
 
 in Victor township and married Miss Annis 
 Deming, a native of New York, and a 
 daugliter of Asa Deming, who was also an 
 early settler of De Kalb county. Immedi- 
 ately after his marriage, he settled on eighty 
 acres of the farm where his sons now re- 
 side. Erecting a small frame house, he at 
 once commenced the improvement of the 
 place and, as his means increased, pur- 
 chased more land, until he was the owner 
 of two hundred and seventy-six acres, all of 
 which was under cultivation. He reared 
 his family on that farm and there died in 
 April, 1892. His wife survives him and re- 
 sides in the village of Paw Paw. They were 
 the parents of two sons and one daughter, 
 of whom our subject is the eldest. Bertha 
 grew to womanhood and is now the wife of 
 .Arthur Wells, of Paw Paw, Lee county. 
 Earl resides with his mother in Paw Paw. 
 
 The subject of this sketch continued on 
 the home farm until nineteen years of age, 
 in the meantime assisting in its cultivation. 
 He received a fairly good education in the 
 school at Ross Grove. When nineteen 
 years old he left home and commenced work 
 at anything which came to hand. In Jan- 
 uary, 1 89 1, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Sarah Bend, a native of Victor township, 
 where she was reared and educated and a 
 daughter of Richard Bend, now residing in 
 Shabbona township. One daughter has 
 come to bless their union, Grace Davis. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Davis worked the 
 Bend farm for one year, and after the death 
 of his father, returned to the old home- 
 stead where he yet resides, engaged in farm- 
 ing and stock raising. Since taking posses- 
 sion of the old farm, he has built a substan- 
 tial residence and various outbuildings, and 
 has put the place under very substantial 
 improvements. He has been uniformly 
 
 successful in that which he has undertaken, 
 and being thoroughly enterprising and in- 
 dustrious, it is certain that success will still 
 continue with him. Politically he is a Re- 
 publican, and is now serving as commis- 
 sioner of highways. 
 
 D WIGHT K. CROFOOT is entitled to 
 distinction as one of the most progress- 
 ive and enterprising men of Sandwich, hav- 
 ing for years been identified with its com- 
 mercial interests. Upon the commercial 
 activity of a community depends its pros- 
 perity, and the men who are recognized as 
 leading citizens are those who are, or have 
 been, at the head of extensive business en- 
 terprises. Mr. Crofoot is a man of broad 
 capabilities, who carries forward to success- 
 ful completion whatever he undertakes. He 
 was born in Lewis county. New York, Nov- 
 ember 19, 1852, and is the son of R. D. 
 and Hannah M. (Kent) Crofoot, the former 
 a native of Connecticut and the latter of 
 New York. They were the parents of five 
 children: Adelbert B., who is engaged in 
 the wholesale boot and shoe trade in 
 Peoria; Anna E. , who died at the age of 
 thirteen years; Dwight K., our subject; 
 Ralph, who died at the age of four years; 
 and one who died in infancy. The mother 
 of these children died in January, 1S97, 
 at the age of eighty-three years. The 
 father is still living, and resides in Sand- 
 wich, being now eighty-two years of age. 
 He is an attendant of the Universalist church, 
 of which faith he is a believer. His wife was 
 also an attendant of that church. 
 
 Our subject spent his boyhood and 
 youth in Turin, Lewis county, New York, 
 and was educated in the common schools, 
 although he attended a short time after com- 
 
520 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ing to Illinois. On leaving school he engaged 
 as a clerk in a dry-goods store, and later, 
 with his brother and C. H. Pratt, engaged 
 in the same line of trade, under the firm 
 name of Crofoot Bros. & Pratt. The latter 
 retiring after a few 3'ears, the firm became 
 Crofoot Bros & Manchester. Two years later, 
 the brother of our subject withdrew from 
 the firm, and the firm became Crofoot 
 & Manchester. For twenty years it was 
 one of the leading firms in Sandwich and 
 had a very extensive trade. Our subject 
 then sold out, and went into the Sedgwick 
 Bank, as a supply for two weeks, but re- 
 mained two years. In June, 1897, he was 
 appointed assignee of the Sandwich Enter- 
 prise Company, and at present writing is 
 still engaged in the business. 
 
 Mr. Crofoot was married in February, 
 1875, *-0 Miss Minnie Chapman a native of 
 New York and a daughter of S. M. Chap- 
 man, of LaSalle, Illinois. By this union si.x 
 children have been born— Clara E., Ralph 
 D. , Olive, Hazel, Hannah M. and Doris K, 
 
 Religiously Mrs. Crofoot is a member of 
 the Congregational church. In politics Mr. 
 Crofoot is a Democrat, and has served his 
 party as a delegate to various conventions. 
 It is, however, as a business man and not as 
 politician that he is so widely known. He 
 is now the secretary of the cemetery asso- 
 ciation of Sandwich, which is an incorporated 
 body. To Mr. Crofoot and George Culver, 
 the president of the association, the credit 
 is due for the beautiful appearance of the 
 cemetery at Sandwich. He is one of the 
 directors in the Sandwich Fair Association, 
 and a stock holder in the butter factory. 
 He has served his city as alderman, and for 
 years has been a member of the school 
 board, and in that position has done much 
 in shaping educational affairs in Sandwich. 
 
 He is a man of more than ordinary ability, 
 has broad and progressive views, and is well 
 informed on general topics. He is of a 
 frank and genial nature, cordial in manner, 
 and is a man who makes friends of all who 
 have dealings with him. 
 
 HI^NRY OSBORN, who has a well im- 
 proved farm of seventy-five acres on 
 sections 14 and 15, Mayfield township, came 
 to De Kalb county in 1S55, and has here 
 since continued to reside. He is a native 
 of England, born in Rutland county, Au- 
 gust 25, 1834. His boyhood and youth 
 were spent on the farm in his native county, 
 and here had fair common school advan- 
 tages while there remaining. In company 
 with his brother, William, in 1853, he set 
 sail for Atiierica, and landing in Quebec, 
 Canada, went directly from there to Buffa- 
 lo, New York, where he joined an older 
 brother, who had settled in Erie county, 
 that state. He at once went to work on a 
 farm, and continued as a farm hand two 
 summers, and during the winter of 1853-4 
 he attended school near Buffalo. In the 
 fall of 1854 he came to De Kalb county 
 where he joined his brother, William, who 
 had preceded him. He again went to work 
 on a farm by the month and continued to 
 be thus employed for about thirteen years, 
 in the meantime attending school a few 
 winter terms. He was married in 1868 to 
 Miss Hattie Bailey, a native of New York, 
 where she was reared and educated, and a 
 daughter of S. S. Bailey, who moved from 
 New York to De Kalb county. 
 
 Just before his marriage Mr. Osborn 
 purchased the farm where he now resides 
 and located thereon. It was an improved 
 farm, but he has since rebuilt the house and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 521 
 
 barn and has made many substantial im- 
 provements on the place. Mrs. Osborn 
 here died in November, 1883. and Mr. Os- 
 born later married Mrs. Clarissa De Low, 
 m'e Townsend, a sister of Edwin Townsend, 
 whose sketch appears elsewhere in this 
 work. By this union four children were 
 born, three of whom are living, Hattie, 
 .Alice and Harry. Ella died at the age 
 of eight years. 
 
 Mr. Osborn was elected and served as 
 commissioner of highways for three years, 
 and was township collector one term. For 
 twenty-three years he served as a member 
 of the school board, fifteen years of which 
 time he was its clerk. By his long contin- 
 ued service is shown conclusively the inter- 
 est which he has taken in the public schools 
 and the confidence reposed in him by his 
 friends and neighbors. Politically he is an 
 earnest and steadfast Republican, a stanch 
 advocate of the principles of the party, 
 and one who does not hesitate to vote his 
 party ticket. Mrs. Osborn is connected 
 with the Advent Christian church; both are 
 well known and highly respected by those 
 who have formed their acquaintance. 
 
 JAMES BLAKE, deceased, was for many 
 years the owner of a fine farm on sec- 
 tions 3 and 10, De Kalb township, and was 
 numbered among the early settlers of the 
 county. He was a native of England, born 
 February 7, 1820, and came to this country 
 with his parents, James and Mary Blake, 
 when he was but nine years of age. They 
 located at Akron, Ohio, and there remained 
 until 1844, when they came to De Kalb 
 county, Illinois. After residing here some 
 years the father returned to his native land 
 to restore his shattered health, but without 
 
 avail. His death occurred while on that 
 visit, dying at his old home at the age of 
 seventy years. His widow remained in De 
 Kalb county, where she died at an advanced 
 age. 
 
 James Blake, our subject, removed to 
 De Kalb county two years prior to the time 
 when his parents came. On his arrival he 
 took up eighty acres of go\ernment land, 
 for which he paid a dollar and twenty-five 
 cents per acre, and at once erected a log 
 house, but did not permanently settle on 
 the claim until the second year after his ar- 
 rival. For the first few years the times 
 were hard with him, but in due time pros- 
 perity came. To his original purchase he 
 added eighty acres previous to the Civil war, 
 and during the war he purchased two hun- 
 dred and forty acres. The last eighty acres 
 that he purchased- was in 1878. 
 
 He was united in marriage with Annie 
 Sherd and they became the parents of nine 
 children, of whom four are yet living: 
 Viola Rice, Cassie, Albert and Mrs. Fuller. 
 Albert is fourth in order of birth and was 
 born in De Kalb county, March 14, 1854, 
 and here he has always continued to reside. 
 He was educated in the common schools of 
 the county and was early given his task 
 upon the farm. He was united in marriage 
 December 14. 1875, with Miss Ellen Heath, 
 a native of Herkimer county, New York, 
 born January 6, 1854, and the daughter of 
 William and Delilah Heath, who removed 
 from Herkimer county. New York, to De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, in i860, where they 
 spent the remainder of their lives, Mrs. 
 Heath dying in August, 1875, and Mr. Heath 
 February 8, 1898. To Albert and Ella 
 Blake one child has been born, Clarence E., 
 February 22, 1878. On the 25th of Octo- 
 ber, 1S97, he was united in marriage with 
 
522 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Miss Maude M. Padd, of De Kalb township. 
 Foliowing in the footsteps of his father, 
 Albert Blake is a practical and prosperous 
 farmer. 
 
 Politically James Blake was a sound 
 Democrat, and religiously a Presbyterian. 
 He was an excellent farmer, a thorough 
 business man, and a loyal citizen to the 
 country of his adoption. He died on the 
 old homestead, where he resided for more 
 than half a century, June 17, 1898, at the 
 age of seventy-eight years. His wife pre- 
 ceded him to their heavenly home, dying 
 February 28, 1895. They were both greatly 
 esteemed and well Icnown in De Kalb and 
 adjoining counties. 
 
 GEORGE WHITE is engaged in gen- 
 eral farming and dairying on section 9, 
 Genoa township. He svas born on the 
 farm where he now resides October 14, 
 1849. His father. John ^^'hite, was a na- 
 tive of Bavaria, Germany, born March 5, 
 1 81 5, and was the son of John and Bar- 
 bara (Bamar) \\'hite, both of whom were 
 also natives of Germany. In his native 
 land John White grew to manhood and in 
 1846 came to America, sailing from Ham- 
 burg and being seven weeks on the voyage. 
 He first located in Pennsylvania, where he 
 remained three years and where his mar- 
 'ria^e with Miss Anna Margaret Hoffman 
 was celebrated in the fall of 1846. She 
 was also a native of Bavaria, Germany, and 
 came from her native country on the same 
 vessel with Mr. White. The name was 
 originally spelled Weid and was changed to 
 correspond with the" pronunciation in Amer- 
 ica. To John and Anna M. White seven 
 children were born: Charles was born in 
 Pennsvlvania and now lives in Delaware 
 
 count)', Iowa, where he is engaged in farm- 
 ing; George is the subject of this sketch and 
 was the first of the family born in De Kalb 
 county; Maggie and Carrie, with our sub- 
 ject, are now owners of the old home farm; 
 John is now living in Delaware county, 
 Iowa; Henry lives in Butler county, Iowa; 
 Mar}' married John Billhorn and li\es in 
 Iowa. 
 
 In 1849 John White came with his fam- 
 ily to De Kalb county and purchased a farm 
 of eighty acres in section 9, Genoa town- 
 ship, and at once commenced its improve- 
 ment. He was an industrious and thrifty 
 man and success crcwned his efforts. From 
 time to time he added to his possessions 
 until he was the owner of two hundred and 
 sixty acres, the greater portion of which 
 was under cultivation. He continued to 
 manage the farm until after the death of his 
 wife, which occurred Jul}' 6, 1896, when he 
 sold to his son George and daughters Mag- 
 gie and Carrie, but continued to reside with 
 them until his death, January 8, 1898. 
 Both were good. Christian people and well 
 respected. 
 
 George White grew to manhood on the 
 home farm, and in winter attended the dis- 
 trict schools until the age of eighteen years. 
 He worked with his father until he attained 
 his majority, after which he continued to 
 work for him for wages until he purchased 
 the place after the mother's death. The 
 farm comprises two hundred and thirty acres 
 of prairie land and about thirty acres of 
 timber. It is devoted to general farming 
 and dairy purposes. He milks about twenty 
 cows, from which they manufacture butter, 
 and having an established trade in private 
 families, they dispose of all the product, re- 
 ceiving one cent per pound above the Elgin 
 board of trade price. In politics Mr. White is 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 523 
 
 a Prohibitionist in sentiment, and has served 
 several terms as school director. He is an 
 attendant at the Ney M. E. church, and as 
 a citizen has a well established reputation 
 for honor and integrity. 
 
 JOHN CARROLL came to De Kalb 
 county in 1865 and now resides on sec- 
 tion 7, Milan township, where he owns and 
 operates a valuable farm of one hundred 
 and si.xty acres. He is a native of Ireland, 
 born near the city of Wexford in 1828. 
 Both his parents died when he was a child 
 of eight years, from which time forward he 
 was thrown on his own resources. He 
 came to the United States in 1848 and first 
 located in Columbia county, New York, 
 about twelve miles from Hudson and only 
 eight miles from the Hudson river at Kin- 
 derhook. He commenced work on a farm 
 by the month, at which he continued for 
 several years. He later worked eight years 
 for Mr. Graves, a hatter of Kinderhook, and 
 while there in 1858 was united in marriage 
 with Mrs. Margaret McCambly, a widow 
 lady from the north of Ireland, born in 
 county Down. She was also an employe 
 of Mr. Graves and was with him for fifteen 
 years, being a specialist at hat trimming. 
 While in the employment of Mr. Graves 
 she made a cap for President Martin Van 
 Buren. 
 
 In 1865 Mr. Carroll came to De Kalb 
 county and purchased a farm in Milan 
 township, where he now resides. The place 
 was partially improved, but Mr. Carroll 
 commenced its further' improvement by the 
 erection of a more substantial dwelling, 
 large barns and other outbuildings. Under 
 his management the farm has been improved 
 
 26 
 
 and made one of the most productive in 
 Milan township. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Carroll are the parents of 
 two children. William, the eldest born, 
 came to De Kalb county a lad of si.x years 
 and grew to manhood on the farm, and re- 
 ceived his education in the home schools, 
 supplemented by two terms in the high 
 school at Malta. He remained with his 
 father, assisting in the farm work, until 
 after attaining his majority. He was mar- 
 ried in Chicago, Illinois, March 28, 1898, 
 to Miss Mary Aman, a native of Switzer- 
 land, but reared in Chicago. After his 
 marriage he returned to the old farm and is 
 now assisting in its management. The 
 daughter. Mar)', is the wife of Frank 
 Young, a farmer of Milan township. By 
 her former marriage Mrs. Carroll has two 
 children, John R., a business man of Chi- 
 cago, and Rosa, wife of Theodore Dangle- 
 mayer, of Westfield, Massachusetts. 
 
 Politically Mr. Carroll is a staunch 
 Democrat and has been identified with that 
 party since becoming a citizen of this coun- 
 try. Religiously he is a Catholic. For a 
 third of a century he has been a resident of 
 De Kalb county and is a well known and 
 highly respected citizen. 
 
 RICHARD W. BLANCHFIELD is a 
 farmer residing on section 12, Syca- 
 more township. He was born in St. 
 Charles, Illinois, July 24, 1855, and is the 
 son of John Blanchfield, a native of county 
 l-iilkenny, Ireland, born in 1809, and died 
 in Sycamore township in 1874. He came 
 to America about 1848 on a sailing vessel, 
 and was si.x weeks in crossing the ocean. 
 There was much sickness aboard and two- 
 thirds of them died. They sailed from 
 
524 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Queenstown and landed at New York. 
 From the latter place John Blanchfield 
 came direct to Chicaj^o, where he remained 
 about one year, working on a railroad which 
 was then under construction. He then 
 moved to St. Charles, where he resided un- 
 til 1857, and then purchased a farm lying in 
 De Kalb and Kane counties, the residence 
 being in De Kalb county. That farm he 
 continued to improve and there resided un- 
 til his death. He was a devout member of 
 the Catholic church, and in politics he was 
 a Democrat. For some years he was school 
 director and road commissioner. He was 
 a well educated man, having obtained his 
 education in a college in his native county. 
 He married Bridget Saunders, a daughter 
 of Michael Saunders, who married a Miss 
 Kern. Michael Saunders was engaged in 
 the Irish Rebellion in 1798. He lived to 
 an advanced age. Mrs. Blanchfield died 
 in 1884 on the farm of our subject. John 
 Blanchfield and wife were the parents of si.x 
 daughters and three sons, as follows: 
 Michael, deceased; James, residing in Cal- 
 houn county, Iowa; Sylvester, living in Ala- 
 bama; Mrs. Sarah O'Gara, living in \N'is- 
 consin; Mrs. Mary Lynch, of Chicago; Mrs. 
 Anna Quinlan, of Chicago; Lizzie, residing 
 in Sycamore township; Richard W., our 
 subject; and Mrs. Jane McKennon, of Elgin, 
 Illinois. 
 
 The paternal grandfather, John Blanch- 
 field, Sr. , was born and died in Ireland. 
 He was superintendent of estates and agent 
 for large landed properties. His people 
 had fine estates at the time of the rebellion 
 in 1798, and, because of participation in that 
 rebellion, the land was confiscated. John 
 Blanchfield, Sr. , was a lieutenant in the 
 Rebel army. The family is one of the old- 
 est in the north of Ireland. The matter of 
 
 confiscation of the lands of the Blanchfields 
 is mentioned in history. 
 
 Richard W. Blanchfield was but two 
 years old when his parents moved to De 
 Kalb county. He grew to manhood on the 
 farm, and attended the district schools, 
 after leaving which he entered Bryant & 
 Stratton's Business College, Chicago, where 
 he took a two years course. Returning to 
 the farm, he remained with his father until 
 twenty-seven years of age. In 1882 the 
 farm residence burned, and he went to Chi- 
 cago where he worked for four years in a 
 wholesale grocery house, his earnings being 
 used in rebuilding the residence. While in 
 the city his brother and wife ran the farm. 
 On his return he took charge of the same, 
 and has here since continued to reside, giv- 
 ing his attention to general farming and 
 stock raising. In politics he is independent. 
 Religiously he is a Catholic, and fraternally 
 a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge 
 in Elgin. 
 
 JESSE F. POPLIN, a farmer residing on 
 section 28, Somonauk township, is a 
 veteran of the Civil war. He was born in 
 this township February 5, 1845, and is the 
 son of William B. and Rachel (Harmon) 
 Poplin, both natives of North Carolina, 
 but who were married in Illinois, having 
 come to this state with their respective par- 
 ents. William Poplin came to Illinois 
 about the year 1829, and it is said that he 
 turned the first furrow in Somonauk town- 
 ship. For a time he worked by the month 
 for the father of Senator Cullom. In 1834 
 he made claim to the land in section 28, on 
 which he and our subject now live. In 
 North Carolina he engaged in farming, and 
 having heard of the excellent qualities of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 S2S 
 
 Illinois land he determined on coming to 
 this state. The Harmon family into which 
 he married came about the same time. 
 They were all good people from that hospi- 
 table Old North state, and gave tone and 
 hospitality to the neigborhood where they 
 located. They were pioneers, kind, clever, 
 obliging and influential, and their latch 
 string was always out. They were more 
 than pleased when they received a visit from 
 their neighbors, the nearest of whom were 
 from three to five miles distance. Chicago, 
 more than sixty miles away, was their mar- 
 ket. After the Black Hawk war of 1832 
 the county began to fill up, and neighbors 
 were more plenty and near. William Pop- 
 lin was born December 23, i8og, while his 
 wife was born August 26, 181 1. They 
 were married March 3, 1831, in good time 
 to receive many frights from the wandering 
 tribes of Indians and the calamity attendant 
 on prairie fires. These good old people who 
 were pioneers are still living, though with 
 health somewhat impaired. They were for 
 a time known b)' every resident of the county, 
 and it is perhaps not much to say, by almost 
 every resident of the four counties. When 
 they located here there was not a railroad, 
 telegraph, motor car, telephone, mower, 
 reaper, automatic binder or sewing machine 
 known in this state. Since that time things 
 have changed. Then the runaway slaves 
 at times sought shelter, a thing we can 
 scarcely now believe. Surely our country 
 has made history rapidly during the lives of 
 some who are still on the stage of action. 
 The subject of this sketch is the young- 
 est of six children. Sarah J., born Octo- 
 ber 13, 1832, died October 19, 1834. Har- 
 riet L., born January 25, 1836, was the first 
 white child born in Somonauk township. 
 She died March 7, 1S87. She married 
 
 Herbert Cotton and they had two children, 
 Clarence and Eva. Mary A., born Sep- 
 tember 10, 1838, was burned to death 
 March 6, 1839. Rebecca C. is the wife of J. 
 Henry, and they have two children. Fan- 
 nie E. is the wife of C. V. Stevens, a 
 banker of Somonauk, and their children 
 are D. F. and Ida. 
 
 Jesie F. Poplin, our subject, was reared 
 on the farm, and attended the district schools. 
 On the 1 6th of August, 1862, when but 
 seventeen years old, he enlisted in Company 
 H, One Hundred and Fifth Illinois Volun- 
 teer Infantry, his regiment being assigned 
 to the Army of the Cumberland. With his 
 regiment he participated in the battles of 
 Resaca, Cassville, Burnt Hickory, Dallas 
 Wood, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree 
 Creek, and was then in the Atlanta cam- 
 paign, and the march to the sea. At Law- 
 tonville he was wounded, but remained with 
 the division hospital. About thirty days 
 later they struck Goldsboro, and later took 
 part in the battles Averysboro and Benton- 
 ville. Proceeding with his regiment, he 
 was in the grand review at Washington, 
 and June 7, 1865, received his discharge, 
 after having served two years and ten 
 months. The wound he received in his arm 
 still gives him trouble, and he now draws a 
 pension. 
 
 Returning home after his discharge, Mr. 
 Poplin resumed farming and has made that 
 his life work. He was married April 11, 
 1866, to Miss Carrie C. Carr, a daughter 
 of Stiles P. and Susan Carr, old settlers of 
 Illinois. By this union there are two chil- 
 dren, Theodore, who married Miss Adel Suy- 
 dan, and Carl, who resides at home. These 
 parents are members of the Baptist church, 
 and fraternally he is a member of Somonauk 
 Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Sandwich Chapter, 
 
526 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 K. A. M., Aurora Commandery, K. T. , and 
 the Order of the Eastern Star of Sonionauk, 
 also the Modern Woodmen of America, 
 Home Forum, and Somonauk Post, G. A. 
 R. In each of the organizations he has 
 held office, being worshipful master of the 
 blue lodge of Masons, for three years. He 
 was also commander of the post. In poli- 
 tics he is an ardent Republican, and cast 
 his first president vote for U. S. Grant. 
 He and his wife have ever been people of 
 sterling worth and unquestionable integrity. 
 He represents that class of good American 
 citizens, who when the flag of our country 
 was assailed, thought life itself, and all that 
 life holds dear, not too good to sacrifice if nec- 
 essary, that the laws of our country should 
 be upheld and the nation saved. He did 
 his part well as a soldier, and as a citizen 
 he enjoys the respect and confidence of all. 
 
 LORENZO C. SHAFFER is one of the 
 prominent business men of Kingston, 
 where he is engaged in the drug business. 
 He was born in Earlville, Delaware county, 
 Iowa, April 12, 1865, and is ihe son of Ira 
 and Helen (Williams) Shaffer, both of whom 
 were natives of Ohio, and wl.o followed ag- 
 ricultural pursuits all iheir lives. The 
 grandparents of our subject, on the mother's 
 side, Chester and Sallie Williams, were 
 born in 1800, and removing to Illinois in 
 1840, located in North Kingston, where Mr. 
 Williams took up four hundred acres of 
 government land, and upon which he built 
 and immediately began to improve the land, 
 an J paved the way for his daughter, Mrs. 
 Shaffer, who in after years resided upon 
 that farm, but who is now living quietly in 
 the village of Kingston, a worthy and highly 
 respected lady. Her father, Chester \\'ill- 
 
 iams, died in 1848, at the age of forty-eight 
 years. She was born in Ohio, in 1836. 
 
 To the parents were born only one child, 
 Lorenzo C. , the subject of this sketch. He 
 was reared and educated in Kingston, being 
 but one year of age when brought by his 
 mother to this county. After attending and 
 graduating from the common schools of 
 Kingston, he entered the Northwestern Uni- 
 versity of Chicago, and .'^pent one year in 
 the study of pharmacy. Previous to this, 
 however, he was in the employ of Dr. J. H. 
 Fellows, and after his return from the uni- 
 versity, he bought the establishment of his 
 former employer. He has since been con- 
 tinuously in the drug and grocery business, 
 and his patronage has been equal to that of 
 any other merchant in the place. He is in 
 love with his vocation, and his gentlemanly 
 deportment, his pleasing and affable man- 
 ner, combined with strict adherence to busi- 
 ness principles, make him a successful 
 business man. 
 
 On the 26th of November, 1892, Mr. 
 Shaffer was united in marriage with Miss 
 Effie McCollom, a native of De Kalb coun- 
 ty, born in Mayfield township, November 5, 
 1869, and a daughter of Isaac and Roxie 
 McCollom. In addition to his regular busi- 
 ness, Mr. Shaffer is secretary of the King- 
 ston Creamery Company. In politics he is 
 a Republican, and has served as a member 
 of the town council for three years. He is 
 a highl}' respected member of the Masonic 
 fraternity, and also of the Modern Wood- 
 men of America. 
 
 WILLIAM VOSBURGH is a practical 
 farmer residing on section 29, Kingston 
 township. He was born in Canada, Sep- 
 tember 23, 1827, and is the son of John and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 527 
 
 Mary (Martin) Vosburgh, both of whom 
 were also natives of Canada. In i 868 the 
 family came to the United States, and located 
 at Belvidere, Illinois, where the mother died 
 the same year. The father returned to 
 Canada the following year, and there his death 
 occurred shortly after his return. By occu- 
 pation he was a farmer, and was an honest, 
 upright man. He had been a faithful ad- 
 herent of the established Church of England 
 for fifty-four years. All those years his wife 
 was also a member of the same church, and 
 both died in peace. They were the parents 
 of eight children, all of whom grew to ma- 
 turity, and are now living at an advanced 
 age. 
 
 William Vosburgh was fifth in order of 
 birth, and was reared and educated in Can- 
 ada. In 1856 he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Elizabeth Williams, a native of 
 Canada, and by this union seven children 
 were born: EmilyJ., John P., Anna, Elijah, 
 Frank, Carrie and Ernest J. They are all 
 farmers or wives of farmers. Mrs. Vos- 
 burgh died in 1896. She was a noble wo- 
 man of spotless character and upright life, 
 and her death was a great loss to family 
 and friends. 
 
 In 1868, Mr. Vosburgh came to Illinois, 
 in company with his parents, and located in 
 Belvidere, Boone county, where he remained 
 but a short time, and then moved to Frank- 
 lin township, De Kalb county, and subse- 
 quently made some other moves, finally 
 locating, in 1877, in Kingston township, 
 where he purchased his present farm of 
 eighty acres, upon which he still continues 
 to reside. He is a practical farmer and a 
 loyal citizen, and strongly advocates the 
 principles of the Republican party. When 
 in his native country he held to the same 
 principles and voted them, but under an- 
 
 other name. No man in Kingston township 
 is held in greater esteem than the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 NICHOLAS WEBER is a farmer resid- 
 ing on section 33, Kingston township. 
 He is a native of Luxemburg, Germany, 
 born June 7, 1831, and is the son of Jacob 
 and Catherine Weber, both of whom were 
 natives of Germany. Jacob Weber was a 
 practical farmer, and followed that vocation 
 all his life, and died when comparatively a 
 young man, October 8, 1843. His wife 
 came to this country in 1864, and died in 
 Chicago in 1869. Their family consisted of 
 eighteen children, twelve of whom grew to 
 maturity, and six came to this country. 
 Bnt three of the entire number are now 
 living. 
 
 Nicholas Weber was reared and educated 
 in Germany, where he remained until he 
 was twenty-three years of age, when he 
 emigrated to this country. He came directly 
 to Maj'field township, De Kalb county, Illi- 
 nois, and has remained in that township, 
 and in Kingston, up to the present time. 
 He was in this country but three years 
 when he bought forty acres of land in its 
 wild state. This was in 1857. That land 
 he improved by the erection of buildings, 
 fencing and tiling the same. To the first 
 forty he added another forty acres which 
 he owned in partership with his brother 
 Phillip. In 1866, he sold out his interest 
 to his brother, and purchased eighty acres 
 of his present farm, on which he has erected 
 substantial buildings, and otherwise im- 
 proved the place. To the original eighty 
 he added twenty acres in Mayfield township, 
 then ten acres of timber, and forty acres 
 more of prairie land. With the exception 
 
528 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of twenty acres, his farm all lies in Kings- 
 ton township. On October i, 1S63, Mr. 
 Weber was united in marriage with Miss 
 Harriet M. Knight, born in Columbus, Ad- 
 ams county, Illinois, June 5, 1840, and a 
 daughter of Samuel and Mary Knight. Her 
 Her father was born in Maryland, June 28, 
 1 8 16, while her mother was born in Wil- 
 mington, Green county, \'ermont, February 
 21, 1815. Both are now living in Mayfield 
 township, De Ivalb county, to which place' 
 they removed May 17, 1845, and where 
 there have since resided. Their family 
 numbered ten children, of whom six are 
 now living. They are excellent people and 
 members of the Christian church. 
 
 To Nicholas and Harriet M. Weber, six 
 children have been born, four of whom are 
 living. Inez L. , born June 30, 1864, mar- 
 ried Elmer Hadsall. Clara E., born Feb- 
 ruary 3, 1866, married Henry King. Jeru- 
 sha E., born July 13, 1867, died December 
 19, 1872. Amanda J., born September 20, 
 1869, married Wesley Slafter. Walter S., 
 born November i, 1873, married Miss Han- 
 nah Leonhardt, October 18, 1894, and a 
 daughter of Charles Leonhardt, and they 
 have two children: Louis C, born Septem- 
 ber 5, 1895; Jesse N., born August 27, 1898. 
 Hattie A., born May 21, 1875, died Novem- 
 ber 15, 1889. No family in Kingston town- 
 ship is more highly respected than that of 
 our subject. 
 
 THOMAS CORNWALL, a retired farmer 
 living in Sycamore, was born in the 
 village of Mardin, Kent county, England, 
 June 8, 1828. His father, William Corn- 
 wall, was born in the same town and county. 
 He was a footman to gentlemen and died in 
 1830 when about thirty years old. The pa- 
 
 ternal grandfather, William Cornwall, Sr. , 
 was a farm workman and died when past 
 four score years. His wife lived to be about 
 the same age. \Mlliam Cornwall married 
 Fannie Bottin, by whom he had four chil- 
 dren, our subject being the youngest. After 
 his death his widow married Edward \\'ater- 
 man, who canie to America in 1848 and 
 died in \'irginia about 1858. She died about 
 one year later, leaving six children, four of 
 whom were taken and reared by our subject. 
 Thomas Cornwall grew to manhood in his 
 native country and when old enough secured 
 work as a chore boy, for which he received 
 two pence a day. He later found work on 
 a farm, at which he continued until coming 
 to America in 1847. He sailed for America 
 on the Queen of the West and was five 
 weeks and two days on the ocean, landing 
 in New York in December, 1847. Arriving 
 there he borrowed two dollars and fifty cents 
 to take him to Utica, from which place he 
 walked to Waterville, sixteen miles, where 
 two sisters were then living. The first work 
 secured was in threshing grain with a flail, 
 for which he received three cents per bushel 
 for oats and five cents per bushel for rye. 
 He could thresh about twenty bushels of 
 oats per day. He well remembers the first 
 threshing machine that he ever saw in New 
 York. 
 
 In 1849 he returned to England and was 
 there united in marriage with Eliza Ann 
 Ewings, born in ICent count}', England, a 
 daughter of David Ewings. By this union 
 there are six children, as follows: Thomas, 
 now residing in Mt. Hope, Kansas; Byron, 
 li\ing on the old home farm in I\ane county; 
 William, a farmer of Harjier, Kansas; Mar- 
 tha, wife of Henry Winter, of Sycamore; 
 Alonzo, a stationary engineer in Sycamore; 
 and Fred, a teamster residing in Sycamore. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 529 
 
 Immediately after marriage Mr. Corn- 
 wall returned with his bride to the United 
 States, and 'until 1858 was employed in va- 
 rious occupations in New York, and then 
 came west to Sycamore, Illinois, and for 
 one year was engaged as a day laborer. In 
 the summer of 1859 he went to California, 
 walking most of the way in company with a 
 party of seven persons. He left Sycamore 
 April 12, and reached Honey Lake valley 
 August 5. He first went to work sawing 
 logs at forty dollars per month and board, 
 and later was engaged in repairing a ditch 
 nine miles long, for which he received three 
 dollars per day and board. He also had an 
 interest in several mines, but none of them 
 proved profitable. For one year he was 
 employed on a salary of seven hundred and 
 fifty dollars, but loaning his money to his 
 employer he lost it all. Later he worked 
 for another man, at fifty dollars per month, 
 and at the end of three years returned to 
 Sycamore with six hundred dollars. 
 
 Desiring a home, Mr. Cornwall pur- 
 chased a small farm of thirty acres north of 
 Sycamore, which he retained four years. 
 Being unable to obtain any land adjoining, 
 he sold the same and went to Campton 
 township, Kane county, Illinois, where he 
 purchased one hundred and twentj'-eight 
 acres, and there resided for nine years. He 
 then purchased another farm of one hun- 
 dred and thirty acres, giving him a total of 
 two hundred and fifty-eight acres, on which 
 he resided until 18S5, when he rented the 
 farm to his son Byron, and has later sold to 
 him. On his first place he built two barns 
 and a milk house and spent about one thou- 
 sand dollars in tiling. He spent some three 
 thousand dollars in building on the two 
 farms. For twelve years he made butter, 
 and of such superior quality that he always 
 
 obtained the highest prices, one winter re- 
 ceiving fifty cents per pound. He usually 
 shipped to St. Louis, and at one of the fairs 
 held in that city he took a premium of fifty 
 dollars. 
 
 In 1885 Mr. Cornwall came to Sycamore 
 and bought a residence on Maple street, 
 where he has since continued to reside. In 
 politics he is a Republican, and while re- 
 siding in Campton township was a school 
 director. As already stated, when his 
 mother died he took the children by her 
 second marriage and reared them as his 
 own. He also reared two of his sister's 
 children, and has now living with him his 
 granddaughter Eva, his son Byron's oldest 
 daughter by his first wife. He takes no 
 great credit for what he has done, but, as he 
 says, "simply does his duty." He never 
 chewed or smoked. When seventeen, a 
 large boy attempted to force a chew of to- 
 bacco in his mouth, and after a long struggle 
 Mr. Cornwall got the fellow's arm in his 
 teeth and held on until he cried enough. 
 
 ROBERT WILLIS is one of the most 
 progressive and enterprising farmers of 
 South Grove township, where he has a farm 
 of seven hundred and twenty acres, which 
 is well improved in every respect. He is a 
 native of Somersetshire, England, born in 
 1838 and is the son of Henry and Sarah 
 Willis, both natives of the same shire. 
 When but two years old his parents died 
 and he therefore never knew the loving care 
 of a father or mother. He remained in his 
 native land until he attained his majority, 
 when he concluded to try his fortunes in the 
 New World. In 1859 he set sail for the 
 United States, and after landing in New 
 York, came direct to South Grove township, 
 
530 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 De Kalb county, where he worked oneyearon 
 a farm by the month, after which he rented a 
 farm and commenced farming on shares, at 
 which he continued for eight years. He 
 then purchased one hundred and twenty 
 acres of partially improved land at twenty 
 dollars per acre. With characteristic energ}', 
 he went to work to improve the place and 
 as his means increased he purchased more 
 land until he has now seven hundred and 
 twenty acres, all of which is under cultiva- 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. Willis was united in marriage with 
 Miss Maria Rich, also a native of England, 
 and they now have two children, Frank and 
 Albert, both residing at home, and assisting 
 in the cultivation of the farm. 
 
 In politics Mr. Willis is a Democrat, 
 and notwithstanding the excessive labors of 
 the farm he has served as school trustee 
 and filled other local official positions. He 
 is a thorough believer in the free school 
 system and has been willing to do his part 
 in advancing the interests of the schools. 
 He and his wife are members of the Church 
 of England, in which body they were reared 
 and in the faith of which they are steadfast. 
 Coming to this country with but little means, 
 but with that determination to succeed, 
 success has crowned his efforts and he is 
 now numbered among the wealthy farmers 
 not only of South Grove township, but of 
 the entire county of De Kalb. Both he and 
 his wife are held in the highest esteem by 
 all who know them. 
 
 JOHN ARNOLD, a retired farmer living 
 in the village of Leland, is the owner 
 of one hundred and sixty acres of fine land 
 in Victor township, De Kalb county. He is 
 a native of England, and is the son of John 
 
 and Alice (Alford) Arnold, also natives of 
 England, and the grandson of William and 
 Elizabeth Arnold, of the same country. 
 John Arnold, Sr. , came to the United States 
 in 1S51. and located in New York, where he 
 resided for two jears, and then came to 
 Kane county, Illinois, where he rented a 
 farm of three hundred acres, which he cul- 
 tivnted about three years, and then moved 
 to \'ictor township, De Kalb county, where 
 he continued fanning until his death. 
 
 John Arnold, our subject, was born in 
 Lincolnshire, England, December 11, 1823, 
 and in his native shire grew to manhood, 
 and on the 3rd of October, 1844, was 
 united in marriage with Jane Palmer, also 
 a native of Lincolnshire, born January 29, 
 1S25. Immediately after his marriage, he 
 opened a butcher shop in Dyke, England, 
 which he continued to run until his emigra- 
 tion to the United States in 1851, when he 
 crossed the ocean in company with his par- 
 ents and with his family. For three years 
 he remained in New York state, working at 
 anything which he could find to do. In the 
 fall of 1854 he came to Illinois and located 
 in Kane county, where he engaged in farm- 
 ing on rented land, until 1858. He then 
 moved to Victor township, De Kalb county, 
 and purchased a farm of eighty acres, which 
 he sold in 1865; he then bought one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres. He became quite a 
 successful farmer, and made many improve- 
 ments upon the place. He was a raiser of 
 full-blooded Durham cattle, Poland-China 
 and Chester- White hogs, in all of which he 
 met with success. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Arnold have six living 
 children. William has been twice married, 
 his first union being with Elizabeth Wood- 
 cock, and after her death, married Sarah 
 Woodcock. They reside in N'ictor town- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 531 
 
 ship, where he is engaged in farming. Jo- 
 seph is single, and makes his home with his 
 brother William, although he is the owner 
 of a fine farm which he cultivates. Henry 
 married Ellen Nicholson, b\' whom he has 
 two children. The}' reside in Calhoun 
 county, Iowa, where he is engaged in farm- 
 ing. John P. married Julia Rowley, and 
 they reside in Calhoun county, Iowa, where 
 he is also engaged in farming. Isaac mar- 
 ried Ella Barnes, and they reside in Victor 
 township, where he is engaged in farming. 
 Charles, a farmer, married Clara Burnham, 
 and they also reside in Victor township. 
 
 In politics Mr. Arnold was a Repub- 
 lican until the nomination of Cleveland in 
 1884, since which time he has voted the 
 Democratic ticket. He is a well-known and 
 highly respected citizen, and his friends are 
 numerous in both De Kalb and La Salle 
 counties. 
 
 ENOCH DARNELL, deceased, was a 
 well-to do farmer in De Kalb county. 
 He was born in North Carolina, May 12, 
 1S29. His father, John Darnell, and his 
 grandfather, Benjamin Darnell, were people 
 of prominence and respectability in their 
 da}' and locality. John Darnell removed 
 from North Carolina to Indiana, in 1832, 
 and there remained two years, then removed 
 to Kendall county, Illinois, locating near the 
 Fox river. He remained there engaged in 
 farming, until 1868, when he came to De 
 Kalb county, and located in Afton town- 
 ship, where he purchased eighty acres of 
 improved land. There he remained until 
 his death November 3, 1878, at the age of 
 fifty-eight years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 Kendall county, Illinois, and received a 
 
 limited education in its public schools. On 
 the 1st of January, 1855, he was un ted in 
 marriage with Cynthia A. Woods, a native 
 of Cumberland count}', Pennsylvania, born 
 November 23, 1823, and a daughter of 
 David and Catherine Woods, who emigrated 
 from Pennsylvania to Kendall count}', Illi- 
 nois, in 1846, at which place she met and 
 married Mr. Darnell, and from which place 
 she removed with him to De Kalb county. 
 By this union two children were born; 
 Newton, born December 5, 1858, grew to 
 manhood, and married Miss Emma Mar- 
 shall, January i, 188S, and a daughter of 
 John and Eliza Marshall, of Charter Grove, 
 Illinois. She was born in De Kalb county. 
 To this happy union four children have 
 been born, George, Arthur, Nellie and Alice. 
 Willis, born August 13, 1865, is yet single. 
 Enoch Darnell, like his namesake of old, 
 was an exemplary man. He was a member 
 of the United Brethren church, and was 
 honorable in all his ways, practicing what 
 he professed, and confessing that what he 
 believed, always adhering strictly to the 
 golden rule. His death occurred in 1878, 
 while yet in the prime of life. Mrs. Darnell 
 is a consistent member of the United 
 Brethren church, and an estimable woman 
 in character and life. Her sons work the 
 home farm, but she still retains her claim 
 to it, from which she draws her interest an- 
 nually. 
 
 P.ATRICK LEONARD, deceased, was a 
 practical farmer, who resided on sec- 
 lion I, Kingston township, where lie owned 
 and operated a farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres. He was born in Queens coun- 
 ty, Ireland, in 1842, and was a son of John 
 and Margaret Leonard, both of whom were 
 
532 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 natives of the same country. The former 
 died in Ireland, while in the prime of life, 
 and in 1871, Mrs. Leonard emigrated to the 
 United States and located in Rhode Island, 
 with some relatives who preceded her. Of 
 their family of five children, three are yet 
 living, our subject being second in order 
 of birth. 
 
 Patrick Leonard came to the United 
 States in 1845, at the age of fifteen years. 
 He located first in Boone county, Illinois, 
 where he remained a few years, and then 
 came to De Kalb county, locating in Syca- 
 more, where he made himself useful as a 
 farm hand and teamster. He proved him- 
 self a faithful employee in every respect, 
 having the full confidence of his employers. 
 In 1862, when his adopted country's honor 
 was at stake, when so many of America's 
 sons proved traitors and recreants, he will- 
 ingly offered himself as a private soldier 
 and was enrolled in Company A, One 
 Hundred and Fifth Illinois \'c)lunteer 
 Infantry, and served his adopted coun- 
 try faithfully and well, until his discharge 
 at the close of the war. 
 
 On his return to civil life, Mr. Leonard 
 located in Genoa township, where he en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. On the 2nd 
 of December, 1866, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Jeannette Strong, a native of 
 Genoa, Illinois, born F"ebruary i, 1846, 
 and a daughter of William and Sabrina 
 Strong, both of whom came to this country 
 in an early day, the latter in 1838, and the 
 former about 1842. They were united in 
 marriage in Genoa, in 1845, and there their 
 family was reared. Mr. Strong was a na- 
 tive of Ohio, born July 24, 181 7, and died 
 August 30, 1889. His wife was born in 
 Pennsylvania, March 30, 1825, and died 
 March 26, 1886. To Mr. and Mrs. Leon- 
 
 ard eleven children were born, eight of 
 whom are yet living — Henry, William, 
 Alice, John, Joseph P., Jeannette, Charles 
 and Sabrina. 
 
 Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Leonard 
 purchased a farm on section i, Kingston 
 township, containing eighty acres, forty of 
 which he subsequently sold. To the forty 
 which he retained, he added one hundred 
 and twenty acres more, all of which is now 
 owned by his widow. Fraternally he was a 
 member of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
 religiously a Roman Catholic, politically a 
 Republican, and naturally a lover of free- 
 dom, liberty and equal rights, and an en- 
 emy to any government which enslaved 
 men or held them in the bonds of tyranny. 
 He died February 27, 18S9, leaving a host 
 of friends to lament his death. 
 
 ROBERT R. OUIGLEY is a farmer and 
 carpenter residing on section 15, King- 
 ston township. He was born in Portland, 
 Chautauqua county. New York, August i, 
 1834, and is the son of John and Amanda 
 (Brainard) Ouigley, both of whom were also 
 natives of Portland, New York. In his 
 youth, John Ouigley learned the carpenter's 
 trade, which occupation he followed in con- 
 nection with farming during the latter pari of 
 his life. When a young man he was a 
 sailor on the lakes, and commanded vessels 
 on those waters, and was twice shipwrecked. 
 He was in company with those who raised 
 the hulls of the Lake Erie and Mayflower, 
 vessels that were burned on the lake. A 
 daring and courageous man, he won the 
 favcjr of those who knew him. His father, 
 John Ouigley, Sr., was a native of Ireland, 
 and served as a soldier in the war of 1812, 
 dying at the age of one hundred and one 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 533 
 
 years, six months and six days. John Quig- 
 ley, Jr., and his family came to Illinois, in 
 1861, making his home with his son, Robert 
 R., who came at the same time, and located 
 in Kingston township, on section 8, where 
 he purchased a farm of fifty-five acres. 
 During his residence there he followed the 
 carpenter's trade extensively, his work being 
 in demand all over the neighborhood where 
 he resided. He died October 17, 1885, at 
 the age of seventy-seven years. His wife 
 died November 21, 1889, also aged seventy- 
 seven years. They were exemplary Chris- 
 tian people, the husband and father being 
 an extremely close Bible student, and made 
 good use of the knowledge thus obtained. 
 
 Robert R. Quigley was reared and edu- 
 cated at the place of his birth, and as his 
 father was an expert with plane and saw, he, 
 too, soon became proficient in the use of 
 carpenter's tools, and during the life time of 
 his father they worked together at their 
 trade. At Dunkirk, New York, November 
 6, 1853, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Ann S. Lucas, a native of Genesee 
 county. New York, born November i, 1833, 
 and a daughter of Eli and Mary Lucas. In 
 1861, as already stated, he came to De 
 Kalb county, and followed his trade in con- 
 nection with farming, until 1S92, when he 
 sold his farm, and removed to a small place, 
 where, in the congenial companionship of 
 his wife, he lives in peaceful retirement. 
 They are both members of the Baptist 
 church and worthy Christian people. By 
 his fellow citizens, Mr. Quigley has been 
 honored with various offices, serving as col- 
 lector one term, school director seventeen 
 years, constable four years, and road com- 
 missioner nine years. He is a man held in 
 high esteem for his true worth and excel- 
 lent character. 
 
 JAMES EDMUND ELLWOOD, post- 
 master of Sycamore, was born in Spring- 
 field, Otsego county. New York, April 26, 
 1831, and was ninth in a family of seven 
 brothers and four sisters who have been 
 prominently and intimately connected with 
 the commercial and social life of Sycamore 
 and De Kalb for many years. Truly broth- 
 erly in sentiment, as each younger one was 
 ready to enter upon business life, the older 
 ones always extended a helping hand and 
 always stuck together in their business en- 
 terprises, and in fraternal intercourse the 
 concord never being broken. 
 
 Abraham Ellwood, the father of our 
 subject, was born in Montgomery county. 
 New York, near Springfield Hollow, where 
 his father left him a large, well stocked 
 farm. Being quite young at the time he 
 succeeded to the property, and being of a 
 sympathetic nature, he endorsed heavily for 
 a friend, losing nearly all his possessions, a 
 part only being saved through the influence 
 of a brother. With his brothers-in-law, he 
 later secured a contract to build a part of 
 the New York Central railroad, and subse- 
 quently contracted to widen and deepen a 
 section of the Erie canal. Both contracts 
 proved profitable, and put him on his feet 
 again. He married Sarah De Long, born 
 in the Mohawk Valley, New York, and a 
 daughter of James and Lydia (Krankheit) 
 De Long, the latter being a native of Hol- 
 land, and one of the heirs to an old estate 
 in that country. In 1855, with his wife, he 
 came west with his son, Alonzo, who had 
 been east buying goods, and liking the 
 country, he concluded to remain. Leaving 
 his wife, he returned to his old home, sold 
 his property, and" coming to Sycamore, they 
 here spent their last days, he dying August 
 24, 1872, at the age of seventy-nine years, 
 
534 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 nine months and seventeen days. His wife 
 survived him, dyinjj January 17, 1879, at 
 the age of eighty-three years, ten months 
 and twenty-si.\ days. 
 
 When our subject was a small boy the 
 family moved to Montgomery county, New 
 York, and in 1843 to Ilion, Herkimer coun- 
 ty, in the same state, where our subject re- 
 sided two years. He then spent three 
 years with a sister at Cherry Valley, New 
 York, and two years with a brother, a broom 
 manufacturer, at Schenectady, New York. 
 He attended schools in the various places 
 where he lived during his school age. At 
 the age of twenty he took a five years lease 
 on one hundred and si.xty acres of land in 
 Mohawk Flats for the purpose of cultivating 
 broom corn. He sold his lease after one 
 year and took a position with a brother in a 
 grocery store at Frankford Lock, where he 
 remained one year. 
 
 At the request of his brother, Reuben, 
 who had previously been in Sycamore, Mr. 
 Ellwood came to De Kalb county, arriving 
 here April 7, 1855. With his brother, Reu- 
 ben, they leased and planted one thousand 
 acres in broom corn, but. it being a year of 
 great prostration in business, the crop, which 
 was sold in Philadelphia, was not so re- 
 munerative as anticipated. His brother 
 then returned to New York, and the next 
 year he alone raised about five hundred acres 
 of broom corn, and then sold the buildings, 
 machinery, etc., and in partnership with his 
 brother, Chaunce)', engaged in the general 
 mercantile business at Sycamore. Three 
 months later General Dustin came to Syca- 
 more to visit Judge James, and feeling Sat- 
 isfied with the place, purchased Chauncey's 
 interest in the store, and the firm of Ellwood 
 & Dustin continued the business for three 
 years, when General Dustin retired, that he 
 
 might enter the service of his country dur- 
 ing the Rebellion, and our subject continued 
 the business alone for one year, when Charles 
 D. Bennett became a partner. Owing to 
 the gradual and regular increase of values 
 during the war, the business was very pros- 
 perous. In three years Mr. Ellwood bought 
 his partner's interest, and for seventeen 
 years ran the business alone and was very 
 successful. About this time, in partnership 
 with his brother, Alonzo, they erected a part 
 of Central block on State street, where they 
 went into business together and continued 
 three years. Mr. Ellwood then sold to 
 George M. Sivwright and invested in the 
 stock of the R. Ellwood Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, from which he later withdrew. Since 
 that time he has operated in western lands, 
 and has now a farm of three hundred and 
 twenty acres, well improved and stocked, 
 in Iowa. 
 
 In 1 85 I Mr. Ellwood was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Lodeska H. Fellows, a na- 
 tive of Mindenville, Herkimer county, New 
 York, and a daughter of Newton and Sarah 
 (Stoddard) Fellows. By this union six 
 children were born, four of whom died in 
 infancy or early childhood. The living are: 
 Sarah A. and James B. The former mar- 
 ried B. ^^^ Paine, and they have one son, 
 James Claude Paine, a practicing physician 
 and a graduate of the medical department 
 of the Northwestern University, Chicago. 
 He received his diploma in June, 1898. 
 Before his graduation he had considerable 
 experience in the hospitals of Chicago and 
 charity practice in the city. He is now lo- 
 cated in Peoria, Illinois. The son, fames 
 B., is holding an important position in the 
 office of the Diamond Match Company, at 
 Chicago. He is a graduate of the Syca- 
 more High School, and also took a course 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 535 
 
 in the Illinois College at Jacksonville. He 
 has traveled extensively over the United 
 States, in the interest of the Diamond 
 Match Company, and has spent two years 
 in South America. 
 
 In politics Mr. Ellwood is a stanch Re- 
 publican and has always taken an active 
 part in political affairs, but has persistently 
 refused office, city, county or state. For 
 the last few years, having little to employ 
 his time, and being accustomed to a life of 
 business activity, he applied for the posi- 
 tion of postmaster at Sycamore, received 
 the appointment and took charge of the 
 office October i, 189S. For forty years he 
 has been a member of the Masonic frater- 
 nity, and although he keeps his dues paid, 
 he seldom attends the meetings of the 
 lodge. His life has been an active one, 
 and he is a thorough representative of the 
 best interests of his adopted city and 
 county. 
 
 AGATES WHITE, mayor of the city of 
 Sandwich, Illinois, was born in Almira, 
 New York, March 2, 1841, and is the son of 
 Seth M. and Sarah (Ray) White. The fa- 
 ther, who was a farmer and blacksmith by 
 occupation, first came west in 1854, re- 
 mained two years, then returned to his 
 native state, and in 1861 again came west, 
 locating at Sandwich, where his death 
 occurred March 20, 1891. He was born 
 February 3, 1810. His wife, born August 
 12, 1815, in Orange county, New York, 
 died August 31, 1892, in Sandwich, Illinois. 
 They were married August 22, 1833, in the 
 town of Southport, Chemung county. New 
 York. They were originally members of 
 the old-school Presbyterian church, but on 
 coming to Sandwich became identified with 
 
 the Congregational church, in which faith 
 they died. 
 
 Seth M. White was the son of Dr. 
 Amos Gates White, a celebrated physician 
 of Chemung county, New York, to which 
 county he removed from Berkshire county, 
 Massachusetts. The family traces their an- 
 cestry back to the seventeenth century, 
 when one of the name came to America in 
 the Maytlov/er. Dr. Amos G. White was 
 born in Richmond, Berkshire county, Mass- 
 achusetts, December 17, 1768, and died 
 February 5, 1833, and was buried at Elmira, 
 New York. His wife was Abigail Marvin, 
 and they were married at Goshen, New 
 York, February 2, 1798. She was a sister 
 of General Marvin, of Revolutionary fame. 
 His mother was a sister of General Gates, 
 also a noted officer in the Revolution. Gen- 
 eral Seth Marvin, the father of Abigail, was 
 a native of Orange county, New York, where 
 his daughter was also born, April 23, 1778. 
 She died at Seeley Creek, New York, July 
 30, 1816, and was buried at Elmira, New 
 York. The children of Dr. White were as 
 follows: (i) Emily A., born July 3 f, 1799, 
 married Harvey Jones, of Elmira, New 
 York. Their children were William, de- 
 ceased; Austin, deceased; Frank, Edward 
 and Elliott. The family moved to Marion, 
 Iowa, in the '503, and both parents are now 
 deceased. (2) Elvira Green, born Novem- 
 ber 24, 1801, married Colonel Samuel Ba- 
 ker, of Elmira, New York, and the latter 
 moved to Sun Prairie, near Madison, Wis- 
 consin, and both are now deceased. Their 
 family now reside in Wisconsin and Ne- 
 braska. (3) Marcus Aurelius, born Decem- 
 ber 28, 1803, died in the spring of 1884. 
 He married Betsy McConnell, of Chemung 
 county. New York, but she is now deceased. 
 Their children were Amos, deceased; Emily 
 
536 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and Mary Ann. (4) Orlina Rebecca, born 
 March 11, 1806, married Hunt M. Pomeroy. 
 She died in the early '30s. Her only child 
 was Marcus Mills Pomeroy, known the 
 world over as "Brick Pomeroy." (5) Di- 
 ana Hyde, born March 26, 1808, died un- 
 married. (6) Seth Marvin, the father of 
 our subject, born February 3, 1810. (7) 
 Alanson Austin, born October 24, 181 1, 
 died November 12, 1877, at the residence 
 of our subject. (8) Sally Closson, born 
 October 21, 181 3, married Alpheus A. San- 
 derson. They moved to Red Wing, Minne- 
 sota, in the early '50s and both died there. 
 Their children were Triphena, Mary, 
 Charles, Seth, Loretta, Judge A. E., Hel- 
 en, Marcus and Frank. (9) William Wells, 
 born July i, 1816, died November 12, of 
 the same year. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 a farm at Southport, New York. He was 
 the only child of his parents that lived to 
 maturity. In the country schools he ob- 
 tained his education, and when quite j'oung 
 commenced railroading with the Williams- 
 port & Almira Railway, serving one year as 
 fireman. In 1858 he came west and located 
 in Sandwich, where he learned the machin- 
 ist trade, but engaged in farming and rail- 
 roading for a time. Returning to New York 
 he remained a short time, and in 1861 again 
 came west and went into the machine shops 
 at Sandwich and remained one year, finish- 
 ing his trade. In August, 1862, he enlisted 
 in Company H, One Hundred and Fifth 
 Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a 
 private, served three years, and was dis- 
 charged as a sergeant. He started from 
 Louisville, marching through Kentucky, 
 Tennessee and Alabama, joining Sherman 
 at Murfreesboro, in the spring of 1863. He 
 took part in the Atlanta campaign, and had 
 
 charge of a foraging party a part of the time. 
 He was in nineteen hard-fought battles, and 
 never missed but one fight in which his 
 regiment took part, which was at Benton- 
 ville, North Carolina. He was with Sher- 
 man on his march to the sea, and was in the 
 grqnd review at Washington, from which 
 place he was sent to Chicago, and there 
 mustered out. 
 
 The war closing, Mr. White went to La 
 Crosse, Wisconsin, where he was in the em- 
 ploy of Brick Pomeroy for a time. He then 
 returned to Sandwich, and began grading, 
 being foreman of a gang on the Fox River 
 Railroad, now a part of the Chicago, 13ur- 
 lington & Ouincy system. He was next in 
 charge of track laying, then ran a train as 
 conductor for several years. He has served 
 in all capacities, running an engine, con- 
 ductor, train master and superintendent of 
 the construction department of the building 
 of the Texas & Pacific Railroad. While in 
 the latter business he made his home at 
 Dallas, Texas, where he built a street car 
 line from the river to the Texas Central 
 depot. 
 
 Returning from Texas in about 1872, he 
 went to Indiana, in charge of grading a rail- 
 road, but was there only six months. He 
 then came back to Sandwich, but soon after- 
 ward went to Kansas, as a conductor on the 
 Sante Fe Railroad, making his home first at 
 Florence, and later at Emporia. While re- 
 siding in the latter city, he built a streetcar 
 line. Leaving the Sante Fe after several 
 years service, he moved to Fort Scott, Kan- 
 sas, and was conductor on the Missouri Pa- 
 cific Railway. Later he was train master 
 on the same road, during the construction 
 of a part of its S3 stem. In 1887 he re- 
 turned to Illinois, and was conductor on the 
 Chicago, Burlington & Ouincy Railroad for 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 537 
 
 nearly two years, running from Aurora to 
 Savannah. Returning to Sandwich he en- 
 tered the employ of the Sandwich Enter- 
 prise Company, serving that company for 
 six years. 
 
 Mr. White was united in marriage April 
 1 9, 1867, with Miss Sarah A. Dean, daugh- 
 ter of Nelson A. Dean, then residing near 
 Sandwich. Her death occurred some three 
 years later. Mr. White was again married, 
 his second union being with Mrs. Mary B. 
 Sanders, nee Yourt, daughter of Ale.xander 
 Yourt. Religiously she is a member of the 
 Presbyterian church in which she takes an 
 active part. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. White is a Mason and 
 has attained the Knight Templar degree. 
 He is also a member of the Knights of Pyth- 
 ias. Socially he is an honorary member 
 of the Highland Association of Chicago, of 
 which he was at one time president. This 
 is an organization of Saxon and Celtic 
 Unions. Politically Mr. White is a Repub- 
 lican. In 1895, he was elected mayor of 
 Sandwich, receiving a good majority. In 
 1897 he was re-elected without opposition. 
 During the three years of his incumbency, 
 it is said that he has made more improve- 
 ments than in twenty years preceding. 
 New walks have been constructed, streets 
 graded, electric lights introduced, and an 
 opera house erected in that time. Progress- 
 ive in all things he makes a No. i official. 
 
 HON. REUBEN ELLWOOD, deceased, 
 was for many years the most noted 
 citizen of De Kalb county. He was born 
 in Minden, Montgomery county. New York, 
 February 17, 1821, and was the son of Ab- 
 raham and Sarah (DeLong) Ellwood. His 
 early life was spent in his native state, and 
 
 his primary education was obtained in the 
 common schools, but it was in the school 
 of experience that his education was prin- 
 cipally received. He was a very vigorous 
 and energetic youth, and desired to be some- 
 thing more than a common laborer during 
 life, and to that end he struck out for the 
 great west when only sixteen years old. In 
 1837 he came to De Kalb county and en- 
 tered a claim to one hundred and sixty acres 
 of land near Sycamore, and for four years 
 worked for various farmers in the vicinity 
 until he could prove up on his claim. He 
 then returned to his old home in New York, 
 where, after resting for a short time, he be- 
 came a student in Cherry Valley Seminary 
 for about six months. 
 
 Resolviiig upon a business career, Mr. 
 Ellwood went to Glenville, Schenectady 
 county. New York, and engaged in raising 
 broom corn and in the manufacture of 
 brooms, continuing in that line of business 
 for about eight years. In 1857 he again 
 came to De Kalb county and became asso- 
 ciated with his brother, Alonzo, in the gen- 
 eral hardware trade at Sycamore, and at 
 the same time engaged in the real estate 
 business. In 1870 he commenced the man- 
 ufacture of agricultural implements at Syca- 
 more, and in 1875 commenced the erection 
 of the large buildings which were afterward 
 used by the R. Ellwood Manufacturing 
 Company, in which he invested about fifty 
 thousand dollars. To the building up of 
 that manufactory he gave his best energies, 
 and it became one of Sycamore's most noted 
 institutions. To other enterprises he gave 
 of his time and means, believing in the ben- 
 eficial effect of manufacturing institutions. 
 
 While yet residing in his native state 
 Mr. Ellwood became interested in political 
 affairs, and was elected a member of the 
 
538 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 legislature of New York in 1851. On the 
 organization of the Republican party he es- 
 poused its principles and was among his 
 most earnest champions during the remain- 
 der of his life. On coming to De Kalb 
 county his merits as a leader were soon 
 recognized, and he became the first mayor 
 of the city after its incorporation. In 1866 
 he was appointed United States assessor of 
 internal revenue, and filled the position 
 until it was abolished by law. In 1868 was 
 the choice of the Republicans of De Kalb 
 county for representative in congress. In 
 1882 he was nominated for congress and 
 elected by a large majority, and re-elected 
 in 1884, serving until his death in July, 
 1885. He made a very efficient member, 
 and his death was the nation's loss. 
 
 Mr. EUwood was married August S, 
 1849, to Miss Eleanor Vedder, a native of 
 Schenectady county. New York, and they 
 became the parents of six children — Abram, 
 Albert, Frank, Katie, Jennie and Alida. 
 
 LERNED E. GLEASON, who is en- 
 gaged in tilling the soil and leading the 
 quiet and peaceful life of a farmer on sec- 
 tion 5, Kingston township, was born in 
 Girard, Erie county, Pennsylvania, Septem- 
 ber 15, 1836. He is the son of E. L. and 
 Polly Ann (Spinkj Gleason, the former born 
 in Franklin county, Massachusetts, April 7, 
 1806, and the latter in Vermont, April 5, 
 1815. 
 
 E. L. Gleason was a man of rare tal- 
 ents, well qualified to fill positions of trust 
 and honor. Being possessed of a good edu- 
 cation, for a number of years he was en- 
 gaged in teaching school. In 1 840 he de- 
 cided to come west and located in I3oone 
 county, Illinois, where he resided until his 
 
 death, which occurred March i, 1887, at 
 the advanced age of eighty-one years. He 
 was a good, practical farmer and at the time 
 of his death was the owner of two hundred 
 and forty acres of finely cultivated land. In 
 politics he was a stanch Republican, and 
 served his township in the capacity of town- 
 ship trustee for a period of nine years to 
 the entire satisfaction of ail concerned. E. 
 L. Gleason and Polly Ann Spink were 
 united in marriage June 2, 1833, and to 
 them were born six children, four of whom 
 yet survive: Amos H., Mary, Ellen and 
 Lerned E. Amos H. is a graduate of Hills- 
 dale College, where he took up the study of 
 law, for a life work, and in 1874 was ad- 
 mitted to the bar. 
 
 Lerned E. Gleason, the subject of this 
 review, was reared and educated in the 
 common schools of Boone county, Illinois. 
 He ahva3's resided at home and confined 
 himself to agricultural pursuits, and when 
 age began to tell on his father he took 
 charge of the home place. Mr. Gleason re- 
 moved from Boone to De Kalb county in 
 1 867, where he purchased eighty acres of 
 highly cultivated land. He pursues no 
 special line, but engages in general farming. 
 Of good business qualifications and practical 
 farming ideas, he has made a success at the 
 calling in which so many fail. 
 
 On January 7, 1876, Mr. Gleason was 
 united in marriage with Miss Julia H. Crit- 
 tenden, a daughter of P. S. and Maria L. 
 Crittenden. To this union came one daugh- 
 ter, Katie L., born November 8, 1879, and 
 whose death occurred August 3, 1881. Mrs. 
 Gleason was born in Boone county, Illinois, 
 September 29, 1S47, and there received her 
 education. Her parents were pioneers of 
 Boone county, removing from the east in 
 February, 1835, and coming direct to Illi- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 539 
 
 nois. P. S. Crittenden tanght school at 
 that time and was also an instructor in vocal 
 music. Religiously he and his wife were 
 both members of the Baptist church, in 
 which body he served as deacon for a num- 
 ber of years and was, in fact, one of the 
 pillars of the church. In politics he was a 
 Republican and held several township 
 offices with credit. He died on the 31st of 
 August, 1873, preceded three years by his 
 wife, whose demise occurred April 14, 1870. 
 Their family numbered nine, of whom five 
 are yet living: Elmina, Rosalthe, Esther, 
 Julia and Isaac. The latter is a lawyer of 
 distinction and a graduate of Hillsdale Col- 
 lege. 
 
 Politically our subject is a Republican 
 and is a firm believer in the principles of 
 that party. He has been elected to a num- 
 ber of local offices, fulfilling the trust in a 
 highly satisfactory manner, among which is 
 that 01 school board treasurer of the town- 
 ship for thirteen years, constable for eight 
 years, justice of the peace si.xteen years, 
 school trustee si.x years, been path master 
 twenty years, and for the past ten years has 
 been serving efficiently as the postmaster of 
 Colvin Park. In these various offices, with 
 their cares and petty annoyances, he has ac- 
 quitted himself most creditably, discharging 
 every duty in his usual faithful manner. 
 
 w 
 
 ILLIAM A. DENNIS is engaged in 
 the real estate, loan and insurance 
 business m Sandwich, Illinois, and is also 
 a justice of the peace, a position which he 
 has held for sixteen years. He is a native 
 of De Kalb county, born on a farm in 
 Somonauk township, September 26, 1852, 
 and is the son of Major and Mary A. (Har- 
 mon) Dennis, the former a native of Mas- 
 
 27 
 
 sachusctts and the latter of North Carolina. 
 By occupation, Major Dennis was a farmer, 
 which vocation he followed during his entire 
 life. In 1834 he came from his native state 
 to Illinois, and settled on Somonauk Creek, 
 Somonauk township, where he took up a 
 tract of government land, which is now 
 owned by our subject. That land he im- 
 proved, and there resided until his death, 
 which occurred January 16, 1856. His 
 marriage with Mary A. Harmon wa= cele- 
 brated February 10, 1842. She was born 
 March 28, 1817, and died June 25, 1897. 
 In 1834, she accompanied her parents, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Amos Harmon, to De Kalb county, 
 Illinois. Her parents were among the first 
 settlers in Somonauk township, locating 
 here about the time of the Blackhawk war. 
 At that time the country was in its prim- 
 itive state, and there was no grist mill for 
 many miles. In order to obtain flour and 
 meal, they would burn a hollow in a log or 
 block of wood, into which the grain was 
 put, and converted into flour by the use of 
 an iron wedge for a pestle. Wild animals 
 and Indians were always near them, the old 
 Indian Chief, Shabbona, known in history 
 as the white settlers' friend, being a frequent 
 visitor to their home. If Indians chanced 
 to visit the house at mealtime, they would 
 simply saj' "eat," "eat," and help them- 
 selves. But always on the following day, 
 some Indian would bring a mess of fish in 
 payment, and for the purpose of trading.for 
 salt and other connnodities. As Mrs. Den- 
 nis was conversant with the Pottawattomie 
 language, this intercourse was not difficult. 
 Mr. Dennis was a lifelong member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, and in early 
 days was very active in church. She was 
 the mother of four children as follows: 
 Waity O., wife of J. E. Baker, general 
 
540 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 agent of the New York Mutual Life Insur- 
 ance Company, by whom she has two chil- 
 dren, Mattie and Leroy. Shepard, who 
 married Myra Wallace, by whom he had 
 one son, Edward, died at the age of twenty- 
 six years, leaving his wife and son, who are 
 still living. Rebecca, widow of C. S. Lewis, 
 of Aurora. She has one daughter, Estella, 
 principal in the shorthand department of 
 the Palmer shorthand school. The subject 
 of this sketch completes the family. 
 
 William A. Dennis grew to manhood on 
 the farm in Somonauk township, and re- 
 ceived his education in the common schools. 
 The old homestead of his father he now 
 owns, having purchased the interest of the 
 other heirs. The farm consists of one hun- 
 dred and twenty-one acres, well improved 
 with orchard, good dwelling and various 
 outbuildings. On the farm he resided until 
 March, i8g8, when he rented the place and 
 moved to Sandwich, where he is now giving 
 special attention to his loan and real estate 
 business. He is also agent for some of the 
 best insurance companies in the country, in- 
 cluding the Niagara and Home of New York. 
 He has built up quite an extensive business, 
 and enjoys the confidence of his fellow men 
 in a remarkable degree. For the past two 
 years he has been a notary public. 
 
 Mr. Dennis was married March 29, 1882, 
 at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Chicago, to Miss 
 Maggie M. Wallace, a native of JefTerson 
 county. New York, and a daughter of Ham- 
 ilton and Mary Ann Wallace, of Scotch ex- 
 traction. By this union six children have 
 been born — Millie M., Carrie H., Minnie E., 
 Cora, Blanche and Estella. 
 
 In politics Mr. Dennis is an ardent Re- 
 publican, and fraternally a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America. The fam- 
 ily are attendants of the Methodist Episco- 
 
 pal church. He is a good lively business 
 man, enterprising in all things, and believes 
 in keeping abreast of the times. 
 
 RICHARD L. DIVINE, deceased, was 
 one of the most popular attorneys that 
 ever practiced at the De Kalb county bar. 
 He was born in Fallsburg, Sullivan county. 
 New York, September 27, 1S32, and was 
 the youngest of ten children born to James 
 and Mehitable (Halli Divine. His father 
 was a native of the same town and county, 
 to which place the grandfather of our sub- 
 ject moved in 1794. James Divine became 
 a very prominent man in Sullivan county 
 and filled various offices of honor and trust. 
 
 In his native county our subject spent 
 his boyhood and youth, and in tlie common 
 schools received his primary education, 
 afterwards attending a select school taught 
 by Henry R. Lowe at Fallsburg, after which 
 he spent eight years in teaching in his native 
 county, in the meantime stud\ing law with 
 George W. Lord, of Monticello, New York. 
 In 1857 he was elected school commissioner 
 of Sullivan county, but in the fall of that 
 year came west to Michigan and engaged in 
 teaching at Allegan. In the spring of 1858 
 he came to Sycamore and entered the office 
 of Hon. E. L. Mayo, but in the winter fol- 
 lowing taught a term of school in Cortland 
 township, and in March, i860, was admitted 
 to practice. Forming a partnership with 
 Mr. Mayo he rapidly rose to prominence as 
 a counsellor and advocate. 
 
 Mr. Divine was married at Sycamore, 
 August II, 1862, to Miss Susan S. Smith, a 
 native of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and a 
 daughter of James M. and Martha (Lowell) 
 Smith. ISy this union the following named 
 children were born: Henry, Mary Beatrice, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 S4I 
 
 Richard L. , Gertrude A., James Joseph and 
 Charles A. 
 
 Politically Mr. Divine was a Republican, 
 and in 1S72 was elected presidential elector, 
 and in 1875 was elected mayor of Sycamore. 
 In 1867, in partnership with Moses Dean 
 and Daniel Pierce, he embarked in the bank- 
 ing business, which relation was continued 
 four years, when he withdrew and formed a 
 partnership with C. O. Boynton, and under 
 the firm name of Divine & Boynton again 
 engaged in the banking business, in which 
 he continued until failing health necessitated 
 his retirement. His death occurred August 
 22, 1882, and his death left a void in the 
 community hard to fill. In social life he 
 was the rarest of companions. No man had 
 more warmer or truer friends. 
 
 NJ. HILL. — No foreign element has be- 
 come a more important part in our 
 American citizenship than that furnished 
 by Norway. The emigrants from that land 
 have brought with them to the New World 
 the stability, enterprise and perseverance 
 characteristic of their people, and have 
 fused these qualities with the progressive- 
 ness and indomitable spirit of the west. 
 The subject of this sketch, who is now liv- 
 ing a retired life in the village of Leland, 
 was for years one of the active and enter- 
 prising farmers of Victor township who 
 came to De I'ialb county in 1861. He is a 
 native of Norway, and is a son of Jens and 
 Martha Hills, both of whom were also na- 
 tives of Norway and came to this country 
 in 1859, locating in De I\alb county, mak- 
 ing their home with their sons. Our sub- 
 ject, however, preceded them to this coun- 
 try, coming in 1856, first locating in La 
 Salle county, Illinois, where he engaged in 
 
 farming, working the land on shares. He 
 continued to be thus occupied until i86r, 
 when he purchased seventy-five acres of 
 land in Victor township, to which he re- 
 moved and began its cultivation. Later 
 he added fifty acres and there resided until 
 his removal to the village of Leland in 1891. 
 
 Mr. Hill was married in 18 56 to Miss Mary 
 Olson, a native of Norway, who also came 
 to this country in 1856, and a daughter of 
 Ole and Milin Olson, both natives of Nor- 
 way, but are now deceased. By this union 
 were four children, one of whom died in 
 infancy. John grew to manhood, married 
 Annie Tobis and lives in Paw Paw township, 
 where he is engaged in farming. Martha 
 married Martin Olson and they reside in 
 Leland, Illinois. Ole is married and lives 
 in Victor township where he is engaged in 
 farming. 
 
 After moving to his farm, Mr. Hill made 
 many improvements in the place, planting 
 an orchard and setting out ornamental trees, 
 tiling the land, and the erection of a sub- 
 stantial residence and good barns. Coming 
 to this country with but limited means he 
 has attained success in his chosen calling, 
 and by his industry and thrifty habits is 
 now enabled to live a retired life, enjoying 
 the fruits of former toil. He and his wife 
 are earnest and consistent members of the 
 Lutheran church in which faith they were 
 reared. They are well respected people 
 and have many friends. 
 
 FRANK D. LOWMAN, editor and pro- 
 prietor of the Sandwich Free Press, 
 Sandwich, Illinois, was born in Somonauk, 
 De I\alb county, Illinois, March 22, 1866, 
 and is the son of John and Melissa (Davis) 
 Lowman, the former a native of Penns\l- 
 
542 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 vania and the latter of New York. John 
 Lowman was a tinner by trade, halving 
 served his apprenticeship at Harrisburg and 
 at Pittsburg, Penns\'lvania. He was born 
 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, December 4, 
 1826. His father, the grandfather of our 
 subject, died when he was but nine years of 
 age, and he was then thrown on his own 
 resources. In 1855 he came west, locating 
 first in Ottawa, Illinois, where he remained 
 some five years and then moved to Somo- 
 nauk, where he resided until his death, 
 October 10, 1897. He married Melissa 
 Davis at Little Rock, Kendall county, April 
 26, 1865. His widow is yet living, an hon- 
 ored resident of Sandwich. She is a mem- 
 ber of the Congregational church. Her 
 parents, Joshua and Mahala Davis, are both 
 still living at Somonauk, aged respectively 
 eighty-si.x and eighty-two years. They 
 came to Illinois in the '50s, where the father 
 engaged in farming, but is now living a re- 
 tired life. To John and Melissa Lowman 
 four children were born, of whom our sub- 
 ject is the eldest. The others are Clara, 
 wife of A. F. Kestermeier, of South Chi- 
 cago, where he is engaged in running a de- 
 partment store. Katherine is the wife of 
 W. M. Hay, a farmer in De Kalb county. 
 John Earl resides at home. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated 
 in the Somonauk High School, after which 
 he entered the office of the Somonauk 
 Reveille to learn the printing trade, and 
 there continued for four years. He then 
 worked in printing offices in Sandwich for 
 a time and later was editor of the Piano 
 News for three years. He bought the Free 
 Press of Sandwich February 14, 1898, and 
 has since been its editor and proprietor. 
 The Free Press is one of the best local 
 papers in northern Illinois and has gained a 
 
 large circulation and is fast becoming a 
 popular and model paper. It is published 
 wecklv and presents a neat and attractive 
 appearance. It is printed on a modern 
 power press and the office from which it is 
 issued is well equipped for job printing of 
 every kind. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Lowman is a member 
 of the Masonic order and politicall}' he is a 
 Republican, taking great interest in political 
 affairs. He is a man of good business qual- 
 ifications and has a practical knowledge of 
 every detail of his business. A man of fine 
 physique, of a genial and generous nature, 
 patriotic and public spirited. 
 
 REV. (.ILBERT H. ROBERTSON, D. 
 D., of Sandwich, Illinois, is one of the 
 most widely known men residing in De Kalb 
 county. He was born in Washington coun- 
 ty-. New York, November 28, 1831, and is 
 the son of .Archibald and Anna Robinson) 
 Robertson, the former a native of New 
 York, and the latter of Scotland, but who 
 came to this country with her parents, 
 when but si.\ years of age. His paternal 
 grandfather, William Robertson, was a 
 native of Ireland, but of Scotch descent. 
 He came to America about 1770. His wife 
 was a Miss Livingston, and both families 
 were quite prominent in the early history of 
 Washington county. New York. 
 
 Archibald Robertson was a farmer, which 
 occupation he followed his entire life. He 
 never held or aspired to office, but gave his 
 best endeavors to the farm and farming in- 
 terests. He was reared in the Scotch Pres- 
 byterian church, and was a life-long mem- 
 ber of the same. His family were brought 
 up on the shorter catechism, as the epitome 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 543 
 
 of Christian doctrine. He died in 1850, at 
 the age of seventy years. His wife, who 
 was also a lie-long member ol the Scotch 
 Presbyterian church, died in August, 1849, 
 when about si.xty years of age. Our sub- 
 ject is the j'oungest of their ten children. 
 Of these five are 3'et living: Thomas, who 
 now resides in Chicago, at the age of 
 eighty-six years; Captain Duncan, who re- 
 sides on the home farm; Jeannette, widow 
 of Edward Law, resides in Missouri; Kate, 
 widow of Alexander Lourie, resides in Keo- 
 kuk, Iowa. The deceased are William, 
 Archibald, i\lar\', Ann E. and John. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the farm, and after receiving his primary 
 education in the public schools, entered 
 Union College, Schenectad}', New York, 
 from which he was graduated in 1849. He 
 later entered the Theological Seminary of 
 the Associate Presbyterian church at Can- 
 onsburg, Pennsylvania, from which he 
 graduated in 1855. Leaving the seminary, 
 he went out as a missionary through New 
 York and Pennsyh'ania, and in 1S58, the 
 Associate and the Associate Reform Presby- 
 terian churches having united a few days 
 previousl}', he was ordained, being the first 
 minister ordained in the United Presbj'- 
 terian church. He then filled the pulpi, 
 of the Hebron Presbyterian church, in Heb- 
 ron, Washington county, New York, for 
 two 3'ears. In the spring of i860, he ac- 
 cepted a call to the Park Presbyterian 
 church, in Troy, New York, where he re- 
 mained nearly five years, resigning because 
 of failing health from disease incurred while 
 serving the Christian commission during the 
 famous battles of the wilderness and Spot- 
 sylvania. In the spring of 1865, he came 
 to Sandwich, Illinois, aniving here the day 
 before President Lincoln was assassinated. 
 
 The president was assassinated Friday 
 night, April 14, 1865, and on Sunday night 
 following he preached a memorial sermon 
 by request of citizens, who had assembled 
 in mass meeting. He took for his text, 
 ".\nd the children of Israel wept for Moses 
 on the plains of Moab. " The preaching of 
 this sermon was a herculean task. The 
 hall was filled to overfiowing, and every ex- 
 pectation was at its height. Much was ex- 
 pected of the new minister, who had only 
 arrived the previous Thursday. The atten- 
 tion was all that could be desired, and in 
 due time the speaker who had began to 
 warm up, enthused the audience to such an 
 extent that their highest expectations were 
 more than realised. The meeting and that 
 address were freiiuenth' spoken of for 
 nonths and year?. 
 
 After remaining in Sandwich about two 
 years. Dr. Robertson went to Springfield, 
 Illinois, as pastor of the Second Presby- 
 terian church, and was there for four 
 years. 
 
 In the summer of 1870 Dr. Robertson 
 received and accepted a unanimous call 
 from the Chestnut Street Presbyterian 
 church, of Louisville, Kentucky, one of the 
 largest and wealthiest churches in the state. 
 During his pastorate in that cit}' he received 
 the honorarj- degree of Doctor of Divinity, 
 from Danville College, Danville, Kentucky. 
 In the winter of 1872-73, he became editor 
 of the Louisville Daily and Weekly Com- 
 mercial, the leading Republican paper of 
 the state, of which General John i\I. Harlan, 
 later one of the justices of the supreme 
 court of the United States, was the leading 
 owner. 
 
 In I 874 Dr. Robertson returned to Sand- 
 wich, and took charge of the Sandwich 
 Gazette, and for nearly seventeen years 
 
544 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was its editor and publisher.. He was then 
 appointed deputy collector of revenue, 
 with headquarters in Chicago. He had 
 charge of the butterine department, looking 
 after the seven factories then in operation 
 in Chicago. The seven factories one month 
 made between five and six million pounds 
 of butterine. Their output was nearly forty 
 million pounds per year. In addition to 
 looking after the factories, he had charge 
 of the wholesale and retail dealers, about 
 fifteen hundred in number, who were each 
 required to secure license for the sale of 
 butterine. With the change of administra- 
 tion, he retired from that office. 
 
 Dr. Robertson was married May 30, 
 1859, to Miss Mary L. Beveridge, daughter 
 of Rev. Thomas Beveridge, D. D., who for 
 many years was the leading professor of the 
 Theological Seminary, of the Associate and 
 afterwards of the United Presbyterian 
 church. Her paternal grandfather. Rev. 
 Thomas Beveridge, came from Scotland, 
 and was one of the first ministers in Wash- 
 ington county. New York, and until his 
 death was pastor of the Cambridge church. 
 Her mother belonged to the McKee family, 
 many of whom are prominent citizens of the 
 same county. 
 
 To Dr. and Mrs. Robertson three chil- 
 dren have been born. William H. is the 
 secretary of the Midland Elevator Com- 
 pany, on the Board of Trade, Chicago. 
 He married Miss Fannie Schnellj', of 
 Peoria, and they have one child, Dorothy. 
 She was formerly a very successful teacher 
 in the Sandwich public schools. Bessie is 
 the wife of S. P. Sedgwick, cashier of the 
 Sedgwick Piank of Sandwich, and they have 
 three children: Ray, Westel and Marjorie. 
 Harr) is now in Missouri engaged in news- 
 paper work. He has tra\eled extensi\ely 
 
 in Australia, Sandwich Islands, and the 
 United States. 
 
 Dr. Robertson in his various relations in 
 private and public life, has always been the 
 same earnest, upright, capable and court- 
 eous gentleman, winning and holding the 
 confidence and esteem of all who know 
 him. He has many amiable qualities and 
 good business methods have tended to 
 make him popular in all classes with whom 
 he comes in contact. He and his most 
 estimable wife are greatly beloved, and their 
 influence for good can scarcely be overesti- 
 mated. Earnest in all he undertakes, and 
 possessing rare powers of exhortation, he 
 can bring home to the hearts and con- 
 science of his hearers their shortcomings 
 as few public speakers can. 
 
 GEORGE W. MONTAGUE, who owns 
 a farm of one hundred and sixty-two 
 acres in section 20, Victor township, is now 
 living a retired life in the village of Leland. 
 He was born in Cromwell, Huntingdon 
 county, Pennsylvania, in 1827, and there 
 grew to manhood and received a good com- 
 mon-school education. He is the son of 
 Daniel and jane (Clugage) Montague, the 
 former a native of \'irginia and the latter 
 of Pennsyhania. By occupation the father 
 was a farmer, a vocation that he followed 
 during his entire life. 
 
 In his youth, Mr. Montague learned the 
 carpenter's trade, and followed that occu- 
 pation until the breaking out of the war for 
 the Union. In 1S47, he came west and lo- 
 cated at Little Rock, Kendall county, Illi- 
 nois, which was his home for a number of 
 j'ears. He was united in marriage July i, 
 1855, with Miss Mary Mulkey, a native of 
 Ashe county. North Carolina, and a daughter 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 545 
 
 of William and Sarah (Cox) Mulkey, both 
 of whom were also natives of the same 
 state. There was but one child by this un- 
 ion, William A., who grew to manhood, 
 and married Esther Scoval, and is now en- 
 gaged in farming in Victor township. They 
 have four children: Alice, Charles, Her- 
 bert and Jessie. 
 
 When the war for the union was in prog- 
 ress and men were in demand, Mr. Mon- 
 tague enlisted in the One Hundred and 
 Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 with which he served until the close of the 
 war. With his regiment he was engaged in 
 the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, the siege of 
 Vicksburg, the battles of Jackson, Missis- 
 sippi, Mission Ridge, and the Atlanta cam- 
 paign. He was then in the march through 
 Georgia and the Carolinas, and was dis- 
 charged in June, rS65. A brother was also 
 in the service. 
 
 On receiving his discharge, Mr. Mon- 
 tague returned to Little Rock, Illinois, and 
 worked at his trade until 1868, when he 
 purchased a farm of eighty acres, in Victor 
 township, De Kalb count}', where he has 
 since continued to reside and to which, in 
 1877, he added eighty-two acres more. 
 Since taking possession of the farm, he has 
 made various improvements upon it, includ- 
 ing a large barn, the erection of a fine wind- 
 mill, and tiling the greater portion of it. He 
 has proved himself a practical farmer, and 
 has been quite successful in the business. 
 For more than fifty years Mr. Montague 
 has been a resident of northern Illinois, 
 while his wife has resided here since 1834, 
 at which time she was brought in early child- 
 hood by her parents to Kendall county. 
 In the years that have come and gone they 
 have witnessed many changes, and although 
 their lives in many respects have been une- 
 
 ventful, they have \et done what they 
 could in advancing the material interests of 
 their adopted county and state. In all the 
 years they have maintained the respect and 
 good-will of their friends and neighbors. 
 
 "\ X T-ARREN WEEDEN, who has a val- 
 V V uable farm of one hundred and 
 seventy-nine acres in section 32, Mayfield 
 township, has been a resident of De Kalb 
 county since April, 1855. He was born in 
 the town of Hartland, Windsor county, 
 Vermont, October i, 1829. His father. 
 Captain Samuel Weeden, was a native of 
 the same town, county and state, born in 
 1792. His father, the grandfather of our 
 subject, was Samuel \\'eeden, Sr. , a native 
 of Rhode Island, from which state he 
 moved to Windsor county, Vermont. Cap- 
 tain Samuel Weeden grew to manhood in 
 his native state, and there married Martha 
 A. Cady, also a native of Windsor county, 
 \'ermont. They spent their entire lives in 
 their native county, the Captain dying in 
 Bridgewater, Vermont, in 1870, at the age 
 of seventy-si.\ years. His wife survived 
 him a few years. His title of Captain was 
 secured by service in the militia in the 
 war of 1 812, where he did good service. 
 Of their family of seven sons and one 
 daughter, all grew to mature years except 
 the daughter, who died at the age of two 
 years. Four of the sons yet survive. 
 
 Warren \\'eeden was reared in his na- 
 tive county, his primary education being 
 received in the common schools, which was 
 supplemented by several terms in a select 
 school and academ}'. For several winters 
 he was engaged in teaching in his native 
 state, an occupation which he followed for 
 a time after his removal to Illinois. In 
 
546 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1855 he came to De Kalb county, Illinois, 
 arriving in Sycamore in April of that year. 
 During the summer following he worked at 
 carpentering and also during the season in 
 the harvest fields. This he continued to 
 do until the fall of 1858. when he returned 
 to Vermont, and in Windsor county, No- 
 vember 6, 185S, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Frances S. Wood, a native of 
 the same county, there reared and edu- 
 cated, and a daughter of Otis and Angelina 
 Wood. Mrs. Weeden is a lady of good 
 education and was a teacher in Vermont, 
 and also taught a few terms after her re- 
 moval to Illinois. 
 
 Immediately after their marriage the 
 young couple came to De Kalb county, 
 where Mr. Weeden engaged in teaching at 
 Malta, during the following winter. In the 
 spring he engaged in farming in the vicinity 
 of Malta, and for two years was employed 
 in farming and teaching in the winter. His 
 wife also engaged in teaching, having a few 
 scholars in their own home. In i860 he 
 removed to Mayfield township, where he 
 rented a farm and also taught school dur- 
 ing the winter. In 1862 he purchased 
 eighty acres of the farm where he now 
 resides, and locating thereon at once com- 
 menced its improvement. As his means 
 increased, and the opportunity was afforded 
 him, he added to his possessions until now 
 he owns one hundred and seventy-nine 
 acres, on which he has built a neat and 
 substantial residence, good barn, granery, 
 shop and other outbuildings, and otherwise 
 improved the place. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Weeden two children 
 have been born. Angelina C. is now the 
 wife of Samuel Weeden, a farmer of May- 
 field township. Otis X. is a young man 
 now residing in the state of \^'ashington, 
 
 where he owns and operates a claim. Mr. 
 and Mrs. W'eeden have also reared and 
 educated three children besides their own. 
 Ira Farwell grew to manhood under their 
 care, married, and is now engaged in farm- 
 ing in Mayfield township. Laura Farwell 
 is now the wife of George Ra\', and they 
 reside near Cedar Kapids, Iowa. Nellie 
 Perry yet remains with her foster parents. 
 Politically Mr. Weeden was originally 
 an Abolitionist, and cast his first presiden- 
 tial ballot for John P. Hale. Since the or- 
 ganization of the Republican party, he has 
 supported its men and measures. He has 
 served as assessor of his township, and also 
 as township trustee. His influence has al- 
 ways been on the side of the public school 
 system, and for years he served as a mem- 
 ber of the school board. Religiously he 
 and his wife are members of the Univer- 
 salist church at Sycamore. Coming to the 
 county in Ncr}- limited circumstances, by 
 his industry, assisted by his good wife, he 
 has acquired sufficient to enable them to 
 live in comfortable circumstances during 
 the remainder of their lives. No couple in 
 Mayfield township are held in higher esteem 
 than Mr. and Mrs. Weeden. 
 
 AD. WAI^LACE is a retired farmer, but 
 an esteemed business man, living in 
 Sandwich, Illinois. He was born in Earl- 
 ville. La Salle county, Illinois, June 16, 
 1851. His father, Charles \\'allace, was a 
 native of \'ermont, where he grew to man- 
 hood, and later moved to New York. He 
 married Jeannette Wier in Ottawa, Illinois. 
 In about 1840 he came to Illinois, locating 
 in La Salle count}' and building the first 
 frame house in Earlville. He was a carpen- 
 ter by trade, but for some years engaged in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 547 
 
 agricultural pursuits. On coming to the 
 state he purchased some government land 
 and later purchased from private parties 
 other tracts, becoming the owner of consid- 
 able land in and near Earlville. On one of 
 his farms was a log house, which was taken 
 down a few years since and was the last of 
 its kind within a radius of many miles. 
 Connected with it were many stories and 
 pleasant associations, endearing to those 
 with whom they were familiar. He built a 
 brick block in Earlville, which is now owned 
 by our subject. Religiously, he was a Pres- 
 byterian, of which body his wife was also a 
 member. He died in October, 1884, when 
 about sixty-five years old. His wife sur- 
 vived him, dying in 1889 at the age of about 
 si.xty-four years. They were the parents of 
 ' five children: Dr. A. C. , who was born May 
 10, 1848, studied and practiced dentistry, 
 and died in 1891; A. D., our subject; Gil- 
 bert; Charles, who died young; and George, 
 who died of consumption when about nine- 
 teen years old. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the farm and received his education in the 
 Earlville schools. After leaving school he 
 traveled for a wholesale grocery house and 
 was in the retail grocery trade in Earlville. 
 On the 28th of January, 1875, he married 
 Miss Delia A. Rogers, a daughter of Israel 
 Rogers, of Sandwich. By this union are 
 four children: Claude W., who was born 
 December 10, 1877, died August 18, 1878, 
 at the age of eight months and eight days; 
 Mabel C, Lewis Earl and I'iuth Jeannette, 
 all of whom are at home. 
 
 Soon after his marriage Mr. Wallace 
 moved to the farm, where he remained seven 
 years, and in the spring of 1882 located in 
 Sandwich, where he has since continued to 
 reside. He has a beautiful home at 416 
 
 North West street. He is engaged in the 
 real-estate business and is the owner of con- 
 siderable property in Earlville and Sand- 
 wich, including the Wallace House and va- 
 rious dwellings and store buildings. He is 
 also a large stockholder in the Sandwich 
 Enterprise Company and in other corpora- 
 tions. 
 
 Religiously Mrs. Wallace is a member of 
 the Latter Day Saints. Fraternally he is a 
 member of the Masonic order. In politics 
 he is a Republican, and takes considerable 
 interest in political affairs. He has been 
 alderman from his ward for two years, and 
 has done much for the improvement of his 
 adopted city, both officially and as a private 
 citizen. He takes part in all enterprises 
 which promise for the best welfare of the 
 city. In the past year he has made much 
 improvement in the Wallace House, in the 
 way of repairs and putting in electric lights, 
 etc. The success which has attended his 
 efforts has been gained by the pursuit of 
 honorable and enterprising methods, and he 
 is justly regarded as one of the leading and 
 representative business men of the city of 
 Sandwich. 
 
 M 
 
 ARTIN DODGE, a retired farmer re- 
 siding in the cit\- of De Kalb, is one of 
 the respected, prominent and useful citizens 
 of the county. He is a descendant of one 
 of Vermont's best and most worthy citizens. 
 His father, Abram Dodge, was a quiet, ge- 
 nial man of social habits, whose home was 
 one of comfort. He removed from \'ermont 
 to Canada in 1808, where he remained five 
 years, enduring all the hardships of pioneer 
 life in that climate and at that date. He 
 was married in Vermont, previous to his go- 
 ing to Canada, to Miss Elsie Cook, by whom 
 
548 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he had seven children, five of the number 
 reaching maturity — Daniel, Thomas, Han- 
 nah, Louise and Martin. The latter is the 
 only sur\i\ing member of the family. Han- 
 nah and Louise were women of rare intel- 
 lectual ability, for whom nature and art 
 did much in bringing out those beautiful 
 traits of character which make humnnitx' 
 divine. They both taught schools and were 
 successful educators. Louise taught until a 
 short time before her death, which occurred 
 in the twenty-seventh year of her age. Han- 
 nah taught for twent}' years. Both were 
 stanch supporters and members of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church. 
 
 Martin Dodge remained at home until 
 after the death of his parents, which occurred 
 in i860. He has been twice married, his 
 first wife being Miss Maria Priest, the ac- 
 complished daughter of Mr. Priest, a native 
 of his own town and one of the wealthiest 
 farmers living there. Mrs. Maria Dodge 
 was a refined lady and educated in the pub- 
 lic schools and at Black River Academy. 
 She was a consistent member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church. Three of her 
 brothers were in the Civil war. One broth- 
 er, a graduate of Tuft's College, Boston, 
 Massachusetts, is now president of a college 
 in New York. For his second wife, Mr. 
 Dodge married at Mt. Holly, Vermont, April 
 8, 1874, Miss Anna Eliza Chase, daughter 
 of Elijah and Tryphosa (Blodgett) Chase. 
 While in Vermont Mr. Dodge held several 
 offices of trust which he filled with marked 
 abilit)'. He is now a useful director of the 
 First National Bank of De Kalb. 
 
 Abram Dodge, the father of our sul)ject, 
 died at Mt. Holly, Vermont, in 1S65, at the 
 age of eighty-seven years. His wife, Mrs. 
 Elsie (Cook) Dodge, was a woman of rare 
 (jualities of mind. Her honored father. 
 
 Daniel Cook, was one of the brave men 
 who in the Revolutionary war was willing 
 to sacrifice his life for liberty and independ- 
 ence. Abram Dodge was the son of Daniel 
 Dodge, of Scotch e.xtraction, and who dur- 
 ing the Revolutionary war was a noted scout 
 on the American side and whose exploits 
 turned the tide of war more than once 
 against the British. He was one of the 
 main factors in the capture of Burgoyne's 
 arniw His wife, Hannah \'an Waland, was 
 a sweet dispositioned woman, whose last 
 da\s were passed peacefulJy at Mt. Holly, 
 where her death occurred at the advanced 
 age of ninety-seven years. 
 
 Mrs. Anna Eliza (Chase) Dodge was 
 born at Mt. Holly, Vermont, January 8, 
 1844. Her father, Elijah Chase, was a 
 native of Athol, Massachusetts, born De- 
 cember 17, 1804. Her mother, Tryphosa 
 Chase, was a native of Deerfield, Massa- 
 chusetts, born .April 7, 1808. They were 
 married at Athol, Massachusetts, Septem- 
 ber 19, 1827, after which thej' removed to 
 Mt. Holly, \'ermont, where they resided 
 iiiilil the death of Mr. Chase, which occurred 
 April 5, 1872. In 1876 his widow re- 
 mo\ed to De Kalb county, Illinois, to. make 
 her home with Mrs. Dodge, and remained 
 there until death took her hence August 21, 
 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Chase were e.xcellent 
 people and their church relations were very 
 dear to them. Mr. Chase was a member of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, and served 
 as steward, his wife ably aiding him in his 
 church work, being a member of the same 
 body. Their home was one of sunshine 
 and happiness, where love predominated. 
 Everybody was welcome, and nearh' every- 
 body came. 
 
 The family of Mr. and Mrs. Chase con- 
 sisted of ten children, eight of whom grew 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 549 
 
 to maturity. Joseph was a prominent man, 
 an active member of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church, and a man of unspotted char- 
 acter. PhiUip E. and Ambrose P. were 
 founders of a large manufacturing industry 
 at Mt. Holly, and were very successful in 
 their business. They were both soldiers in 
 the Civil war, and fought bravely in defense 
 of their country's integrit}'. Phillip was a 
 member of Compan}- A, Second Vermont 
 Volunteer Infantr}', and was deservedl)' pro- 
 moted to the rank of captain. Ambrose 
 was a member of the Twenty-first Massa- 
 chusetts \'olunteer Infantry. Phillip trav- 
 eled extensively, and being a close observer 
 of men and nature was a man of marked 
 ability and social qualities, which made his 
 companionship desirable. In church and 
 politics he was a recognized leader in his 
 faith, but he never sacrificed his religious 
 principles for his politics, but brought his 
 church influence into his political affairs. 
 He served several terms in both branches 
 of the legislature of his state. Notwith- 
 standing his public and busy life, yet so true 
 was he to his local church that he was al- 
 ways ready to give his time to advance its 
 interest. His death occurred some years 
 ago. Ambrose is now living in Rutland, 
 Vermont. Susan married Henry Decker- 
 man, and died in November, 1871, leaving 
 two children, one of them, Charles I. Deck- 
 erman, being in the ofifice of B. E. Ellwood 
 at De Kalb. Edwin B. was also engaged 
 in the Civil war, and belonged to the same 
 regiment as did his brother Phillips. Eu- 
 gene R. was engaged as shipping clerk in 
 the establishment of his brothers, Phillips 
 and Ambrose, but afterwards became a ho- 
 tel keeper in his native town. He is now a 
 resident of New Hampshire. Parna mar- 
 ried Alexander Cheney, of Orange, Massa- 
 
 chusetts, and died two years later. Mrs. 
 Dodge, the remaining member of the family, 
 is an educated woman and was a successful 
 teacher in the public schools of New Eng- 
 land for fourteen years. No woman in De 
 Kalb is better known or more highly 
 esteemed than Mrs. Dodge for her many 
 excellent traits of character. She is a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
 is an active worker in the same. 
 
 Grandmother Blodgett for more than a 
 quarter of a century was an inmate of the 
 Chase home in \'ermont, and blessed it 
 with cheer, anecdote and love. In 1876 
 the mother of Mrs. Dodge came to reside 
 with her, and continued with her until re- 
 moved by death. She never grew^ old and 
 ever added to the happiness of the home. 
 Sweet and helpful always, old and young 
 alike were charmed by her presence. 
 
 ISRAEL ROGERS, a retired farmer re- 
 1 siding in Sandwich, Illinois, was born m 
 Rensselaer county, New York, April 4, 1818. 
 When nineteen years old he moved to 
 Oneida county. New York, and four years 
 later, in 1841, came west and settled in 
 Kendall county where he pre-empted, and 
 later purchased a large tract of land. His 
 holdings at one time were about eleven hun- 
 dred acres, all of which he has disposed of, 
 his son owning three hundred and twenty 
 acres which comprised his first purchase, 
 and which is now very valuable. For some 
 years he gave special attention to stock 
 raising in addition to his general farm work, 
 raising and feeding cattle more especially. 
 In iS77heleft the farm, moved to Sand- 
 wich, and i)as since made that place his 
 home. His father, David Rogers, came 
 west somewhat later than our subject, but 
 
SSO 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 also made his home in Kendall county, 
 where he operated a small farm. His 
 death occurred in November, 1883, while 
 lacking a few months of being eighty-eij^Iit 
 years old. His wife, Betsy Rogers, who 
 was born April 18, 1799, died January 19, 
 1866. They were members of the Baptist 
 church before their removal to Illinois, but 
 on coming here united with the Latter Day- 
 Saints. They were the parents of fourteen 
 children, of whom our subject was the old- 
 est. The others were David K., deceased; 
 John A., deceased; A. Judson, now residing 
 in Colorado; Mary \'., widow of Ramson 
 Partridge, residing in .Sandwich; Silas M., a 
 farmer residing in Ford county, Illinois; 
 Sarah R., who married a Mr. Chase, both 
 now being deceased; Loren D., residing in 
 Sandwich; Parmelia J., wife of Aaron Rath- 
 bone, residing in Sandwich; Martha Ann, 
 who married Elijah Graves, but is now de- 
 ceased; Stephen B., residing in Sandwicli; 
 Alvina, wife of Robert Hevener, a farmer 
 residing in Ford county, Illinois; Jane E., 
 wild married 1). .Serene — she is deceased; 
 and Daniel H., who resides in Ford county. 
 Our subject is a direct descendant of 
 John Rogers, who was burned at the stake 
 in Smitiifield, Enghmd, on account of his 
 religious views, being a reformer as early as 
 1535- Mr. Rogers was married February 
 24, 1839, to Mahahi Salisbury, and by this 
 union there are si.\ children: George W., 
 who married Lydia Howard November 2, 
 1 86 1, now resides in Independence, Iowa — 
 she IS now deceased. Lewis I. married .-Vn- 
 nette Lamphere, September 14, 18G2, and 
 they reside in Sandwich. Martha L. mar- 
 ried Melvin Howard, October 29, 1861, and 
 they removed to Iowa where her death oc- 
 curred. Mary M. is the wife of James Dar- 
 nell, and their marriage ceremony was cele- 
 
 brated December 2, 1868. Harriet A. mar- 
 ried Charles Sprague, August 15, 1869. 
 Delia A. married Albert Wallace, January 27, 
 1875. The mother of these children died 
 September 22, 1892, when about sixty-si.\ 
 years of age. Mr. Rogers took for his sec- 
 ond wife Rachel Trout, their marriage being 
 solemnised October 16, 1893. She was the 
 widow of George W. Trout. 
 
 Our subject and wife are members of the 
 Latter Day Saints church, in which he is a 
 presiding elder. He takes very little inter- 
 est in politics, voting in an independent 
 way. For some years he has acted as ad- 
 ministrator of many estates and lias inva- 
 riabl)' given satisfaction to all concerned. 
 
 lOHN M. SCHOONMAKER, of Franklin 
 *J township, is one of the best known and 
 most enterprising farmers of De Kalb coun- 
 ty. He was born in the to.vn of Hannibal, 
 New York, August 16, 1827, and. is the son 
 of John and Julia (Farnham) Schoonmaker, 
 the former a native of Flat Bush, Long 
 Island, and the latter of Shaftesbury, Ver- 
 mont. The paternal grandfather, Martin 
 Schoonmaker, was a native of Holland, who 
 came to America before Revolutionary 
 times and settled at Flat Bush, Long Island. 
 From there he moved to Oswego county. 
 New '\'ork, and opened up a farm in the 
 heav}- timber, and there his death occurred 
 at the age of si.\ty-eight years. The mother 
 of our subject was a descendant of the Farn- 
 hams that came to America in the May- 
 flower. She was a daughter of Amasa P'arn- 
 liani and was the j^oungest of a family of 
 fourteen children, seven boys and seven 
 girls. The sons were William, Amasa, 
 Reuben, Sanuicj. Solomon, Moulton and 
 Nathan. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 55' 
 
 John and lulin Schoonmaker, the par- 
 ents o{ our subject, came to De Kalb county 
 in June, 1845, ''■^'^'^ settled on a tract of 
 eighty acres of government land near the 
 present village of Fairdale, Franl<lin town- 
 ship. He there engaged in farming, meet- 
 ing with fair success, and there continued 
 to live during the remainder of his life, dying 
 at the age of seventy-seven years. His wife 
 died in 1849. They were the parents of 
 four children, — Catherine, John iM., Lydia 
 M. and Susan. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in h'S native state, and 
 when eighteen years of age accompanied his 
 parents to De Kalb county, Illinois, and 
 here he has since continued to reside, giving 
 his time and attention to general farming. 
 When his countr_\' was in sore distress and 
 calling loudly for men, in August, 1862, he 
 enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and 
 Fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was 
 sworn into the service of the United States 
 for three 3'ears or during the war. With his 
 regiment he went to Louisville, Kentucky, 
 and from that place to the front with the 
 main army. He was in the battle of Re- 
 saca, Cassville, Georgia, Kenesaw Mountain, 
 and from there he was ordered back to Lou- 
 isville, Kencucky. On the 28th of [uue, 
 1864, while in Louisville he was commis- 
 sioned first lieutenant of a companj' of 
 United States colored troops, and served 
 with that company until he was finally mus- 
 tered out of the service. He was in the 
 following engagements; Fort Burnham, 
 Hatch's Run, and on the 5th of April 
 charged the enemy's works at Petersburg. 
 He followed Grant's army to Richmond, 
 and was with Grant when Lee surrendered 
 on the 9th of April, 1865. With his regi- 
 ment he was sent to Te.xas to accept the 
 
 surrender of General Ivirby Smith. Not- 
 withstanding the war was ended, his regi- 
 ment was retained in the service until the 
 27th of February, 1866, when it was mus- 
 tered out at La \'aca, Texas. He then re- 
 turned to his home in De Ivalb county and 
 engaged in farming. 
 
 On the 6th of September, 1848, Mr. 
 Schoonmaker was united in marriage with 
 Miss Nancy Miller, a daughter of John and 
 Mary (Crillj Miller, both natives of Herki- 
 mer county, New York, and who were the 
 parents of twelve children: Thomas, Pol- 
 lie, Catherine, |ohn, Daniel, Margaret, 
 Betsy, Jonas, Nancy, Henry, Julia A. and 
 Chester A. Of these Thomas, Pollie, Cath- 
 erine, Daniel and Jonas are deceased. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schoonmaker four children 
 were born: Alice is now the wife of C. F. 
 Meyer, of Franklin township; Elnora is 
 the wife of B. A. Patten, of .Silver Lake, 
 Kansas; George F. resides on the old home 
 farm; Dora is the wife of Benjamin Craig, 
 of Irene, Boone county, Illinois. 
 
 In January, 1849, Mr. Schoonmaker 
 purchased one hundred and sixty acres on 
 section 32, Franklin township, and still has 
 that land in his possession. He later added 
 to the tract, thirty acres of prairie and 
 twenty acres of timber land. In 1880, he 
 purchased a nice property in Fairdale, 
 moved to the village and has since been en- 
 gaged in general stock business, until within 
 the past three years. He is now living a re- 
 tired life. For fifty years he and his wife 
 have spent their lives together, and she has 
 been to him a helpmeet indeed. On the 
 6th of September, 1898, they celebrated 
 their golden wedding, with ninety-five of 
 their friends and relatives present. While 
 in the army she successfully carried on the 
 home farm. Both are members of the Meth- 
 
552 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 odist Episcopal church, in which he has 
 served as steward, trustee and class leader. 
 In politics he is an out and out Prohibi- 
 tionist. 
 
 WILLIAM L ELLWOOD.— Four of 
 the greatest factors, ener^'j', enter- 
 prise, brains and money, combined to place 
 De Kalb in the front ranks of the live-stock 
 interests of the United States. While much 
 has been said, and rightfully, too, regarding 
 her manufacturing enterprises, her live- 
 stock interests are equally entitled to hon- 
 orable mention. On the outskirts of this 
 city is located the home farm and sale sta- 
 bles of the world-renowned EUwood Green, 
 the fame of which is based upon the fact 
 that purchasers could find here animals not 
 only of individual merit but of pure blood. 
 When entering the field to supply the de- 
 mand for first-class carriage and draught 
 horses the rejuitation of Mr. Ellwood was 
 at stake. He began to import horses from 
 France, England and other countries in 
 1882, principally the French coach and 
 Percheron draught horses. 
 
 One can hardly conceive of the magni- 
 tude of this enterprise and the capital in- 
 vested in the business. There are four 
 thousand acres divided into five farms, all 
 under a high state of cultivation and de- 
 voted to the raising of the finest stock in 
 the world. At all times from seven to nine 
 hundred head of horses are kept upon these 
 farms, and from three to five hundred head 
 of cattle, besides other stock in proportion. 
 In addition to his property in De Kalb 
 county, Mr. Ellwood owns two hundred and 
 eighty thousand acres of land in Mitchell, 
 Lamb and Hockley counties, Texas, di- 
 vided into ranches, which are fenced and 
 
 cross-fenced for the accommodation of 
 twenty thousand head of cattle. The in- 
 crease is between four and five thousand per 
 annum, and as they mature to two and 
 three years they are shipped to Chicago. 
 Besides the cattle on these Texas ranches 
 there are three hundred Percheron mares 
 which have been shipped there, together 
 with several pure blood stallions, and their 
 offspring is brought to Illinois for develop- 
 ment and sale. Mr. Ellwood has charge 
 of this mammoth enterprise with a corps of 
 assistants under him, but it is so admirably 
 systematized that he is equal to the task. 
 
 William L. Ellwood was born in De 
 Kalb, November 6, i860, and is a son of 
 Isaac L. Ellwood, of whom mention is 
 made elsewhere in this work. His educa- 
 tion was commenced and finished in his na- 
 tive city, having all the advantages of a col- 
 lege education by private instructors in his 
 father's home. His interest in horse breed- 
 ing began at the age of sixteen, since which 
 time he has become proficient in the man- 
 agement of that noble animal, — man's best 
 friend. He keeps a skillful veterinary sur- 
 geon and always has a full supply of drugs 
 for all cases of sickness to which animals 
 are liable. 
 
 In June, 1883, Mr. Ellwood was united 
 in n)arriage to Miss Jennie Allen, who was 
 born at Shabbona in 1864, a daughter of 
 H. A. Allen. Two children have come to 
 bless their union : Jean, born in August, 
 1885; and Harriet Eliza, in 1887. 
 
 TAMES HOWISON. —Among the many 
 *J worthy substantial citizens of Sand- 
 wich, none deserved more honorable men- 
 tion than the subject of this sketch, who 
 was born in the lowlands of Scotland, and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 553 
 
 is the son of George and Margaret (Brown) 
 Hovvison. In 1828, when but fourteen 
 years of age, he came with his father to the 
 United States, that they might look up a 
 home. Finding a suitable place in New 
 York, they sent for the family, which came 
 over the next year. In crossing the ocean, 
 our subject was three months cii route, en- 
 countering several storms during the time, 
 but suffering no special damage. The same 
 trip can now be made in si.x days, which is 
 an illustration showing the progress made 
 in seventy years. After residing in New- 
 York some ten years, our subject and his 
 younger brother, William, visited what was 
 then the far west, and finding the opportuni- 
 ties much greater for advancement, thej' re- 
 ported their observations to the family, and 
 all determined to come west. Leaving 
 New York, in the spring of 1839, they came 
 by way of the Erie canal and by lake to 
 Chicago, which required eight day.s. They 
 remained in Chicago but a short time, hav- 
 ing no idea of the great city which in time 
 was there to be built. The present great 
 city was then but a small, insignificant vil- 
 lage, but a good market for grain. From 
 Chicago they cam^e to the head of Somo- 
 nauk creek, where they took up government 
 land, and also bought the claim of another 
 party of some four hundred acres, paying 
 the government price of a dollar and a quar- 
 ter an acre. In addition they bought ten 
 acres of beautiful timber land, and the first 
 winter engaged in getting out rails, stakes, 
 posts and wood, all of which were for ser- 
 vice on the new farm. With characteristic 
 energy they went to work to improve the 
 farm, but after residing there two years, the 
 father passed to his reward, at the age of 
 sixty-four years. His wife survived him 
 some years, and died in her eighty-fourth 
 
 year. They were the parents of five chil- 
 dren, of whom our subject is the oldest. 
 The others were William, a farmer residing 
 in Clinton township, De ICalb county, Illi- 
 nois; Eli^a, wife of Alexander \Miite, resid- 
 ing on a farm near the United Presbyterian 
 church in Somonauk township; Alexander, 
 residing on the old homestead; and Robert, 
 a farmer living near Waterman. Both par- 
 ents were devout members of the Presby- 
 terian church. 
 
 The subject o( this sketch, as already 
 stated, was fourteen years of age when he 
 left Scotland. During his ten years resi- 
 dence in New York, he worked by the 
 month for various parties, and on coming 
 to De Kalb county, he assisted in opening 
 up the farm, and has since been engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits, with the exception of 
 the time spent in California. On the iith 
 of March, 1850, in company with William 
 I^atton, Mr. Hoag, James Blair and James 
 ^^'alker, he started overland for the New 
 Eldorado. Mr. Walker died near the Lone 
 Tree, while en route. That tree stands all 
 alone, and is now pointed out from the 
 Union Pacific railroad train, being the only 
 tree within sight for many miles which can 
 be seen with the naked eye. He was sick 
 but a short time, but suffered very much. 
 The other four got through all right to 
 \\'eavertown, where the first diggings were 
 located. They remained there, however, 
 but a short time, and then went to Sacra- 
 mento, where they laid in a supply of pro- 
 visions, and then went to the diggings on 
 Yuba river, where our subject hired out to a 
 company for eight dollars per day. He re- 
 mained there on the Yuba river during the 
 greater part of the time while in California. 
 After he had been in that state for two 
 years, he was joined by his brother, Alex- 
 
554 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ander, and the two remained three years 
 longer. During two summer seasons our 
 subject worked on a ranch, for which he re- 
 ceived one hundred and sixty dollars a 
 month and board. 
 
 On going to California, Mr. Howison 
 crossed the plains with three spans of horses 
 and two covered wagons, and while rn i\ iitc 
 saw buffalos by the million. This gave him 
 a chance to see some of the outlines and 
 boundaries of his adopted country, and an 
 opportunity to realize what it was in rough- 
 ing it while in the far west. With all the 
 hardships incident to that primitive kind of 
 life, there were afforded many scenes of 
 pleasure and romance. When making up 
 his mind to return, he chose to return by 
 water, taking the Aspinwall line, by way of 
 the Isthmus of Panama. The boat on which 
 he took passage was shipwrecked by strik- 
 ing a rock. The passengers were rescued 
 by the John L. Stephens, on which they 
 continued their journey, arriving home in 
 due time, and again taking up the occupa- 
 tion of farming. 
 
 Mr. Howison was married November 12, 
 1867, to Miss Mary Jane Kirkpatrick, a 
 daughter of Richard and Julia Ann Kirk- 
 patrick. and by this union one child was 
 born, Charles, a graduate in architecture 
 from the State University at Champaign in 
 the class of '97. The parents of Mrs. Howi- 
 son were natives of Perry county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and were married in 1832. In their 
 family were nine children as follows: Isa- 
 bella, widow of John Harter, who was killed 
 by the cars in Waterman, where she now 
 resides. Hannah E. is the wife of Robert 
 Howison, and they reside in Waterman. 
 Matilda, who married Amos McCaskey, died 
 at the age of twenty-three years. Alvina is 
 the wife of W. J. Walker, a farmer residing 
 
 in Kansas. Mary Jane is the wife of our 
 subject. Julia \. , wife of Robert Walker, 
 , resides in Sandwich. Rebecca is the wife 
 of John Walker, a farmer residing in Morris 
 county, Kansas. Jessie P. died in infancy. 
 Isaac F. resides in Harper county, Kansas. 
 The father of these children died September 
 3, 1871, at the age of seventy-four years; 
 the mother was a woman of rare qualities 
 of mind and heart, and many in the circle 
 of her acquaintance remember her with ten- 
 derest recollections. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Howison moved to Sand- 
 wich, where he is now li\-ing a retired life, 
 enjoying the fruits of his former toil. He 
 and his wife are members of the Presbyte- 
 rian church in Sandwich, and in the work 
 of the Master have always taken especial 
 delight. In politics he has been a Repub- 
 lican, but he is quite independent, always 
 casting his vote for those he considers best 
 qualified for the office. A residence of si.xty 
 years in De Kalb county has brought him 
 in contact with many of its best citizens, 
 and no man is more highly esteemed. 
 
 HON. HIRAM LOUCKS, ex-supervisor 
 and member of the legislature, from 
 De Kalb county, was born in Schoharie 
 county, New York, May 26, 1824, but was 
 reared in Madison count}', in the same state. 
 His parents were Abram and Elizabeth 
 (Ten Eyck) Loucks, both of whom were 
 natives of New York. By occupation the 
 father was a farmer, one who cared nothing 
 for ofSce-holding, but gave his best endea\- 
 ors to his farm and farming interest. His 
 death occurred at the age of si.xty-nine 
 years, while his wife died at the age of se\- 
 enty years. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 555 
 
 John Loucks, took part in the Indian war, 
 prior to the Revolution. His wife was Re- 
 becca Burst, a daughter of Captain Burst, 
 who was taken prisoner during the Revolu- 
 tionary war, and was returned in the ex- 
 change of prisoners. The maternal grand- 
 father, John Ten Eyck, married a Miss 
 Simons, a daughter of David Simons, who 
 was of a noted New York family. 
 
 Abaham Loucks in early life was a 
 Lutheran, while his wife was a member of 
 the Dutch Reformed church. Later they 
 both united with the Presbyterian church, 
 in which faith they died. They were the 
 parents of eleven children as follows: 
 Hiram, the subject of this sketch; Cather- 
 ine, who married John Stewart, but is now 
 deceased; Eliza, wife of Alexander Stewart, 
 a brother of John, resides in Michigan; 
 Ellen, who married Scott Duncan, but is 
 now deceased; John, who resides on the old 
 homestead in New York; Hazelious, who 
 also resides on the old homestead; George, 
 who resides in New York; Luther, residing in 
 Michigan; Henry, who moved to Minnesota, 
 where his death occurred; James, who lives 
 in New York, and Joseph, of New York. 
 
 Our subject was reared to farm life, and 
 followed that occupation in connection with 
 lumbering for many years. In 1857, he 
 came west, locating in Victor township, De 
 Ivalb county, Illinois, where he opened up 
 a farm of two hundred acres, which he im- 
 proved and which he devoted to dairy, stock 
 and grain purposes. 
 
 Mr. Loucks was married, in 1850, to 
 Amanda ^'osburg, daughter of Abram Vos- 
 burg, a resident of Columbia county. New 
 York. By this union were five children, 
 (i) Nelson, who resides on a farm in O'Brien 
 county, Iowa, married Ida Wells, of Sand- 
 wich, and their children are Gertie, Celia, 
 
 28 
 
 Mary, Hiram and John. (2) Emogene mar- 
 ried William Ray, and they reside in Shab- 
 bona, Illinois. They have one child, Eliza- 
 beth. (3) Anna, married Henry Severy, 
 and they have one child, Frank. (4; James 
 married Miss Wells, and they reside on a 
 farm in O'Brien county, Iowa. (5) Henry, 
 who resides on the old homestead, married 
 Lillie Ouillhot, and their children are lone 
 and Helen. The mother of these children, 
 who was a consistent member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, died at the 
 age of thirty-nine years. Mr. Loucks was 
 married, July 29, 1876, to Mrs. Anna M. 
 Smith, widow of Capt. Henry L. Smith. 
 She is the daughter of Rev. Israel and So- 
 phronia (Mills) Shailer, her father being a 
 minister of the Presbyterian church for 
 many years in Ohio. 
 
 In politics Mr. Loucks is independent, 
 though for many years he was a decided 
 Republican. The first office that he ever 
 held was that of school director and he 
 served in that official position for fifteen 
 years. He was commissioner of highways 
 for seven years, and while residing in Victor 
 township served as a member of the board 
 of supervisors for eight years, and since his 
 removal to Sandwich has served in the 
 same office for nine years. He was elected 
 a member of the legislature in 1881, re- 
 elected in 1883, and served two sessions, 
 taking a general interest in all questions be- 
 fore that body and being a valuable mem- 
 ber. In 1883 he removed to Sandwich 
 since which time he has been living practi- 
 cally a retired life. He is a man of deep 
 convictions and positive in his views, which 
 he voices with readiness. In his ofBcial 
 positions, he gave a high degree of satisfac- 
 tion as is evidenced in his re-election for a 
 term of years to the same office. He has 
 
556 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 been a successful man and is justly entitled to 
 the respect which he enjoys as an honored, 
 substantial and worthy citizen. 
 
 FRANK C. PATTEN, owner and man- 
 ager of the Frank C. Patten Co., has 
 had an unusually successful business career, 
 showing industry and executive ability. He 
 was born on a farm in Afton township, De 
 Kalb county, Illinois, on October lo, 1867. 
 
 His father, Sylvester W. Patten, was 
 born in Herkimer county. New York, in 1 837, 
 and spent his boyhood days in his native 
 state, where he obtained his primary edu- 
 tion in district schools. In 1850 his parents 
 came to Illinois, and located in Boone 
 county, where they remained a year or two 
 and then came to De Kalb county, locating 
 in South Grove township. Sylvester W. 
 assisted his father in farming operations 
 during summers, teaching school during 
 the winter months until his marriage near 
 Belvidere, Boone county, Illinois, May 
 I, i860, with Miss Elizabeth C. Coffin, a 
 native of Delaware county. New York, born 
 in 1839, and who came west with her par- 
 ents, locating near Belvidere in 1845. She 
 was a daughter of Jacob and Mary Anne 
 (Hull) Coffin. Her paternal great-grand- 
 father, John Coffin, was born in 1753 and 
 married Mary Van. Tassel, of German de- 
 scent, born in 1743. Their son, Isaac 
 Coffin, was the father of Jacob, who was 
 born in 1773. 
 
 The Coffin family were originally of Nor- 
 man stock. The first to come to America 
 was Tristam, who came with eight sons in 
 1642 and settled in Massachusetts near Hav- 
 erhill. Tristam Coffin and others bought 
 Nantucket Island. His eldest son settled 
 near Albany and from him sprang John 
 
 Coffin, great-grandfather of Mrs. Sylvester 
 W. Patten. 
 
 After his marriage S}'lvester \V. Patten 
 bought a farm eight miles south of De Kalb 
 and there resided until 1882, when he sold 
 out and purchased another farm two miles 
 northwest of De Kalb. On that farm he 
 resided until 1892, when he remo\ed to the 
 city of De Kalb, where he has since contin- 
 ued to reside, — now having charge of the 
 Hinckley Brick & Tile Yards, one of the 
 plants belonging to Patten Bros. Tile Co. 
 
 To Sylvester W. and Elizabeth C. Pat- 
 ten were born six children,— Mary L., a 
 successful teacher in De Kalb ; Emma L. , the 
 wife of Frank Greeley, of Waterman, Illi- 
 nois; Frank C, the subject of this sketch; 
 Edith S., a teacher in the public schools of 
 Austin, Illinois; .\lice C, teacher in the 
 Bloomington High School; and Elizabeth 
 M., a student in the State Normal School. 
 
 After attending liistrict schools, Frank 
 C. Patten entered the high school in De 
 Kalb, from which he graduated in 1885. 
 Immediatel}' after graduating he entered the 
 employ of \\'m. Deering Co., of Chicago, 
 remaining with this firm about one year. 
 Desiring to go into business for himself, he 
 returned to DeKalb, and starting a small 
 shop began manufacturing sundries in a lim- 
 ited way. Owing to increase in business in 
 1887 he purchased a building and employed 
 several hands to assist him. He pushed 
 the business to such an extent that soon his 
 building covered three and a half lots in the 
 city and in 1891 had spread out over the en- 
 tire block. 
 
 In addition to his manufacturing busi- 
 ness, in 1889 Mr. Patten began contracting 
 and building, — purchasing vacant property, 
 subdividing and building. He built on his 
 own account between seventy-five and a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 557 
 
 hundred houses and on contract for others 
 twice as many more. Few men of his age 
 have ever undertaken and carried through 
 to success such a work. Before twenty-five 
 years of age he had erected more than two 
 hundred and twenty-five buildings, while at 
 the same time conducting his regular manu- 
 facturing business. In addition to residence 
 work, he built school buildings at DeKalb, 
 Maple Park, Elburn and Crossdale, employ- 
 ing draughtsmen, masons, carpenters, tin- 
 ners, plumbers, painters, and paper hangers 
 as well as laborers, — the combined pay roll 
 of industries under his ownership going as 
 high as three hundred and fifty men per day. 
 
 About this time Mr. Patten organized a 
 tile company, which purchased and virtual!}' 
 re-built two large plants. These after a 
 prosperous business career were disposed of 
 to their present owners, the Patten Bros. 
 Tile Co. 
 
 In 1893 hfi came to Sjcamore and pur- 
 chased the Marsh Harvester, and also the 
 entire plant formerly owned by the R. Ell- 
 wood Manufacturing Co., — business at this 
 point being conducted under the name of 
 the Frank C. Patten Co. This concern 
 manufactures a general line of agricultural 
 implements, well drilling machinery and 
 gray iron casting, catering especially to 
 heavy bu3'ers, who have goods furnished 
 under contract for their own trade. 
 
 Mr. Patten was married at the home of 
 his bride's parents on a farm near Syca- 
 more, to Miss Carrie C. Crane, a daughter 
 of Frederick S. and Mary Anne (Bristol) 
 Crane, — the latter a native of Genesee 
 county, New York, and a daughter of Hiram 
 and Sarah (Spink) Bristol. Frederick S. 
 Crane was born in Wayne county, New 
 York, in 1833, and came with his parents to 
 Illinois in 1835. Here he grew to manhood 
 
 and in 1853 crossed the plains to California. 
 On returning home, he purchased a farm 
 near Naperville, where he resided until 
 1869, when, coming to DeKalb county, he 
 purchased a farm of four hundred acres in 
 Courtland township. This he sold in 1895, 
 removing to Los Angeles, California. 
 
 Frederick S. Crane is the son of David 
 and Catherine W. (Stolp) Crane, the latter 
 a daughter of Frederick and jeanette 
 (Pepper) Stolp,- -Frederick being a soldier 
 in the war of 181 2. Both families are of 
 Holland descent. The paternal grand- 
 parents were Zebina and Hannah (Gould) 
 Crane. 
 
 HIRAM C. WILSON, now living a re- 
 tired life in the \ illage of Kirkland, is 
 a native of Calhoun county, Michigan, born 
 No\ember 29, 1838, and is the son of Roger 
 and Mary (Burdick) Wilson, the former a 
 native of Yorkshire, England, and the latter 
 of Cayuga county. New York. They were 
 the parents of two children, Hiram C. and 
 Elizabeth. The paternal grandfather, 
 Thomas Wilson, was a native of Yorkshire, 
 England, who came to America in 1810. 
 and settled in Cayuga county. New York. 
 By trade he was a shoemaker, an occupa- 
 tion which he followed during many years 
 of his life. From Cayuga county, New- 
 York, Roger Wilson moved to Calhoun 
 county. Michigan, in 1836, where he pur- 
 chased one hundred and sixty acres of gov- 
 ernment land, all of which was heavily tim- 
 bered. He cleared up a farm, and kept 
 adding to his possessions, until he had over 
 five hundred acres, the greater part of 
 which was under cultivation. He sold out 
 in 1863, and came to De Kalb county, and 
 purchased, with his son, a farm of three 
 
;ss 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 hundred and twenty acres on section i .South 
 Grove township. 
 
 Tlie subject of tliis sketch was reared in 
 Calhoun county, Michigan, and in the dis- 
 trict schools received his primary education, 
 after which he entered the college at Battle 
 Creek, Michigan, which he attended for two 
 terms. On the fith of October, i860, he 
 married Stella M. Foster, a native of St. 
 Lawrence county, New York, and a daugh- 
 ter of Dr. James and Susan Foster, also 
 natives of the same county and state, who 
 at an early day moved to Calhoun county, 
 Michigan, and in 1882, to De Kalb count\\ 
 Illinois. Ide read medicine in Albany, New 
 York, where he was admitted to practice. 
 For about forty-five j-ears he practiced his 
 profession in Michigan. On coming to De 
 Kalb county, he made his home with our 
 subject, where his death occurred in 1883, 
 at the age of eighty-two years and si.\ 
 months. To Mr. and Mrs. Wilson si.\ chil- 
 dren have been born, as follows: Warren, 
 Alice, Susie, Joy, Ira and Mabel. 
 
 In 1882, Mr. Wilson moved with his 
 family, after selling his farm in South Grove 
 township, and located in Kingston town- 
 ship, where he yet has a farm of two hun- 
 dred and thirty-two acres of well improved 
 land. After remaining upon that farm for 
 man\' years, he rented the place and moved 
 to the village of Kirkland, where he has 
 nice residence property. In politics he is a 
 Democrat, and has held various local offices, 
 including that of school director. He is 
 well respected and has many friends in De 
 Kalb count}'. 
 
 CHARLES A. SCHNEIDER, who is 
 engaged in the insurance business at 
 Sandwich, is a well known citizen of Ger- 
 
 man birth. He was born in Anhalt, Des- 
 sau, (ierman)-, December 11. 1825, and is 
 the son of Christopher and NN'ilhelmina 
 fSchuman) Schneider, wlui nex'er came to 
 America, but spent their entire lives in their 
 nati\e land, the father dying at the age of 
 seventy-three years, and the mother at the 
 age of seventy-five years. They were mem- 
 bers of the Evangelical ciiurch, and were 
 the parents of three children, of whom our 
 subject was the oldest and the only one 
 to come to America. August died in Sax- 
 ony, after having served his time as a sol- 
 dier in the German aruiy. Wilhelniina is 
 the widow of Carl Seeger, and is yet re- 
 siding in Germany, alihough she has a son, 
 Carl Seeger, residing in Sandwich. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared 
 in his native land and educated in its pub- 
 lic schools. While liable for military duty 
 in 1846, he was never called out for the 
 reason there were no wars then in progress. 
 In his youth he learned the tinner's trade, 
 which occupation he followed in his native 
 land, until he came to America in 1854. 
 On arriving in this country he engaged as a 
 deck hand on a vessel on Lake Superior, at 
 the south end of St. Mary's canal, where 
 he handled a wheelbarrow for two weeks; 
 but not liking that kind of work, abandoned 
 it and coming west to Chicago again en- 
 gaged in work at his trade. He continued 
 in Chicago for three years. Having a friend 
 in Sandwich, Mr. Kleinschmidt, he came 
 with him to that place and worked at his 
 trade until 1884, when he engaged exclu- 
 sively in the insurance business with which 
 he has since been connected. He now rep- 
 resents eight different companies, among 
 them being some of the best in the United 
 States. 
 
 In 1 86 1 Mr. Schneider returned to Ger- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 559 
 
 many on a visit, and in 1864 married Sophia 
 Beaiman, a daughter of Stuart and Sophia 
 Beahnan. The latter died in Chicago at 
 the age of sixty-nine years. By this union 
 were born four children: Charles married 
 Olivia Unger, and they now reside in Oma- 
 ha, where he is engaged in the railway 
 freight office of the Northwestern Railroad. 
 Powell married Anna Bernard, and they 
 reside in Sandwich. Mary is the wife of J. 
 W. Arnold, and they also reside in Sand- 
 wich. Anna is the housekeeper for her fa- 
 ther, her mother having died December, 
 1893, at the age of fifty-four years and four 
 months. She was a devout member of the 
 German Evangelical church, of which body 
 her husband and family are also members. 
 When Mr. Schneider first came to the 
 United States he took passage in a sailing 
 
 vessel and was forty-six days on the water. 
 For a time they met with heavy weather, 
 and later it was so calm that their vessel 
 would hardly move. This all regarded as 
 worse than the heavy weather. On return- 
 ing to the old country on his visit it did not 
 require much time for him to make up his 
 mind that the United States was a better 
 place for a man of industry and enterprise, 
 than the land of his birth. Since coming 
 here he has been fairly successful in business, 
 and has never regretted the step taken. He 
 takes little interest in politics, preferring to 
 give his attention to his business interests. 
 In his various relations in public and private 
 life he has always been the same earnest, 
 upright, capable and courteous gentleman,- 
 winning the confidence and esteem of a large 
 circle of friends. 
 
A 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 

 "^ 
 
liMDEX:. 
 
 Abel,. Ezra 419 
 
 Allison, Arthur 372 
 
 Ames, John S 898 
 
 Anderson, M. P 22 
 
 ArmstrunEC, S. T ;«9 
 
 Arnold, lohn 530 
 
 Arnold, John \V 501 
 
 Atherton, Benjamin F 51 
 
 Atherton, William iVI 134 
 
 Aurner, Leonard 140 
 
 Aurner, J, B 183 
 
 Banks, James 497 
 
 Barber, Clark L 290 
 
 Beaubien, Soliston 69 
 
 Bern is, Brigham P 350 
 
 Benson, Charles P 469 
 
 Bend, Lewis 517 
 
 Bently, George D 41 
 
 Berg, Theodore O 127 
 
 Bettis, Professor F. B 40 
 
 Bet/., John 402 
 
 Bishop, Judge Charles A 4(; 
 
 Black, Daniel 81 
 
 Blake, James 521 
 
 Blair, John M 500 
 
 Blair, William 136 
 
 Bianchtield, Richard \V 523 
 
 Blee, lohn W 486 
 
 Bliss, Major F 499 
 
 Boardman, Hon. Henry M . . . . 177 
 
 Boies, Edward 1 81 
 
 Boston, Robert 197 
 
 Boynton, Charles O 44 
 
 Bradburv, Alfred 171 
 
 Bradt, Charles E 271 
 
 Branch, Hiram F 420 
 
 Brock, Patrick 48 
 
 Brown S: Brown 266 
 
 Brown, Charles 64 
 
 Brown, D. D 382 
 
 Browne, Lester | 397 
 
 Buehl, William A 107 
 
 Burnham, Alvin P 474 
 
 liurst, Edward M 150 
 
 Burst, Major John W 471 
 
 Byers, William M 118 
 
 Byro, Ed ward 445 
 
 Campbell, Jabez 469 
 
 Campbell, Silas R 329 
 
 Carnes, Duane J 98 
 
 Carroll, John .523 
 
 Carter, Orando 115 
 
 Cary, H. O..-. 24 
 
 Chapman, Mrs. Sarah 94 
 
 Clapsaddle, George H 304 
 
 Clapsaddle, Henry 191 
 
 Clark, George 341 
 
 Clark, Joel W 275 
 
 Clark, Winfield S 198 
 
 Clarke, Alfred L 435 
 
 Cliffe, Thomas M 74 
 
 Cole, Marcus W 88 
 
 Coleman, Hector H 207 
 
 Coles, Francis M 468 
 
 Cooper, T. W 60 
 
 Corkings, Thomas S 319 
 
 Cornwall, Thomas .")28 
 
 Corson, |ohn R 450 
 
 Cory, David N 198 
 
 Coster, Alpha J 483 
 
 Coster, Joseph C 86 
 
 Court, Alexander R 147 
 
 Crawford, Carl B 861 
 
 Crocker, Rev. A. A 886 
 
 Crofoot, Dwight K 519 
 
 Crosby, Charles H 252 
 
 Curtis, Elijah 52 
 
 I )ale, Thomas S 213 
 
 Darnell, Enoch 531 
 
 David, Dr. |ohn C 483 
 
 Davis, Edw-ard C 518 
 
 L^avie, Charles 416 
 
 Davy, John G 159 
 
 Dean, Myron M 3'.i2 
 
 Decker, Warren . , 807 
 
 Delana, Edward M 278 
 
 Dennis, Gurdon H 405 
 
 Dennis, William A 5."W 
 
 Divine, Eleazer 417 
 
 Divine, Richard L .MO 
 
 Doane, A. Charles 2(i8 
 
 Doane, Charles E 2.53 
 
 Dodge, Lucian 199 
 
 Dodge, Martin 547 
 
 Donnelly, Eugene () 329 
 
 Downer, Asher 204 
 
 Driscoll, 'Theodore D 437 
 
 Duffev, Robert 85 
 
 Duncan, Dr. J. C 155 
 
 Dunton, George W 222 
 
 Dustin, General Daniel 9 
 
 Dutton, General E. F 229 
 
 F'.ames, Lewis 145 
 
 Ellwood, .-^bram 236 
 
 Ellwood, L L 26 
 
 Ellwood, J. E .533 
 
 Ellwood, Hon. Reuben .537 
 
 Ellwood, W. L .5.52 
 
 Euhus, Henry 394 
 
 Evans, Ira .351 
 
 Evans, L. Dow 348 
 
 Faltz, C. W .509 
 
 Fay, Herbert W 92 
 
 Fay, Wells A 189 
 
 Flewellin, Edwin L 493 
 
 Foiles, C. H 61 
 
 Forward, Walter M 298 
 
 Foster, Captain Joseph W 170 
 
 Frykman. Rev. Magnus 179 
 
 Fuller, William B('> 
 
 Gammon, Frank E 212 
 
 Gardiner, Edward P 192 
 
 Garner, Charles W 210 
 
 Gibbs, David M 294 
 
 Gibson, John S 428 
 
 Gilkerson, Hiram 4.J6 
 
 Ciilson, Edwin 14 
 
 Givens, Jacob ,S82 
 
 Gleason, L. E .538 
 
 Glidden, Joseph F 800 
 
 Goble, W. Mott 181 
 
 Goff, William 809 
 
 Grange, Rev. W. S 362 
 
 Graves, Abraham D 831 
 
 Gray, John 481 
 
 Green, John 235 
 
 Gross, Lewis M H6 
 
 Curler, Henry B 826 
 
 Hadsall, John 4u4 
 
 Haish, Jacob 56 
 
 Hait, Edwin 288 
 
 Hallett, James 480 
 
 Hammond, Forrest R 258 
 
 Hampton, Hon. Robert 82 
 
 Hill, N.J 541 
 
 Hampton, R. F 220 
 
 Hanrahan, M 74 
 
 Harmon, James Henry 498 
 
 Harper, Orlando 167 
 
 Harrington, James E 211 
 
 Harvey, L. P 477 
 
 Haskins, Horace 320 
 
 Helson, John .359 
 
 Hill, John N 414 
 
 Hill, N. I -AX 
 
 Hill, Ole' X 440 
 
 Hills, Frank E 475 
 
 Hix, Lewis P f. 1(7 
 
 Hodge, Levi S 884 
 
 Hohm, Daniel 201 
 
 Holcomb, R. J 335 
 
 Holland, 'Thomas 21 
 
 Holiembeak, Aramont X 364 
 
 Holmes, Charles S 168 
 
 Holmes, G. R 71 
 
 Hopkins, H. H 1,54 
 
 Hopkins, Thomas M 1.58 
 
 Houck, Ralph A 442 
 
 Howison, Alexander 516 
 
 Howison. lames .5.52 
 
 Hovt, William 511 
 
 Hubbard, Charles .A. 72 
 
 Hubbard, Warren .502 
 
 Hubbard, William 2.58 
 
 H ueber, George E 515 
 
 Hueber, Gottlieb F 224 
 
562 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ingmanson. Jonas 374 
 
 Jackman, Kendall 318 
 
 Jessen, Kdwin — 101 
 
 Johnson, John 180 
 
 Johnson, John I) 95 
 
 Jones, Harvey A 118 
 
 Jones, Richard F . .• 4r>(; 
 
 Keene, W. H 'J8S) 
 
 Kellogg, A. R 81 
 
 Kellogg, Nathaniel S 849 
 
 Kelluni, Hon. Charles l(i 
 
 Kennedy, A. G 398 
 
 King, Alfred 39.") 
 
 King, John 2ol 
 
 King, William L Mti.'f 
 
 Kinsloe, Capt. A. S 242 
 
 Kittelson, Halvor 471 
 
 Kline, Henrv 385 
 
 Koch, Henry 403 
 
 Labrant, William 202 
 
 La Bolle, John B 514 
 
 Lake, Myron E 429 
 
 Lane, James 208 
 
 La Porte, Frank A 203 
 
 Larson, John H 287 
 
 Lawrence, John 254 
 
 Ledovt, K.dwanl F 490 
 
 Leifheit. Adolph 20 
 
 Leishman, James 218 
 
 Leonard, Patrick 531 
 
 Lewis, George G 30 
 
 Little, James L 432 
 
 I.ossman, Herman G 283 
 
 l.oucks, Hiram 5.54 
 
 Lovell, .Andrew 441 
 
 Lowell, Hon. Luther 388 
 
 Lowman, Frank D 541 
 
 Lucas, Dr. George N 139 
 
 McClelland. John I)..... 288 
 
 .McGirr, Dennis 455 
 
 McGirr, Patrick A 14(> 
 
 McGirr, John 24(i 
 
 McGuire, Francis W 299 
 
 McMurchv, .Malcolm 284 
 
 McQueen,' Hugh 492 
 
 Mackey, Harrison 2(i(i 
 
 Maitland, James 407 
 
 .Mason, Horatio H 182 
 
 Mason, William H 418 
 
 Marshall, John 438 
 
 M aurer, George J 340 
 
 Merrill, Orville H (i2 
 
 Merrit, Grrin 357 
 
 Miller, John 261 
 
 Miller, Peter 251 
 
 Miller, Dr. William T 493 
 
 Montague, G. \V .544 
 
 Moon, 'William R 297 
 
 Moore, lames H 354 
 
 Mordoff, Dr. Charles H 260 
 
 Morrison, John 513 
 
 Mowers, Aaron 361 
 
 Mullen, Harker 84 
 
 Mullins, John 33 
 
 Xesbitt, Dr. George W 457 
 
 Newitt, Robert 25 
 
 Nisbet, fames 470 
 
 Noble, Ezekiel 446 
 
 Norton, Orrin M 219 
 
 Ohlmacher, Christian 1 316 
 
 Oleson, J. O ■ (il 
 
 Ginistead, George 2-53 
 
 ( )rinit, James M 284 
 
 Osborn, Henry 520 
 
 Ott, John 76 
 
 Parke, Captain A. F 108 
 
 Parker, J. E 375 
 
 Parker, Thomas . 49() 
 
 I'artridge, General F. W 172 
 
 Patten, Frank C 556 
 
 Perkins, Henry N 244 
 
 Peterson, Samuel 240 
 
 Phelps, Edgar M 352 
 
 Pierce, Austin \' 408 
 
 Pierce, Daniel 36 
 
 Plapp, Philip F 352 
 
 Pond, A. H 440 
 
 Pond, Charles C 272 
 
 Pond, Judge William 1 194 
 
 Poplin, Jesse F 524 
 
 Post. .Alva F 459 
 
 Poulson, Peter 477 
 
 Powell, James T 495 
 
 Power.s, Edward \i 240 
 
 Powers, John 1.58 
 
 Proctor, Richard B 264 
 
 Qui-jley, Robert 532 
 
 Quilhot, Peter \' 104 
 
 Quist, .Samuel 277 
 
 Ramer,Captain .\nthonv 22 
 
 Ranter, Peter '. 358 
 
 Ray, .Alexander 84 
 
 Redmond, J. P 431 
 
 Renwick, Thoma.s 246 
 
 Richards, Nathan S , r 298 
 
 Roberts, lohn D 487 
 
 Robertson, Rev. G. H 542 
 
 Robinson, Fred T. . . .' 427 
 
 Robinson, Hon. (!^orge S 13 
 
 Robin.son, Lorenzo 461 
 
 Robinson, William H 165 
 
 Rogers, Israel .549 
 
 Rosette, Bailey 315 
 
 Rowen, Gurden C 308 
 
 Rowley, Albert F 12 
 
 Rowley, Enoch P 505 
 
 Salisbury, Charles H 296 
 
 .Sanderson, Samuel M 103 
 
 .Schneider, Charles .\ 558 
 
 .Schoonmaker, John M .550 
 
 Schuyler, Dr. C 113 
 
 Scott, Frank R.... 506 
 
 Sebree, W. Marshall 425 
 
 .Sedgwick, W. W 452 
 
 Shaffer, L. C 526 
 
 Shafter, Caiit. lames N 3l0 
 
 Shipman, .M. D 262 
 
 Shoop, John F 2'8 
 
 Sisley, George E 265 
 
 Si V Wright, Nelson 330 
 
 Skmner. James M 503 
 
 Slater, Henry H 372 
 
 Slater, Philo'F 34 
 
 Smith, Edwin P 137 
 
 Smith, Rev. W. H 274 
 
 Stanley. George H 285 
 
 Stark, Marshall 401 
 
 .Stephens, Samuel 415 
 
 Stiles, Samuel H 342 
 
 Storey, Septimus 148 
 
 Stott.J. E 396 
 
 Taylor, George L 416 
 
 Thomas, W. H 449 
 
 Tischhouser, John 370 
 
 Townsend, .Amos W 160 
 
 Townsend, Edwin 313 
 
 Townsend, Hon. F. B 214 
 
 Truby, Nathaniel G 306 
 
 Uplinger, Benjamin F 190 
 
 Uplinger, John H 217 
 
 Wan Galder, Frank O 70 
 
 \'an Horn, Mrs. Anna 65 
 
 \on Ohlen, William 42 
 
 \'an W'ert, Capt. William 376 
 
 V'osburgh, William .526 
 
 Walker, John 146 
 
 Wallace, A. 1) .546 
 
 Walrad, Joseph O 209 
 
 Warren, Norman C 332 
 
 Watson, John 488 
 
 Watson, Lincoln 516 
 
 Watson, William 392 
 
 Wayland, Dr. Joseph P 54 
 
 Weber, Nicholas 527 
 
 Weddell, Charles V 406 
 
 Weddell, William B 337 
 
 Weeden, Warren 545 
 
 Welch, George W 414 
 
 White, A.Gates 535 
 
 White, Charles H 507 
 
 White, George 522 
 
 Whiteman, Israel R 102 
 
 Whitmori'. Henry O 448 
 
 Whitiemore, Henry C 156 
 
 Wilder, Dr. C. H 143 
 
 Willey, Morris 128 
 
 Wilkinson, Ralph N 413 
 
 Willis, Robert 529 
 
 Willrett, C. G 447 
 
 Wilson, Hiram C 557 
 
 Winders, Thomas 1 106 
 
 Winslow, Peleg S." 116 
 
 Witter, William 316 
 
 Wood, George 137 
 
 Woodbury, John H 95 
 
 Woodbury, W. W 480 
 
 Woods, Isaac S 50 
 
 Worf. Henry .* 276 
 
 Wright, Thomas J 491 
 
 Wright, W. H 476 
 
 Wylde, William W 234 
 
 W'yman, Hon. B. F 479 
 
 Younggren, -A. Rudoliih 221 
 
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